2014 Mon Chevalier Cabernet Sauvignon
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Tasting notes
The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Mon Chevalier comes from a hillside in Knights Valley and is 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Merlot, Malbec, and Petit Verdot. It offers sensational notes of crème de cassis, graphite, camphor, and loamy earth characteristics, full body, incredible elegance and purity, and a building sense of minerality on the finish. It’s both powerful and elegant, and already impossible to resist. I loved these latest releases from Luc Morlet and family, and they show a sensational mix of classic, balanced, even old-school, characters mixed with killer California fruit. As a whole, the 2014s show more elegance and complexity, with the 2015s possessing more power and richness. These are rockstar wines.
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Robert Parker
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
An exotic interplay of graphite, plum, lavender, smoke and sage make a strong opening statement in the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Mon Chevalier. Deep, savory and intense, the 2014 shows more of the mineral and soil-driven notes that are typical of Knights Valley, The tannins are imposing at this stage and yet there is enough intensity of fruit and overall breadth to balance things out. Exotic and beautifully layered, Mon Chevalier is also a terrific example of Knights Valley.
From Knights Valley, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Mon Chevalier is a blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc and the rest Merlot and Malbec. More earthy, tannic, muscular and structured, with loads of spice, this wine comes from a vineyard across from the famous Les Pavots of Peter Michael. While it doesn’t quite have the fruit and intensity of the other red wines in Luc Morlet’s portfolio, readers who like more spice and earth in their Cabernet-based wines will appreciate it more than I did. Nevertheless, it is a backward wine, which is atypical for a 2014. Several years of bottle age will be beneficial.
The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Mon Chevalier is a fascinating wine that is still coming together. Firm sinewy tannins typical of the year give the 2014 its energy, shape and drive. Bright red-toned fruit, crushed rocks, mint, white pepper and licorice are all beautifully delineated. The 2014 is a touch slender, as most wines are in this vintage, but it is nicely focused.