2014 Domaine De Chevalier

97 POINTS

Roger Voss - Wine Enthusiast

This is a structured wine with its tight acidity and concentrated white and citrus fruits. Produced from a small parcel on the Chevalier estate, it is complex with its mineral texture, its touch of pepper and its fine herbal acidity. It is a wine for long-term aging. Drink from 2023.

97 POINTS

Huon Hooke - The Real Review

Superb colour: a very deep red/purple hue. The bouquet is big, rich, ripe, voluminous. Some vanilla and chocolate, plus rich black fruits. The palate is full-bodied, lush and again voluminous, loaded with fruit and tannin. A superb wine of long-term potential. Lots of oak but not overdone. Impressive wine. (30% merlot, 5% petit verdot)

96 POINTS

Antonio Galloni MW - Vinous

The 2014 Domaine de Chevalier is a total knockout. Precise, brilliant and finely sculpted, the 2014 possesses superb intensity. Freshly cut flowers, mint and sweet red berries, along with finessed but persistent tannins, give the wine its regal personality. The 2014 needs a number of years to shed some baby fat and develop the full breadth of its aromatics, but it is a fabulous wine by any measure. The 2014 is 65 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 30 % Merlot and 5 % Petit Verdot that spent approximately 35 days on the skins. Olivier Bernard noted that the Merlots were brought in between October 10 and 17, which is quite late by the domaine's standards. Tasted two times.

94 POINTS

James Suckling

Anyone who says that the 2014s aren’t elegant needs to taste this beautifully balanced wine. Ripe redcurrant and delicate herbal aromas with just a hint of spicy oak on the nose precede a fresh, medium-bodied palate with underplayed power and a lot of subtle nuances on the long finish.

93 POINTS

Roger Voss - Wine Enthusiast

92–94. Barrel Sample. There is an initial sense of bitter extraction in this wine, with dark coffee flavors. It is tough and the fruit is hard to discern. Acidity at the end could bring balance.

93 POINTS

Neal Martin - Wine Advocate

The 2014 Domaine de Chevalier has a wonderful bouquet with pure blackberry, raspberry coulis and iodine-tinged aromas that seem to envelop the senses. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, superb acidity and a sense of symmetry that is uncommon in the 2014 vintage. This is a sophisticated, precise wine from Olivier Bernard that could be one of top wines of the vintage. There is an approachability to this Domaine de Chevalier, which you do not always find, however I would be inclined to give this 3-4 years in bottle.

93 POINTS

Neal Martin - Vinous

The 2014 Domaine de Chevalier has a classy, quite sophisticated bouquet with blackberry, boysenberry, graphite and brine aromas that feel very well defined. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red berry fruit, quite saline in the mouth with a brisk, lightly spiced, white pepper sprinkled finish that lingers long in the mouth. Olivier Bernard has crafted quite a sublime 2014 Pessac-Léognan. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

93 POINTS

Jane Anson - Decanter Magazine

Seriously dark purple in colour, this is crowded aromatically in the best possible way, offering an array of dark fruits, rosemary and cinnamon spice. Opens up on the palate eventually but still clearly young, needs time to soften the edges, a touch of austerity and hardness to the fruit at first, the angles are still closed and tight, but great persistency points to the quality, and this is going to age well.