2022 Domaine de Chevalier, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux

65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot, 2% Cabernet Franc. 40 hl/ha. In conversion to organic management. Special label with a Chinese drawing of a horse to celebrate Olivier Bernard’s 40th vintage. Cask sample.

Deep crimson. Intensely mineral, with a highly distinctive nose. Very different from the sweet fruit bombs elsewhere. Racy and likely to age well in the Dom de Chevalier tradition. Sinewy, but by no means meagre. Very much its own style. Cool and fresh but with fruit that is quite ripe enough and massively mineral. Intense, with lots tucked in there for future development. Clean, fresh, appetising finish.

Drink 2030 - 2050

The 2022 Domaine de Chevalier is a powerhouse. I don’t remember tasting anything like it. Black cherry, plum, graphite, liquorice and spic add to an impression of virile intensity. Readers should expect to play the long game, as the tannins are pretty imposing at this stage. That has been the case each of the four times I have tasted the 2022 so far.

Drink 2030 - 2052

A blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc, the 2022 Domaine de Chevalier delivers aromas of minty dark berries, cherries, and ripe plums mingled with hints of liquorice, coniferous forest and spices. Medium to full-bodied, it’s concentrated and layered, textured and elegant, framed by powdery tannins and concluding with a long, penetrating, long finish. 

Olivier Bernard and his team have crafted an outstanding wine with a special label commemorating his 40th vinification at this Péssac-Léognan reference point.

The 2022 Domaine de Chevalier was picked from 5-30 September and represents the 40th vintage under the irrepressible Olivier Bernard, who celebrates with a one-off label. It soars from the glass with take-no-prisoner aromatics: perfumed mineral-rich red berry fruit, incense and black truffle. 

Pessac-like earthiness with an opposing airiness defines many a great wine from this estate. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannins. Slightly powdery in texture and saline in the mouth, this gets the saliva flowing. However, the arching structure on the finish suggests it will require considerable bottle age. 

Cellar this for a few decades, and you'll be repaid handsomely. 14% alcohol.

Drink 2034 - 2075

Wow. This is incredibly structured and powerful, with ultra-fine tannins that are tight and layered. It’s full and powerful with carved muscles of tannins. This will need so much time.

Lovely detail and precision with plump, ripe fruit, good concentration and intensity, and mouth-filling tannins with a beautiful texture and overall length. Feels really well made, structured and vibrant, not taken too far, with a really appealing flavour and texture. Just lovely, fresh, lifted, still concentrated with underlying power but delivered seamlessly. 

A brilliant, compelling, utterly moreish wine. 2% Cabernet Franc completes the blend. A yield of 40hl/ha. Harvest 15 September - 5 October. Ageing 18 months; 33% new barrels, 65% one and two wine. In organic conversion. Derenoncourt consultants.

Drink 2026 - 2046

As to the Grand Vin 2022 Domaine De Chevalier, this awesome Graves is based on 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and the rest Cabernet Franc. Vinified in a mix of concrete and wood tanks, with a portion seeing malolactic fermentation in barrel, it offers a deep purple/ruby hue and a brilliant bouquet of crème de cassis, graphite, smoke tobacco, and damp earth. 

Reminding me of a supercharged version of the 2016, it's full-bodied and has a layered, silky mouthfeel, beautiful tannins, and an excellent finish. Released with a new, one-off label, the 2022 celebrates Olivier Bernard's 40th year at the château, and it's certainly a wine worth seeking out.

Showing how it's done in 2022, Domaine de Chevalier comes in strong with a deep ruby red colour, a vibrant rim, smoked oak on the nose, edges of tar, red roses, liquorice root, and a confident delivery of full-on tannic architecture that frames the cassis and bilberry fruit. 

Delivers vintage signature in a carefully controlled way, with enough slate, pumice stone, mint and eucalyptus to balance things out and slow down delivery. The fruits are fully ripe, heading towards baked plum and fig, but met step by step with a corresponding cooling flavour. 40th harvest of Olivier Bernard meaning a special label).

Drink 2030 - 2048