2023 Domaine de Chevelier Pessac-Léognan
With a legacy stretching back to 1155, Domaine de Chevalier brings history to your glass. The 2023 vintage reveals a complex and spicy nose, with vibrant fruit wrapped in notes of humus and forest. On the palate, it's all silk and elegance, with a refined, concentrated structure that’s both radiant and precise. A true Bordeaux classic, poised to age gracefully.
James Suckling
Plenty of blackberry, blackcurrant, chocolate and flint aromas that follow through to a full body, yet it’s in check and focused with a beautiful framing of fine tannins. The purity of ripe fruit is impressive with cabernet really showing through. 63% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot, 5% petit verdot and 2% cabernet franc.
Wine Advocate
The 2023 Domaine de Chevalier reveals a perfumed, incipiently complex bouquet of dark wild berries, cassis, rose petals, spices and licorice. Medium to full-bodied, concentrated and rich, with a fleshy core of fruit framed by powdery tannins and bright acids, it concludes with a long, saline, gently oak-inflected finish. This blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 5% Cabernet Franc is maturing in 40% new barrels.
Vinous
The 2023 Domaine de Chevalier was picked from September 7 to 30 and contains 13% alcohol. This is quintessential "DdC" on the nose: black fruit, sous-bois and hints of black olive at first, subtle marine notes emerging with time in the glass. There’s wonderful focus and delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with pencil-shaving-tinged black fruit on the entry. Perhaps a bit grippier with more spine than one would expect (especially following the more sensual 2022), this is very traditional in style, with a tremendously long and satisfying saline finish. Superb.
Jeb Dunnuck
Cassis, spring flowers, graphite, black cherries, and some smoky nuances all emerge from the 2023 Domaine De Chevalier, another medium to full-bodied, concentrated, incredibly impressive Pessac that has ripe tannins and a great finish. The blend is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, and 5% each of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, and it's aging in one-third new oak, mostly in barrels, but there's a small portion in foudre.
Decanter
Cool blue fruit and tobacco leaf denote this wine, which packs almost Pauillac like power in 2023, not as overtly charming as it can be. The mid palate depth seems a bit coiled in with some standoffish tannins, but overall brisk and true to the style of the estate, if not a 'sunny vintage' on the palate. In short, a serious Domaine de Chevalier red that needs at least five years of cellaring to fully reward you.