Domaine de Chevalier Rouge 2025 is a beautifully structured and age-worthy Pessac-Léognan, crafted from 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and 5% Petit Verdot. Aromas of dark berries, plum, licorice, graphite, and subtle spice lead to a palate of remarkable depth and precision. The wine combines concentrated fruit, fine tannins, and vibrant freshness, creating a balanced and elegant profile with impressive length. Firm in its youth yet highly refined, the 2025 vintage reflects the estate’s signature focus on harmony, terroir expression, and long-term ageing potential.

James Suckling | JS 97-98
Published: Apr 26, 2026

The depth of fruit comes through clearly, with a medium body and plenty of berry, chocolate, walnut and bark aromas. Creamy and polished, with a lovely texture and a long and rather endless finish. Soft and precise. 65% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot and 5% petit verdot.

The Wine Advocate | RP 93-95
Published: Apr 30, 2026

The 2025 Domaine de Chevalier, a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, was harvested between September 11 and 26—an unusually early finish—with yields of 35 hectoliters per hectare. It reveals a bouquet marked by oak, with notes of spice, dark berries, lead pencil and licorice. Medium- to full-bodied, dense and deep, it’s built around a substantial chassis of tannins and framed by powdery, youthful structure, concluding with a long, firm and structured finish, reflecting the wine’s inherent density.

Located in the gravel, sandy soils of Pessac-Léognan, Domaine de Chevalier today spans 67 hectares and operates with a quiet sense of control. When the Bernard family took over in 1983, the vineyard counted only 20 hectares; expansion followed into the surrounding woodland, much of which still frames the estate, planted on the same Günzian gravel and black sands over iron-rich clay.

This is a site of contrasts: cold in winter under its forest canopy, yet warm in summer as stones reflect heat and darker soils retain it. Sauvignon Blanc finds its place in the coolest sectors and Cabernet Sauvignon in the warmest, with the remaining varieties in between. Farming is now organic and biodynamic, with cover crops, drainage work in humid parcels and high canopies—sometimes managed without hedging—forming part of the approach.

In the cellar, the direction remains measured. The reds are destemmed and see gentle extraction, with long macerations and restrained pigeage. The whites undergo long pressing, followed by barrel-fermentation with indigenous yeasts. The wines spend their first year in barrels, modestly new-oaked, followed by racking and further élevage in older wood. The whites are bottled under Diam technical closures to ensure consistency.

Since the 1980s, the style has shifted in phases. Early replanting led to a loss of the estate’s historic intensity and weight; the 2000s pursued greater maturity and more evident oak. Today, the wines return to a more seamless expression—discreet, structured and persistent—closer in spirit to earlier decades.

Decanter | D 95
Published: Apr 16, 2026
Drink: 2030-2045

Aromas of plum, raspberry, loam and wet stone minerality suggest the pedigree beneath. The palate is decidedly structured, almost reminiscent of grape skins tasted at harvest, with a firm, tightly wound tannic frame. A more muscular style of Domaine de Chevalier. At 12.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.71, the wine walks a fine line: the freshening acidity (particularly on the finish) both lifts and accentuates the abundant tannins. For now, it remains firm, but the underlying material is strong and should harmonise with élevage, making full barrel ageing key to unlocking a full expression. Tasted three times with two more positive impressions, the score reflects the wine’s anticipated evolution rather than its current state.
Closure: Cork
Alcohol: 12.50%
Body: Medium
Oak: Oaked
Grapes: 65% Cabernet Sauvignon 30% Merlot 5% Petit Verdot

Jancis Robinson | JR 17.5
Published: Apr 16, 2026

65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot. 34 hl/ha. Cask sample.
Fragrant floral and dark-fruit nose. Super texture of tannin. Delicate of touch but offering line, length and structure. Plenty of freshness. Persistence on the finish. Harmonious. (JL)

Domainedechevalier.com

I work in harmony with the wine, constantly seeking balance, without rejecting the contributions of modernism, but always with this idea of a certain past, a certain history… A vertical tasting of the last thirty vintages would show that there is no break. Man is merely a revealer… The terroir reigns supreme.

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