l'Esprit de Chevalier Pessac-Leognan Rouge 2018

• 95 Points Label Bordeaux
• One of the Best Estates in Pessac Leognan
• "Fantastic Second Wine" - James Suckling
• 94 Points, Wine Enthusiast

Tasting Notes

Fruity aromas, notes of red, black fruits, and smoked notes. On the palate, it is full-bodied with fine and elegant tannins and a long finish.

About the Wine

Second wine of Domaine de Chevalier Grand Cru Classe

It is truly a "Fantastic Second Wine!" - James Suckling

Since 1986, the Domaine created this label with practically the same grapes and quality standards that they use for their Grand Cru Classé, resulting in a complex, balanced, elegant, and well-structured wine.

Domaine de Chevalier is regarded as one of the most important estates in the prestigious Pessac-Leognan appellation. The estate adopts a unique approach during harvest where all grape sorting is done exclusively in the vineyards. To combat frost damage, they use wine machines and helicopters in certain vintages, which helps to mix the lower layers of cold air where the vines are with warmer air above the vines. These types of meticulous practices are how they garnered a reputation for producing great wine even in average vintages.

They continue to run as a family-managed estate. Olivier Bernard who began managing the estate at 23 years old in 1983 is now joined by his wife Anne Bernard and their two sons. Sustainable vineyard practices have been adopted to tend to the vines which are an average of 50 years old.

Surrounding many of the estates that performed best during the Graves Classification of 1959, Pessac-Leognan was established in 1987 in order to recognize the high-quality red and white wines produced here.

Reviews

This is an extremely polished and refined young wine with gorgeous blackberry, blackcurrant, licorice, dark-chocolate, and bark character. It’s full-bodied with ever so fine tannins and a long, long finish. Fantastic second wine of Domaine de Chevalier. ~95 James Suckling.

The ripe layer of Sémillon in this wine gives richness, a creamed-apple character and plenty of aging potential.The second white wine of Domaine de Chevalier, it is ripe, wood-aged, and generous in fruitiness. Drink the wine from 2023. ~94 Wine Enthusiast.

The 2018 L'Esprit de Chevalier is a gorgeous second wine from Domaine de Chevalier. Soft, pliant and so expressive, the 2018 is simply impeccable. The purity of the flavors is striking. Cedar, sweet pipe tobacco, mint, and dried herbs add striking perfume to a core of supple red berry fruit. In a word: fabulous. ~92 Vinous Media.