Producer profile: Domaine de Chevalier & 12 wines tasted

Domaine de Chevalier reflects the charismatic nature of tireless owner Olivier Bernard, 63, whose energy impresses everyone who meets him.

‘Olivier is a great connoisseur with a mouthwatering way of life,’ says Michael Grimm, of German importer Bacchus Wines. ‘You taste and enjoy his vision to produce one of the most delicious and best Bordeaux wines for clients and connoisseurs all over the world.’

Scroll down to see notes and scores of 12 white and red wines from Domaine de Chevalier

After acquiring the estate in 1983, Bernard expanded the vineyard and introduced important renovations, including a new winery, with assistant Rémi Edange.

He has added other properties to his portfolio, from becoming tenant and winemaker at Domaine de la Solitude, also in Pessac-Léognan, shareholder at Château Guiraud in Sauternes and, since 2011, producing the dry white wine Clos des Lunes.

This is not an exhaustive list. He was president of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, co-wrote a book about red wines – The Magic of the 45th Parallel: The Ideal Latitude for the World’s Great Wines – and is working on a book on white wines.

He also regularly organises tasting events, such as the dinner series Tour de France, which features top wines from all over France.

In recent years, sons Hugo, 36, and Adrian, 38, have helped to manage the estate: Adrian represented Domaine de Chevalier in Shanghai and Hong Kong before returning to Bordeaux recently to work ‘on the business side’, Bernard says.

While not technical director, Hugo oversees production, from harvest to bottling. The refinement of Domaine de Chevalier has been abetted since 2002 by consultant Stéphane Derenoncourt, who is known for softer winemaking extraction.

French wine critic Bernard Burtschy praises Bernard for having ‘understood that it is necessary to build a top-notch team and to be able to delegate’.

From the gas to the brake pedal

Domaine de Chevalier is the jewel of the Bernard family crown. A rare classified growth (cru classé) in the Graves region for both red and dry white wines, its surrounding forest creates a cool microclimate – advantageous for climate change.

The reds are classically ripe, never overripe. The whites – fresh, concentrated and refined – count among the most critically acclaimed in Bordeaux.

When I tasted a horizontal of Pessac-Léognan whites of the 2000 vintage back in 2010, Domaine de Chevalier shone brightly in that warm millennial vintage, which is known more for reds than whites.

Located on a plateau of up to 60 metres above sea level, the vineyard has a wider diurnal temperature range than neighbouring estates.

Nights are cooler longer, another ally against global warming. but the estate is more susceptible to frost – no less than 17 anti-frost machines are ready each spring, says Bernard.

Climate change has been ‘very good’ up to now, Bernard says. ‘We have never seen a string of such excellent vintages,’ he says, referring to six of the last eight: 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022.

But he is preparing for future warming by replanting vines, adjusting trellising and adding cellar insulation, among other steps.

It was a different world when he arrived, having worked with former owner Claude Ricard for several years before fully taking over with Edange.

Domaine de Chevalier at a glance

History: The estate was first named Domaine de Chevalier in 1852, then purchased by Arnaud and Jean Ricard – who also owned Château Haut-Bailly and Malartic-Lagravière – in 1865. Grandson Claude Ricard took over the property in 1945. Jean Bernard and his brothers acquired the estate in 1983 and entrusted management to son Olivier Bernard, who tripled the vineyard size and added a new winery.

Surface area: 65.5ha under vine, with 6.5ha white and 60ha red.

Red grape plantings: 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 9% Petit Verdot, 2% Cabernet Franc.

White grape plantings: 70% Sauvignon Blanc, 30% Sémillon.

Average vine age: 35 years.

Soil: Gravel and black sand on clay-gravel subsoil.

Owner: Olivier Bernard.

Technical director: Thomas Stonestreet.

Winemaker: Louis de Bouglon.

Consultant: Stéphane Derenoncourt.

Organic/biodynamic conversion: Certified 100% organic for white this year and 100% organic for red wine in 2024. Currently 70% biodynamic.

Under Ricard’s stewardship, Domaine de Chevalier was included in the Graves classification established in 1953. Bernard praises Ricard as a ‘wine grower with encyclopaedic knowledge who taught me all about wine’.

But up until about 20 years ago, the norm had been cooler vintages. Chaptalisation – adding sugar to musts to increase potential alcohol – was common practice in Bordeaux.

‘Sure, we had some hot vintages, like 1989 and 1990, but they were not torrid,’ Bernard explains. ‘Back then, we had to step on the gas pedal to get ripeness; these days, we are learning to use the brakes.’

That means replacing faster-ripening Merlot with slower-ripening Cabernets. Planted to 35% Merlot back in the 1980s, the vineyard today has under 30% of this grape variety, and it will be even less in the future, Bernard says.

Leaf clearing was once systematic, but is now less frequent, because leaves protect grapes against the sun.

Bernard is also adding 80mm of insulation to cellar walls to keep temperatures cool. ‘We make wines with less acidity these days, which are more fragile, so we need lower cellar temperatures,’ he says. Furthermore, cooler cellars reduce the risk of Brettanomyces.

Towards organic and biodynamic

Record dry heat in 2022 led to a white grape harvest that ended in August.

Future harvests could take place even earlier in August, but Bernard wants to avoid that scenario, because ‘the best white wines are picked in September, with shorter days and cooler nights bringing essential aromatics’.

About 1.5ha of red grape vines are being replaced with white to prepare for the next two decades, he says.

He is reducing planting density of white grape vines from the current 10,000 vines per hectare to 8,500. ‘Lower density means more grape bunches per vine, which slows down their ripening rate’, he explains. He plans higher trellising for the whites for increased shade.

‘Climate change has compelled us to rethink the association of grape vines with terroir,’ Bernard says. But climate change has also generally made it easier to be organic, he adds.

Bernard hired Jean-Michel Comme – famous for his organic and biodynamic direction at Château Pontet-Canet in Pauillac – as consultant three years ago, and the estate makes its own compost teas and biodynamic preparations for soil fertility and plant health.

All properties, from Domaine de Chevalier to Clos des Lunes, will be certified organic for white wine this year and for red in 2024. Domaine de Chevalier is currently about 70% biodynamic.

Value for money

Industry observers often highlight Chevalier’s keen pricing.

Matthew O’Connell, CEO of the LiveTrade trading platform at Bordeaux Index in London, remarks: ‘Domaine de Chevalier offers excellent value in the context of high-quality Bordeaux and, while the wines have a good following, we think there is room for popularity to increase.

‘To an extent, we think the high scores the wines receive are perhaps somewhat unnoticed by the market.’

Domaine de Chevalier wines are ‘made for the long-term, rather than for current trends, views or scores’, adds Jeremy Stockman, managing director of Watson’s Wine in Hong Kong. ‘I think about how Olivier Bernard serves blind 40- or 50-year-old bottles and enjoys surprising us with such tastings.’

Finally, Ben Giliberti, education director for importer Calvert Woodley in Washington D.C., says: ‘Domaine de Chevalier is still rather underrated. When a lot of Graves went full-ripe, oaky and modern, Domaine de Chevalier maintained its classically restrained style; it is arguably the best and most exciting Pessac-Léognan after Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion.’

See tasting notes and scores for 12 top white and red wines from Domaine de Chevalier

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