Tobacco, dark fruit and earth on the nose. The palate shows exceptional balance, with incisive acidity and precise dark fruit that are deeply appealing for their harmony. A blend of 55% cabernet sauvignon, 35% merlot, 5% cabernet franc and 5% petit verdot. This is appealing now, but it will evolve wonderfully. Drink now or hold. 10 Years On retrospective.
98 points, Jacobo García Andrade, James Suckling (Jan 2026)
As to the reds, the 2016 Domaine de Chevalier is a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, and the balance Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc that saw an extended maceration, malo in barrel, and 18 months in just 35% new French oak. This deep purple-hued beauty boasts a powerful bouquet of tobacco smoke, damp earth, gravelly, rocky minerality, wood smoke, and loads of dark fruits. Full-bodied, deep, concentrated yet incredibly elegant and seamless on the palate, it’s a legendary Chevalier in the making. While I rated this as high as 99 points on one of the four separate occasions I was able to taste it, I’m being conservative with the score. it has some upfront charm but needs 4-5 years of cellaring and will keep for 3-4 decades.
97 points, Jeb Dunnuck (Feb 2019)
The 2016 Domaine de Chevalier is a thrilling wine. Dense and beautifully layered, the 2016 is also quite a bit richer than it usually is. Cabernet Sauvignon aromatics and structure pulse through the wine. The red-toned fruit is incredibly primary at this stage. Readers should be prepared to cellar the 2016 for at least a handful of years. It has been nothing short of magnificent on the three occasions I have tasted it so far.
97 points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous (Jan 2019)
This is fabulous, exactly what you're looking for from a Chevalier in a year like 2016. Built, muscular but graceful and toned, full of Left Bank slate, cassis, cocoa bean and cigar box. In its drinking window but with plenty of life ahead. Carafe because those tannins are already, even at 10 years old, beginning to throw a deposit.
97 points, Jane Anson (Feb 2026)
Ripe and seriously fragranced on the nose, heady and inviting. A bit more strict and tight than the 2015, plenty of juice, but this has tension and is constricted a little bit by the frame and the saltiness. 2015 is more expressive, this is quiet and still hiding a little. Lovely form and structure, you can feel the sinew and the construction, graceful and shining. It's absolutely gorgeous, the clarity and the purity really transport you, beautiful, impressive, charming and characterful. Needs more time but with a good airing you could enjoy this today. I like the delicacy to the tannins, the integration with the fruit and the edges of sweet and savoury spice as well as the estate minerality underneath. Feels compelling. A fabulous wine. 5% Petit Verdot completes the blend.
97 points, Georgina Hindle, Decanter (Sep 2023)
The core of fruit flavor here is sappy and dense, with lots of kirsch, raspberry pâte de fruit and plum reduction notes, yet this stays fresh and racy overall, with a bright iron spine, flashes of tea and tobacco and a long finish that shows a wonderful infusion of alder and tobacco flavors. Offers a lovely combination of prodigious fruit details, with a tug of earth. Best from 2024 through 2038. 12,000 cases made.
96 points, James Molesworth, Wine Spectator (Mar 2019)
#23 - Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2019
In this wine, rich tannins are beautifully polished by the 16 to 20 months in wood. The black fruits, from the 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, are structured, giving the wine considerable potential. Still coming into balance, the wine will likely be ready from 2027.
96 points, Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast (Jul 2022)
The 2016 Domaine de Chevalier has a spicy and classic, crunchy nose, being a fruity and cedary, very fine, elegant and fresh wine. There is something very classic and eternal over this vintage of Domaine de Chevalier as it provides pure aristocratic, silky elegance rather than raw power. You can approach this beauty now but it should provide fine drinking over the next 25+ years as well.
96 points, Ivar Bjurner, Wine Independent (Jan 2026)
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