Domaine de Chevalier 2017

The 2017 vintage in Pessac-Léognan

Vintage benchmark: 85/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: April frost cut the crop in half: the plots that were spared give fine, classic wines, and the vintage must be judged estate by estate.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Pessac-Léognan. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.

Tasting

Intense and brilliant Bordeaux red colour. Open and refined nose, fruity and spicy. Ripe black cherry and blueberry dominate; fine peppery and vanilla spices blend into the bouquet. On the palate the flavour is concentrated, complex and very well balanced. Roundness and suppleness of structure, with very beautiful dense, fine and noble tannins. No weakness; on the contrary, a great deal of energy and freshness. Superb fruity, very elegant finish. Great purity of ripeness and balance for a wine that needs to evolve (10 years) in the cellar.

The vintage

The frosts of late April (particularly that of the 27th) ultimately reduced the crop unevenly: some areas were devastated and others, fortunately, spared, such as the historic plateau in front of the Domaine, which benefited from early ripeness and a reasonable yield. Very early flowering from 15 to 22 May, followed by an exceptionally hot and sunny June. The weather in July and August preserved freshness. All varieties ripened early and all harvests finished early, in September.

Red harvest: 11 to 30 September.

Blend of the 2017 vintage

Figures from the 2017 sheet

• 13 % vol.Alcohol
• 34 hl/haYield
• 35 yrsVine age
• 100,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

Hand-picked into small crates, with careful sorting in the vineyard and then in the cellar before and after destemming. Three vat rooms (stainless steel, tulip-shaped concrete and wooden vats) to optimise plot selection, perfect extraction and refine the blend.

Ageing

Aged in barrels (grand vin), one third new oak, for 16 to 18 months, with lees stirring during the first 4 months.

Terroir

The overall structure of the Chevalier soils takes the form of a layer of black gravelly sand with an average thickness of 60 to 90 cm. Variations in the thickness and depth of the gravel vein create a mosaic of soils that calls for very fine plot-by-plot management, even though the whole shows an evident homogeneity. Overall, these soils are acidic, poor and very free-draining. The very rich subsoil is made up of a clay-gravel base mixed with alios (iron pan), into which the vine roots deeply, thus overcoming the water variations caused by the climate. Vine growth and grape ripening therefore proceed in a remarkably regular manner.