Grands crus atlas
Area under vine at the estate, from its technical sheet — it does not change from one vintage to the next. Each vintage’s blend, by contrast, departs from it: that figures on its own page.
Located in Léognan, the capital of the Graves, the Domaine de Chevalier has a very long history. It appears as early as 1783 on the map of Pierre de Belleyme, geographer-engineer to Louis XVI.
In 1983 the property was acquired by the Bernard family, France's leading spirits producer and a major merchant of Bordeaux wines. Since then the estate has been run by Olivier Bernard, supported by his team.
Under his leadership the spirit of balance, rigour and constant search for perfection lives on, and has marked the production of this cru of excellence for more than 140 years.
Domaine de Chevalier red is today one of the flagships of the Grands Crus Classés of Bordeaux.
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.
Alcohol, yield and vine age are those of the 2025 vintage; they vary from year to year. Only the area above stays stable from one vintage to the next.
| Vintage | Best score | Vintage character | Technical sheet |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | A dry, bright summer, tempered by cool nights, gave pure, balanced wines, more classic than sun-drenched. | fiche · PDF |
| 2024 | — | A rainy spring and a difficult flowering reduced the crop; the dry October saved fine, light, easy-drinking wines. | fiche · PDF |
| 2023 | — | July mildew followed by a hot September demanded strict selection: fleshy, aromatic wines, more approachable than 2022. | PDF français · PDF anglais · PDF français — blanc · PDF anglais — blanc · PDF français — esprit-blanc · PDF anglais — esprit-blanc · PDF français — esprit-rouge · PDF anglais — esprit-rouge |
| 2022 | — | Three heatwaves and extreme drought gave, against all odds, wines of exceptional concentration without harshness — the great sun-drenched year. | PDF français · PDF anglais · PDF français — blanc · PDF anglais — blanc · PDF français — esprit-blanc · PDF anglais — esprit-blanc · PDF français — esprit-rouge · PDF anglais — esprit-rouge |
| 2021 | — | Frost, mildew, then a cool summer brought back Bordeaux of old: taut, vibrant wines, shorter but elegant. | PDF français · PDF anglais · PDF français — blanc · PDF anglais — blanc · PDF français — esprit-blanc · PDF anglais — esprit-blanc · PDF français — esprit-rouge · PDF anglais — esprit-rouge |
| 2020 | — | An early, hot year, with a harvest under pressure: a dense, juicy classic, ripe without heaviness. | PDF français · PDF anglais · PDF français — blanc · PDF anglais — blanc · PDF français — esprit-blanc · PDF anglais — esprit-blanc · PDF français — esprit-rouge · PDF anglais — esprit-rouge |
| 2019 | — | A hot end of summer after a rainy spring gave wines that hold ripeness and freshness together; the cabernets shine here. | PDF français · PDF anglais · PDF français — blanc · PDF anglais — blanc · PDF français — esprit-blanc · PDF anglais — esprit-blanc · PDF français — esprit-rouge · PDF anglais — esprit-rouge |
| 2018 | — | After a spring marked by mildew, the heat concentrated a small crop: rich, ripe wines with great depth of material. | PDF français · PDF anglais · PDF français — blanc · PDF anglais — blanc · PDF français — esprit-blanc · PDF anglais — esprit-blanc · PDF français — esprit-rouge · PDF anglais — esprit-rouge |
| 2017 | — | 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. | PDF français · PDF anglais · PDF français — blanc · PDF anglais — blanc |
| 2016 | — | A very wet winter followed by a sun-drenched summer produced a rare balance, combining the depth of great years with genuine freshness. | PDF français · PDF anglais · PDF français — blanc · PDF anglais — blanc · PDF français — esprit-blanc · PDF anglais — esprit-blanc · PDF français — esprit-rouge · PDF anglais — esprit-rouge |
| 2015 | — | A hot summer tempered by August rains gave expansive wines, with rounded tannins and generous fruit. | PDF français · PDF anglais · PDF français — blanc · PDF anglais — blanc |
| 2012 | — | A late cycle closing with rain gave an uneven vintage: the cabernets hold up, the merlots remain taut. | fiche · PDF |
| 2011 | — | A scorching spring followed by a wet August turned the seasons upside down: classic wines, shorter but true to type. | fiche · PDF |
| 2010 | — | A dry summer and cool nights concentrated small berries: a benchmark vintage, with dense tannins and a thirty-year aging potential. | fiche · PDF |
| 2009 | — | A sun-drenched season from start to finish gave opulent, fleshy wines, immediately appealing yet built for the cellar. | fiche · PDF |
| 2008 | — | A bright late season saved a cool summer: wines of unexpected freshness and aromatic precision. | fiche · PDF |
| 2007 | — | A cool, wet summer demanded strict selection: light, delicious wines, to be drunk young. | fiche · PDF |
| 2006 | — | Rain at véraison followed by a dry September gave classic, balanced wines with fine freshness, without the density of 2005. | fiche · PDF |
| 2005 | — | Drought without any halt in ripening, together with cool nights, gave a legendary vintage: concentrated, with firm tannins and very long aging potential. | fiche · PDF |
| 2004 | — | High yields and a dry September gave a classic, unexaggerated vintage, straightforward, now at its peak. | fiche · PDF |
| 2003 | — | The historic heatwave halted ripening in young vines: very ripe, low-acid wines, at their best in Saint-Estèphe, where the clays held on to freshness. | fiche · PDF |
“Best score”: the highest score recorded for this wine, with its source. “Character”: the overall reading of the year across the appellation, which an estate may depart from.
The estate’s grand vin and other cuvées, vintage by vintage: VinCod sheet and printable PDF.
Availability, allocations and terms: the Compagnie Médocaine will reply. The estate is already filled in; please specify the vintage you want.
The texts below copy in one click for your product sheets, catalogues and social channels. The printable sheet condenses the whole page onto a single A4 page.
For this vintage, the media library contains: packshots, labels. High-definition packshots, labels, back labels and lifestyle photos are reserved for clients and partners, on the Compagnie Médocaine’s VinCod media library.
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