Looking for 1985 and earlier
Mark, I have a line bottle of 82. If you want it, it’s yours.
Hey Jordan, if Mark doesn’t take it and it’s open I would be interested.
Thanks!
Mark – I have a couple of 1982 with which I could part. Let me know. k
Thanks all. I have a couple of bottles of the 1982 intended for tastings, but the wine is not a great or even a good DDC. There is some variation, with a few ok bottles, but what should have been a great vintage for them was marred by some local hail storms.
Mark, have a bottle for you, 1970, perfect condition, for 51 years of age, this October!
In my opinion, this is the greatest vintage produced by Domaine de Chevalier (rouge) until the 2005! Perhaps the 1990 is up there, but time will tell!
Label is in excellent condition and the fill is lower NECK!
$275.00
DOMAINE de CHEVALIER
Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux, France
Ownership-74.1 acres, 7,000 cases produced
Average age of vines, fifty five years
65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 2.5% Cabernet Franc & 2.5% Petit Verdot
1970-You really cannot go wrong with this, one of the great wines of the vintage. Consistent notes here with previous bottles – that gorgeous, rather aristocratic bouquet of cigar box, sous-bois, iodine and mint that is well defined. The palate has great structure and still plenty of fruit to get your gums around. It is very “classic” in style with cedar and tobacco notes, earthy and foursquare but with persistency and length. It epitomizes great old claret and this is easily the best bottle that I have encountered. Drink now to 2025+. Last tasted, 11/12. Rating 93. Neal Martin
Domaine de Chevalier hides in a pine forest at the western edge of northern Graves. This part of Graves, known since 1987 as Pessac- Léognan, is the frontline for the battle of vineyards against the suburbs of Bordeaux. At the northern point, the two sit uncomfortably together, with the illustrious Chateau Haut-Brion and its counterparts, Laville, La Mission and Latour Haut Brion, encircled by suburban streets. Tucked away in the south/western corner, shielded by trees (which can make the property very difficult to locate when visiting) is Domaine de Chevalier. Although many chateaux in the southern Médoc and Graves have centuries of history, viticulture only developed at Domaine de Chevalier during the 19th Century. The chateau was purchased by the Ricard family in 1865, who acquired an estate used for a mixture of agriculture and raising livestock. It was Jean Ricard that first extended the small vineyard, but it was his son-in-law Gabriel Beaumartin, who took control after Ricard’s death in 1900, that began to build up the reputation of the wine. The Ricard family kept the property until 1983, eventually under the guidance of Claude Ricard, who oversaw Domaine de Chevalier produce some of its greatest wines, both red and white, during the mid-20th Century. Domaine de Chevalier then passed, sadly due to disagreements within the Ricard family, to Olivier Bernard, who ran a distilling company. Over the past two decades, Domaine de Chevalier has continued to produce classic wines of breed, balance and elegance. These are structured, classically styled wines which need cellar time and do not necessarily flatter with plump fruit early on in their development. The soil at Domaine de Chevalier is gravel, close to a metre thick in places. This is nutritionally destitute soil, well drained, and eminently suitable therefore, for the vine. Of 80 ha there are currently 38 ha planted up (of which 5 ha are white varieties), the vines having an average age of 25 years, planted at a density of 10,000 vines per hectare, and trained using the traditional Double Guyot method. The red varieties are Cabernet Sauvignon 65% and Cabernet Franc 5%, the remainder Merlot and Petit Verdot. There is careful sorting during the harvest, followed by up to three weeks of cuvaison then temperature controlled fermentation. Both red and white wines see a period of time in oak, 35% new for the white, 50% new for the red. Fining is egg white for the red followed by a light filtration. The estate produces red wines as per the 1959 Graves classification. Domaine de Chevalier is a true connoisseur’s wine.
Donn
I drank a bottle of 1970 DdC recently, purchased directly from Duclot in Bordeaux last summer.
Very good, but not as good as VCC, which is close to the same cost.
Was offered and purchased some 1970 DDC, so I am good there but thanks Donn.
Good to know the VCC is great, since there are few notes on it. I do have a few bottles and will post a note when I drink one in the Fall.