Love for Domaine Chevalier

[Robert.A.Jr]

Jeff my local guy has the 2015 L’Esprit for $28.99. Decent for everyday?

[Gerhard_P]

… I remember the Pavie 1999 and Magdelaine 1998 which we tasted together in Bordeaux. All the subtlety of the Magdelaine completely escaped you, instead you told me I was wrong for not liking the Pavie.
…

Quite out of context … and in no response to anybody … but just fwiw

I´ve tasted the Pavie 2016 last week (blind) and it was the best right bank that night, imho superior to La MissionHB (in the same flight) and Beausejour-B. … I didn´t recognize Pavie and even though it to be quite traditional (oak not obtrusive) …
Left bank Pontet-Canet was marvellous, better than Mouton … and Ducru-B. was also stunning.

[Keith_Levenberg]

KEITH LEVENBERG WROTE:
99 points
August 8, 2012 - Instant Graves goodness, no doubt about where this one is coming from. Such detailed, complex aromatics - mixing smokiness with something mealy along with the enticing scent of something flambéeing in a pan. All of that and more show up on the palate which billows with smoke as if the wine had just set up a barbecue pit in your mouth. The material here is so ethereal it’s almost incorporeal, feels like a direct transmission of Graves with the wine itself barely there as a physical medium.

Edged out the '24 Ch. Margaux opened the same night:

DOA. This had the most disgusting stench I’ve ever smelled in a wine. A few people called it bubblegum but that wasn’t it. It was more like bubblegum that had stuck to the bottom of your shoe and then traipsed all over a New York City sidewalk for a couple years. I literally could not bring myself to put this in my mouth since it seemed like it might actually make me sick. Zero points.

no great wines, only great bottles, yadda yadda…

[Claus_Jeppesen]

Olivier sells wine, what do you expect him to say?

Have you ever spoken with Olivier? Yes he has wine to sell. And with some owners, I take what they say with a grain of salt.

I find Olivier refreshingly honest in his views. If you haven’t ever chatted with him, if you go to a UGC function, try and spend a few minutes with him. He’s equally interesting, candid and charming.

FWIW… 14 is nice at DDC. But 15, 16 and 18 are all better. For the slight uptick, those later vintages are better buys than the 2014.

I don’t know if you or me (also) got a yak palate
But to my t taste the 1995 is superior to the 2015. And will be so in the coming years
Same goes for the 1975 and 1989 and 1990
It is not a big deal to obtain these wines in EU

[Mark_Golodetz]

I don’t know if you or me (also) got a yak palate

It’s you Claus. Many fine wine journalists agree with Jeff

[Howard_Cooper]

Current DDC tends to be less distinctive than in years past, thanks to its consultant, Dererencourt. The wines are still very good, but lack that terroir complexity I find in older wines. Haut Bailly is a better substitute. Cheap but good is Malartic La Graviere. If you like a more modern feel, then Smith Haut Lafitte.

To be honest, for me, the wines of DDC are way below the quality of their wines of the past. They were magnificent, very close to first growth quality. We did a vertical a couple of years back, 1953 to 1988, and it was revelation. The reason there is relatively little older DDC around is that the people at the tasting scooped up every older wine they could find, and continue to look for them.

Mark,

What is the dividing line in vintages? This thread shows why Bordeaux today is such a minefield.

[Mark_Golodetz]

Around 1995. Dererrncourt came later but the wines were tailing offa little.

[Jayson_Cohen]

I would push the real transition to 2002, and I’m not as negative on 1995-2000. My understanding is Derenoncourt was there for 2001 but they took the gas off the fully modern treatment to deal with vintage, and the wine was decent (if not ready in my view) last year.

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

Olivier sells wine, what do you expect him to say?

Can we all agree 2014 strikes the balance? And it’s still cheap! Sub-$60.

The 2014 is a sultry sleeper.

[David_Bu3ker]

The 2015 is delicious.

[Jeff_Leve]

I don’t know if you or me (also) got a yak palate
But to my t taste the 1995 is superior to the 2015. And will be so in the coming years
Same goes for the 1975 and 1989 and 1990
It is not a big deal to obtain these wines in EU

Claus… if you thought we didn’t agree before… off the top of my head, I cannot think of any 95 Bordeaux that’s better than its 2015 counterpart!

And except for 75 d’Yquem and a few other Sauternes, there is no red 1975 Bordeaux I want to own in my cellar today.

It’s a hard, tannic, charmless vintage that 1995 is trying hard to emulate.

I’m still friends with Alfret. Are we still friends?

[Ryan_A]

The Smith Haut Lafitte since 2009 has been hitting it out of the park. Really great wine and at that price value ~$100.

Another is Carmes Haut Brion that has really gained in QBR in the past ten years or so.

Obviously Mission, Haut Brion at a much higher price point.

[Jayson_Cohen]

I don’t know if you or me (also) got a yak palate
But to my t taste the 1995 is superior to the 2015. And will be so in the coming years
Same goes for the 1975 and 1989 and 1990
It is not a big deal to obtain these wines in EU

And except for 75 d’Yquem and a few other Sauternes, there is no red 1975 Bordeaux I want to own in my cellar today.

It’s a hard, tannic, charmless vintage that 1995 is trying hard to emulate.

Mark, I couldn’t hold back either…

[Mark_Golodetz]

And except for 75 d’Yquem and a few other Sauternes, there is no red 1975 Bordeaux I want to own in my cellar today.

Where to begin, oh where to begin?

Well, last time I looked Yquem and other Sauternes were all white.

As for your comment about 1975 Bordeaux are concerned, yet again you are showing you really don’t understand older wines. Right Bank Bordeaux are generally extremely good, and Pomerols are extraordinary. We are not just talking Petrus, and Lafleur, but VCC, L’Evangile, Certan de May, Trotanoy, Lafleur Petrus etc etc. Turning to Saint Emilion, I have had mixed luck with Cheval, but Figeac is solid, as is Magdelaine. Not just confined to the Right Bank, but you might have heard from all those great critics whose palate you share, that La Mission was pretty good in 1975.

Medoc also has a few that I happily have in my cellar. Palmer, Ducru, Pichon Lalande, Latour (after decades of dourness) and Montrose.

[Mark_Golodetz]

I don’t know if you or me (also) got a yak palate
But to my t taste the 1995 is superior to the 2015. And will be so in the coming years
Same goes for the 1975 and 1989 and 1990
It is not a big deal to obtain these wines in EU

And except for 75 d’Yquem and a few other Sauternes, there is no red 1975 Bordeaux I want to own in my cellar today.

It’s a hard, tannic, charmless vintage that 1995 is trying hard to emulate.

Mark, I couldn’t hold back either…

You will burn in Hell for this

[David_Bu3ker]

I don’t know if you or me (also) got a yak palate
But to my t taste the 1995 is superior to the 2015. And will be so in the coming years
Same goes for the 1975 and 1989 and 1990
It is not a big deal to obtain these wines in EU

Claus… if you thought we didn’t agree before… off the top of my head, I cannot think of any 95 Bordeaux that’s better than its 2015 counterpart!

And except for 75 d’Yquem and a few other Sauternes, there is no red 1975 Bordeaux I want to own in my cellar today.

It’s a hard, tannic, charmless vintage that 1995 is trying hard to emulate.

I’m still friends with Alfret. Are we still friends?

The 1975 Latour is delicious. I had it yet again in May, and it was gorgeous.

Perhaps you have the palate of a yak.

[Marcus_Dean]

There are good people on both sides

[Howard_Cooper]

there is no red 1975 Bordeaux I want to own in my cellar today.

Jeff,

Posts like this are why I pay little to know attention to the tasting notes on your web site and on this board. I like your web site a lot for the estate information and history, but I pretty much ignore the tasting notes.

And, I like you, I just don’t think your palate and mine align very much.

[Markus_S]

Olivier sells wine, what do you expect him to say?

So we can’t trust winemakers now? I thought people got skewered for suggesting this in the past.

[Robert.A.Jr]

Olivier sells wine, what do you expect him to say?

So we can’t trust winemakers now? I thought people got skewered for suggesting this in the past.

With the sole exception of perhaps Morgan at Bedrock, I don’t think that I have ever put any weight on a winemaker’s notes. But you are correct, my statement was overly-generalized and perhaps not fair. I do not know this man.