2000 Domaine de Chevalier

The 2000 Domaine de Chevalier is deep in color. It has a precocious bouquet of black cherries, blueberry, red currant and violets, very well defined and focused; there is real panache here. The palate is medium-bodied, stocky and quite foursquare at the moment, with dry-ish tannins – what you might call a “masculine” wine. Quite briny and marine-influenced, this exerts a firm grip and certainly would benefit from either decanting or further bottle age.

The 2000 Domaine de Chevalier has long been one of my favourite wines and now at 16 years of age, it continues to live up to expectations. It has a beautiful nose, so lively and vivacious, with black plum and blackberry, cedar and damp undergrowth scents, an undercurrent of tobacco. The palate is medium-bodied with impressive definition, a fine thread of acidity, though still backward and intimating that there is "much more in the tank." The structure is wonderful here, though it does not quite deliver the length you might expect, which compelled me to dock a couple of points. The bottom line: it's a great Pessac-Léognan with a 30-40 year lifespan. Tasted January 2016.