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Like many top châteaux, they concentrate their reds naturally and gently in some years by "bleeding" off some of the juice ("saignée"), so that there is more skin contact with what remains. This worked well in 2006 which produced a punchy wine with pure fruit flavours of crunchy cherry and plum. Its youthful exuberance is displayed in its textured tannins and refreshing finish. Though not as deep or broad as the 2005, it will still make a lovely drink.
Like many top châteaux, they concentrate their reds naturally and gently in some years by "bleeding" off some of the juice ("saignée"), so that there is more skin contact with what remains. This worked well in 2006 which produced a punchy wine with pure fruit flavours of crunchy cherry and plum. Its youthful exuberance is displayed in its textured tannins and refreshing finish. Though not as deep or broad as the 2005, it will still make a lovely drink.
The brilliant St.-Emilion-based consultant, Stephane Derenoncourt, is working his magic at this great vineyard in Leognan. The 2006, a blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, is a revelation of sweet, lush, black raspberry and black currant fruit intermixed with subtle notes of scorched earth and barbecue spices. Round, luscious, sexy, and exceptionally complex, the wine is dominated by that smoky minerality that comes from this area. It is the quintessentially elegant yet substantial Pessac-Leognan with class, complexity, and potential. Despite wanting to drink most of the bottle when I was tasting it, I know it will be even better with 2-4 years of bottle age, and should keep for two decades. Drink: 2011 - 2031
Major progress is being made at Domaine de Chevalier as the wines are revealing less overt oak as well as better integration of all the wines' structural components. The 2006 possesses a savory,subtle nose of lead pencil shavings, sweet black cherries, currants, and earth. Pure, medium-bodied, and elegant with supple tannin, and substantial flavor interest and length, it should drink beautifully in 3-4 years, and last for 15-20. Drink: 2010 - 2027
Sweet oaky notes weigh the nose of this wine down. A little angular but very fresh. Definitely not a heavyweight but sweet and racy and quite sinewy. Longer term than most red Graves but very dry tannins on the finish. Very angular for the moment - made ambitiously with no holds barred for the very long term.
Stretching from the rather unglamorous southern suburbs of Bordeaux, for 50 km along the left bank of the river Garonne, lies Graves. Named for its gravelly soil, a relic of Ice Age glaciers, this is the birthplace of claret, despatched from the Middle Ages onwards from the nearby quayside to England in vast quantities. It can feel as though Bordeaux is just about red wines, but some sensational white wines are produced in this area from a blend of sauvignon blanc, Semillon and, occasionally, muscadelle grapes, often fermented and aged in barrel. In particular, Domaine de Chevalier is renowned for its superbly complex whites, which continue to develop in bottle over decades. A premium appellation, Pessac-Leognan, was created in 1987 for the most prestigious terroirs within Graves. These are soils with exceptional drainage, made up of gravel terraces built up in layers over many millennia, and consequently thrive in mediocre vintages but are less likely to perform well in hotter years. These wines were appraised and graded in their own classification system in 1953 and updated in 1959, but, like the 1855 classification system, this should be regarded with caution and the wines must absolutely be assessed on their own current merits.
