Domaine de Chevalier Blanc 2022

Crafted in the famed Pessac-Léognan appellation of Graves, Bordeaux, L'Esprit de Chevalier Blanc is the highly acclaimed second white wine of the iconic Grand Cru Classé estate Domaine de Chevalier. A traditional blend dominated by Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, it undergoes fermentation and barrel aging in French oak to build complexity and texture. It reveals inviting aromas of lemon curd, ripe white peach, honeycomb, honeysuckle, and toasted brioche. On the palate, it is medium-to-full-bodied, elegant, and creamy, balanced by vibrant natural acidity and a long, flinty, mineral finish.

Food Pairing: Serve chilled; pairs exceptionally well with pan-seared sea bass, lobster thermidor, roasted poultry, creamy calf sweetbreads, mushroom risotto, and aged goat cheese.

99 Points - James Suckling
Very complex aromas of pears, persimmons, honey and cooked apples. Mineral undertones. Always subtle and multidimensional. Full-bodied with a tight and dense middle palate that gives a superb mouthfeel. It's lively and flavorful at the end but in a reserved way. Just a hint of bitter lemon and lilac. I really want to drink this, but give it three or four years to reach the right place.

98 Points - Jeb Dunnuck
Based on 70% Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Semillon that spent nine months in barrel, the 2022 Domaine De Chevalier Blanc is a brilliant white revealing a vivid gold hue as well as bright citrus, crushed stone, mint, and honeysuckle-driven nuances. Pure, focused, and elegant, it has remarkable balance, integrated acidity, medium to full body, and a beautifully layered texture.

96 Points - Vinous
The 2022 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc is quite dense on the palate. Pear, apricot, spice, white flowers and lightly honeyed notes build in the glass. Even in this brutally warm year, the Blanc retains a good bit of energy. As readers know, the Blanc is a rare white that demands cellaring to be at its very best. Its age-worthiness will be measured in decades.

95 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc has turned out brilliantly in bottle, wafting from the glass with aromas of pear, jasmine, white flowers, spring blossoms and spices. Medium to full-bodied, layered and enveloping, it's charming and sappy with a dense structure, bright acids, gastronomic bitterness and a long, saline and mouthwatering finish. Confirming my expectations, this blend of 70% Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Sémillon is one of the best white wines of the vintage. It should gain harmony with age.

95 Points - Wine Spectator
This is lovely from the get-go, delivering a sensation of shimmering, wet pebbles, plus fresh thyme, oyster shell, quinine and Key lime zest notes that streak and glide at the same time. The long, unadorned finish hums like a tuning fork. Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon.

94 Points - Decanter
Round, full, compelling, charming and confident, this has a width and density that is really well worked, calm, not super vibrant but really rich in terms of fruit expression with coolness, white stone fruit flavours and some subtle toasting. Feels structured and well worked, serious but not as tense as many with more fruit persistence and depth than a lot of the whites this year. Perhaps missing a touch of acidity but this is very good indeed and ends with a zestiness that is really appealing. Tasted twice.