Domaine de Chevalier rouge 2016

- 97 Punkte VINOUS, Antonio Galloni: „The 2016 Domaine de Chevalier is a thrilling wine. Dense and beautifully layeres, the 2016 is also quite a bit richer than it usually is. Cabernet Sauvignon aromatics and structure pulse through the wine. The red-toned fruit is incredibly primary at this stage. Readers should be prepared to cellar the 2016 for at least a handful of years. It has been noothing short of magnificent on the three occasions I have tasted it so far.“

- 97 Punkte JEB DUNNUCK: "As to the reds, the 2016 Domaine de Chevalier is a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, and the balance Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc that saw an extended maceration, malo in barrel, and 18 months in just 35% new French oak. This deep purple-hued beauty boasts a powerful bouquet of tobacco smoke, damp earth, gravelly, rocky minerality, wood smoke, and loads of dark fruits. Full-bodied, deep, concentrated yet incredibly elegant and seamless on the palate, it’s a legendary Chevalier in the making. While I rated this as high as 99 points on one of the four separate occasions I was able to taste it, I’m being conservative with the score. it has some upfront charm but needs 4-5 years of cellaring and will keep for 3-4 decades."

- 97 Punkte JAMES SUCKLING: "Aromas of blackberries, red and dark plums, cedar and gravel, as well as red flowers and brown-leaf tea. It offers a very sleek and powerful array of ripe dark fruit and a very plush, focused and elegant bed of fresh, fine and powerful tannins. Plenty of aging potential, this is still quite tight. A blend of 55 per cent cabernet sauvignon, 35 per cent merlot, five per cent cabernet franc and five per cent petit verdot. Try from 2024."

- 19 Punkte Rene Gabriels BORDEAUX TOTAL, Andre Kunz: "Kunz Fassprobe 17: Dichtes, tiefes, frisches, komplexes Bouquet, schwarze Kirschen, Cassis, Zimtstange, Tabak, fein Mocca, Dörrzwetschgen. Ausgewogener, dichtverwobener, duftiger, eleganter Gaumen mit viel gutem Tannin, kräftiger, süsser Frucht, dichter Aromatik, eleganter Struktur, sehr langer, aromatischer Abgang."

- 96 Punkte und "Cellar Selection" WINE ENTHUSIAST, Roger Voss: "This elegant wine wears its firm tannic structure lightly. It is densely textured, just starting on its road to maturity. Black-plum and berry fruits give the wine its weight as much as the tannins. It will age well over many years. Drink from 2026."

- 96 Punkte WINESPECTATOR, James Molesworth: "The core of fruit flavor here is sappy and dense, with lots of kirsch, raspberry pâte de fruit and plum reduction notes, yet this stays fresh and racy overall, with a bright iron spine, flashes of tea and tobacco and a long finish that shows a wonderful infusion of alder and tobacco flavors. Offers a lovely combination of prodigious fruit details, with a tug of earth. Best from 2024 through 2038."

- 96 Punkte DECANTER, Jane Anson: "The nose is a little less open at this stage than some of the others, but it’s clearly hiding layers of complexity. Chevalier suits a year like 2016, when the fruit was able to take its time to ripen. It's notably more tannic than most of the other wines in the line up, and will take its time to come round. It has brooding cassis and blackberry fruit, firm tannins and touches of tobacco and smoked sarments. There's no question that this will age well. Drinking Window 2025 – 2042"

- 95 Punkte VINOUS, Neal Martin: "The 2016 Domaine de Chevalier is a classy affair on the nose: nothing ambitious or self-aggrandizing, just beautifully defined black fruit laced with pine needles and wilted irises. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red fruit, filigreed tannin, pitch-perfect acidity and a captivating sense of mineralité toward the persistent finish. This is an outstanding Domaine de Chevalier, possessing a surfeit of pedigree and breeding."

- 94 Punkte FALSTAFF, Peter Moser: "Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, opaker Kern, dezente Randaufhellung, zarte Edelholzwürze, reife schwarze Kirschen, tabakige Nuancen, mineralisch unterlegt. Saftig, elegant, feines Brombeerkonfit, präsente, integrierte Tannine, würzig und anhaltend, extraktsüßer Abgang, sicheres Reifepotenzial."

- 94+ Punkte Robert Parkers WINE ADVOCATE, Lisa Perrotti-Brown: "The 2016 Domaine de Chevalier is a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 5% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple colored, it rocks up with expressive warm plums, blueberry compote and cassis scents with suggestions of sandalwood, baking spices and potpourri. Medium-bodied and delicately styled yet with a rock-solid frame of grainy tannins, it sports restrained earth-laced fruit and a long finish."

- 17,5 Punkte JANCIS ROBINSON, Julia Harding: "Deep purple-rimmed crimson. Intense aroma that is very pure cassis and cassis leaf – but fully ripe – and just a hint of oak sweetness, and a hint of something more wild like elderberry. Gorgeous on the palate, richly fruited, rounded, deep and perfectly balanced for a long life but relatively early approachability."