Domaine de Chevalier Blanc 2014

The nose is fresh the start of the palate bright with high acidity. There seems to be a lack of sweetness in the middle with lemon very much in evidence at the back firm and quite hard. 2016-22

This doesn't quite scale the same heights as the very best vintages of this delicious white blend, but it's still impressive, showing attractive, lees-derived creaminess, notes of pear, candlewax and lemon zest, some struck match and plenty of acidity. It just needs a little more concentration.

The 2014 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc is a beautiful white Pessac-Léognan. It offers a very succinct and focused bouquet of dew-speckled Granny Smiths, then flint and wet limestone, certainly a more stony bouquet than overt fruit. The palate is well balanced with crisp acidity, exquisite balance, the citrus fruit dappled with white pepper and spices, but everything very judicious and nuanced. It offers wonderful persistence in the mouth, basically a class act that comes strongly recommended. Drink Date 2018-2040

The Domaine de Chevalier Blanc is a blend of 75% Sauvignon Blanc and 25% Sémillon matured in around 40% new oak, with a low pH, Olivier Bernard remarking that it was close to 3.0. It has an almost clinical nose, extremely well defined, Zen-like at first with scents of flint and cold granite, stone rather than fruit. The palate is fresh on the entry with crisp acidity, though it is not shrill. It is very focused, "minimalist" Domaine de Chevalier that Olivier remarked is perhaps the best he has ever made. Perhaps he is right. There is a Burgundy like sense of terroir coming through here, a wine that perhaps does not wish to conform to the Bordeaux stereotype of what a white Pessac-Léognan should be. So it's a bit of a sui generis, a one-off, and you'll love it.

A solid and muscular Domaine de Chevalier with layers of fruit. Very dense, loads of flavor. Full body, bright acidity and a long, long finish. Tangy acidity. It lasts for minutes.