Domaine de Chevalier, 1983 – 2022
“The years go by, and no two are alike. If there is one area where this basic truth takes on its full meaning, it is in wine. It’s true that only a vertical tasting can provide an intimate insight into a great terroir, with its strengths and weaknesses, its sensitivities and its deep roots. After forty vintages, I still know little about the great complex terroir that is Chevalier. But what I have learned is that elegance trumps power. The extra soul that makes the difference between a good wine and a great wine comes not from power but from elegance. I’m talking about this finesse, without being light or thin, that adds an extra dimension to a great wine, that of dreams and emotions.”
– Olivier Bernard, Domaine de Chevalier, 2023
Delay, after delay, after delay.
We were circling over London Gatwick Airport, one more in a sequence of hold-ups. The plane had been late arriving; the boarding had been painfully slow, delayed by ticket confusions and somebody trying to get on the wrong plane; and once on board an air traffic control restriction held us back. Why? It seems King Charles III had decided to visit Bordeaux on the same day as me (they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery – perhaps he is a subscriber?) and apparently the departure of the royal flight took priority.
And now, as we circled, waiting for a landing slot at the UK’s second busiest airport, the minutes continued to tick away. It was looking increasingly likely that I would miss my connection, as my onward flight to Edinburgh was scheduled to depart in less than an hour.
In a (perhaps rare) moment of sang froid I accepted that, being at an altitude of 33,000 feet with no phone or wi-fi, that there was absolutely nothing I could do about my situation. I closed my eyes, sank back into the seat, and instead I allowed images of the past two days of tasting to fill my mind, images which conjured up – to plagiarise the words of Olivier Bernard – extra dimensions of dreams and emotions.
Forty Years of Olivier Bernard
One of the leading estates in the Pessac-Léognan appellation, Domaine de Chevalier can trace its origins back to at least the 18th century, when vines were first planted here. During the centuries that followed it has had, in essence, just two owners. The first was the Ricard family, starting with Arnaud and Jean Ricard who acquired the property in 1865. “Jean Ricard”, says Olivier Bernard (pictured), “was the true creator of the estate.”
The property remained with the Ricard family for 120 years, passing first to a son-in-law Gabriel Beaumartin, before Claude Ricard took the reins in 1948. His tenure was significant, as he set about improving the vineyards, cellars and the quality of the wine. He was a much-admired figure in the region; for a glimpse of why this was I will direct you to the profile penned by Fiona Beeston (of Clos des Capucins) in The Wine Men (Sinclair-Stevenson Ltd, 1991), in which Fiona casts her spotlight on a number of interesting wine characters that influenced her thinking on wine, including alongside Claude Ricard the likes of Charles Joguet and Pierre Jacques Druet. And for more detail on the estate’s history, there is on course my Domaine de Chevalier profile.
