Domaine de Chevalier 1998

Licorice, blackberry, grilled meat and lightly toasted oak. Turns to flowers. Full-bodied, with very silky tannins, pretty fruit and a delicate finish. Fabulous nose, but more reserved on the finish. -- '88/'98 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2008). Drink now. 7,000 cases made.

Cigar, cedar, tobacco, charcoal, something quite toasted and woody on the nose, but with heady, ripe fruit in a good way – inviting. Really quite fragrant too. Thick, rich, layered and ripe, tannins fill the mouth with juiciness but also a chalky feel, giving a push-and-pull of dry aspects with ripe fruit. Juicy. One of the more plush wines in this flight, but the juiciness matches really well. Fun, playful, not taking itself too seriously. A good time to drink this; it feels perhaps a touch tired, but there’s still great juiciness and succulence with a mouthwatering mineral grip edged by salt and flint – perhaps a little too mineral on the finish. But there’s lots to like here.

Quite dark with a pale rim. Sweet, evolved nose – very ‘classic’. Fully evolved but nicely balanced. Great lunchtime claret for now! (JR)

Fully mature, the wine is medium bodied, elegant, soft, fresh and charming. The tobacco, smoke, cherry, earth and cigar box aromatics are right where it needs to be. Feminine, with more on the nose than on the discreet palate, this is ready for consumption.

Gently brightening garnet-cherry red, with a fine rim on the outside. On the nose, a gorgeous, intense berry bouquet, vanilla, red-berried fruit, still gently dried by the barriques, wood shavings, vanilla. On the palate, extremely fine, with a silky texture, finely integrated tannins, feminine and elegant, with a dreamlike length. A Lafite from Pessac-Léognan that can certainly gain another point in four or five years.

99: Barrel sample (17/20): expansive bouquet, wild berries, strawberry note, almost a Richebourg affinity in its basic expression, giving it a Burgundian touch on the nose. Juicy, creamy palate, soft, caressing extract, lots of lingonberries and red cherries, finishing very elegantly. A Lafite from Pessac-Léognan, could still gain a point. 02: Gently brightening garnet-cherry red, fine rim on the edge. Wonderful, intense berry bouquet, vanilla, red-berried fruit, still gently dry from the barrique, wood shavings, vanilla. Extremely fine on the palate, silky texture, well-integrated tannins, a feminine, elegant wine with dreamlike length. In four or five years it will break through the point limit currently assigned. (17/20). 09: A Balthazar bottle at the Metzgete. How many liters does a Balthazar bottle hold again, you may ask. Take comfort, I always have to look it up too. It’s 12 liters. And these 12 liters—along with another 10 large formats—were shared among exactly 30 people. That’s why I call the Impériale-Metzge a combat drinkers’ event. And how did this Domaine de Chevalier taste? Simply magnificent. Young with lots of red cherry fruit and almost a slightly milky note in the flow. You can still buy this thing today (and by that I mean standard bottles) and the wine costs almost nothing if you can find it somewhere. So buy it and be happy. The fun is now so great that you almost don’t feel like setting a few bottles aside. (18/20). 15: Now beautiful to enjoy. A soft, charming Chevalier.

Lactic, sweet, fruity bouquet with cherries and mocha yogurt. Medium-bodied, soft palate with a gentle structure, good aromatics, and fine tannins. Long, sweet finish. 17/20 to drink.

Dark red colour. Lively. Intense. Beautiful. Nose of medium intensity. Smoky. Fruity. Finely toasted. Clean attack, fruity and soft, developing on a structure with a fine mouthfeel and medium body. Slow, juicy, flavoursome tannic evolution, fairly elegant, leading to a structured, fruity finish with fine oak notes and fine-grained tannins. Very slight liveliness. Long.

This dark ruby-colored Domaine de Chevalier reveals aggressive, spicy new oak on the nose, along with notes of tobacco, smoke, and black cherries. While medium-bodied and stylish, it lacks the depth needed to rank among the stars of the vintage. Anticipated maturity: 2002-2015.