Domaine de Chevalier Rouge, Pessac-Leognan, FR, 2023

Domaine de Chevalier Rouge 2023 — Professional Reviews & Ratings

The 2023 Domaine de Chevalier Rouge (Pessac-Léognan) received very strong professional acclaim, generally landing in the mid-to-high 90-point range. Reviewers consistently highlight its elegance, precision, mineral character, refined tannins, and long aging potential rather than sheer power.

Blend & Style

• Region: Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France
• Style: Red Bordeaux blend
• Approximate blend: Cabernet Sauvignon dominant, with Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc (published sources vary slightly between early en primeur and later bottle assessments).
• Alcohol: around 13%
• Suggested drinking window: roughly 2029–2055 depending on storage and personal preference.

Overall Professional Consensus

Critical consensus: ~95–97 points

The 2023 is viewed as a classic, refined Domaine de Chevalier: less about opulent power and more about silky texture, freshness, graphite/mineral notes, floral complexity, and Bordeaux finesse. Reviewers generally expect it to improve significantly with cellar time.

Cellaring outlook: Excellent. It should reward patience, with many reviewers expecting peak development from the early 2030s onward.

Bottom line: A highly rated vintage that appears to sit among the better recent Domaine de Chevalier releases, with particular appeal for collectors who prefer elegant, age-worthy Bordeaux over richer, more modern styles.

97-98pts James Suckling

Plenty of blackberry, blackcurrant, chocolate and flint aromas that follow through to a full body, yet it’s in check and focused with a beautiful framing of fine tannins. The purity of ripe fruit is impressive with cabernet really showing through. 63% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot, 5% petit verdot and 2% cabernet franc.

94-96pts Wine Advocate 

The 2023 Domaine de Chevalier reveals a perfumed, incipiently complex bouquet of dark wild berries, cassis, rose petals, spices and licorice. Medium to full-bodied, concentrated and rich, with a fleshy core of fruit framed by powdery tannins and bright acids, it concludes with a long, saline, gently oak-inflected finish. This blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 5% Cabernet Franc is maturing in 40% new barrels.

95 pts Jeb Dunnuck 

Deep purple-hued, the 2023 Domaine De Chevalier is a rich, concentrated, classic Graves from this great estate. Smoky blackcurrants, tobacco leaf, damp earth, and graphite all shine on the nose, and it's medium to full-bodied, with ample mid-palate depth, building tannins, and outstanding length. This aristocratic, classy, age-worthy Domaine de Chevalier deserves 3-5 years of bottle age and will cruise over the following 30 years or more. Drink 2028-2055.

94-96pts Vinous 

The 2023 Domaine de Chevalier is beautifully resonant in the glass. Deep, layered and quite persistent, the 2023 has so much to offer. In many vintages, this red needs time to be at its best, but this edition has enough forward fruit to make me think it will drink well with minimal cellaring, even if the acids remain brisk. Graphite, dried herbs, menthol, licorice and rose petal build into the tense, saline-infused finish. The 2023 is all finesse. 

-Antonio Galloni 

94-96pts The Wine Independent 

The 2023 Domaine de Chevalier has a deep garnet-purple color. It is a little broody and oaky to start, needing coaxing to bring out a gorgeous core of black cherries, redcurrants, and cassis, with underlying hints of violets and forest floor. The medium to full-bodied palate has a solid frame of firm, grainy tannins and bright acidity supporting the muscular fruit, finishing long and minerally. The blend is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, and 5% Cabernet Franc.

94-96pts Vinous 

The 2023 Domaine de Chevalier was picked from September 7th to 30th and contains 13% alcohol. This is quintessential "DdC" on the nose: black fruit, sous-bois and hints of black olives at first, subtle marine notes emerging with time in the glass. There's wonderful focus and dilineation. The palate is medium-bodied with pencil-shaving-tinged black fruit on the entry. Perhaps a bit grippier with more spine than one would expect (especially following the more sensual 2022), this is very traditional in style, with a tremendously long and satisfying saline finish. Superb. 

- Neil Martin 

95pts Jane Anson

Always one of the benchmark wines of a vintage, and here showcasing the quality of Cabernet Sauvignon in 2023 (as well as the potential for varying yields, as they are down at 30hl/h here). Well balanced, great depth of ink, cassis, bilberry and damson fruits, rises through the palate, with tannic grip and plenty of grilled but carefully judged oak. A great Chevalier, not perhaps at the very top of recent vintages here, but one that will give huge amounts of pleasure, and captures the great classicsm of the year. 35% new oak for ageing, Bernard family owners.

95pts Decanter 

Cool blue fruit and tobacco leaf denote this wine, which packs almost Pauillac like power in 2023, not as overtly charming as it can be. The mid palate depth seems a bit coiled in with some standoffish tannins, but overall brisk and true to the style of the estate, if not a 'sunny vintage' on the palate. In short, a serious Domaine de Chevalier red that needs at least five years of cellaring to fully reward you.