1982 Domaine de Chevalier
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Tasting notes
The 1982 Domaine de Chevalier comes across candied on the nose with inkwell scents infusing the red fruit, intense but not complex. A touch of fresh tobacco emerges with time. The palate has a pastille-like entry, with desiccated orange peel, kirsch, Morello cherries and none of the herbaceousness it apparently showed in its youth. Doubtless, this wine, made a year before Olivier Bernard took the helm, could have been better. But it's no abject failure. Tasted at 67 Pall Mall at Chelsea Vintners' The Complete Bordeaux Vintage Guide dinner.
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Healthy, bright crimson. Very fresh and beguiling. Absolutely fresh-scrubbed; no make-up. Lovely delicacy. Complete nose. All bases covered. Is this the 1978? Not an attention grabber but absolutely perfect Dom de Chev. Quite long. This wine perfectly expresses the place. Interesting that, unusually, it didn’t sing out 1982…although this was always an unusual wine, frost-shrunk. (JR)
Rusty-colored and vegetal, this 1982 resembles green tea more than a serious claret. It is completely dead, and can only get worse. Release price ($110.00/case) Jun 2009, www.robertparker.com
Moderately saturated medium red. Aromatic nose of leather, coffee grounds and current leaf, with a distinct green component. Then firm but a bit hollow, with a sour quality and a green edge on the end. Avoids hardness but gives little pleasure.
About the producer
Since buying the property in 1983, the Bernard family has cemented Domaine de Chevalier’s reputation as one of the Graves’s finest red and white wine producers, known for their sophisticated and elegant wines.