Bordeaux Blend Wines

wines

Displays lemon, honey, mineral, fennel seed and lime aromas. Full-bodied, this fills the mouth with lime, apple tart and vanilla character. Very, very intense. Fantastic. Needs time to come together. The best white from this estate in a long time. Best after 2014. 2,080 cases made.Wine Spectator | 97 WSThe 2005 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc is fabulous. That’s the good news. The not so good news, if we can call it that, is that is still very young! That won’t surprise readers who are familiar with the Blanc, which happens to be one of the greatest whites made anywhere in the world. The warm, dry vintage has given the 2005 a good deal of body and richness, with pretty tropical accents that lend a real sense of exoticism. Readers lucky enough to own the 2005 will want to cellar it for a few years, as it is in adolescent stage where it is not young, but also not mature. All I can say is: What a wine!Antonio Galloni | 96 AGThis is as layered and rich as a red wine but shows intense character of minerals, honey, lemon and stones on the nose and palate. Full body with a pretty depth of fruit and a long, long finish. Strength with beauty. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 96 JSThe 2005 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc is terrific, and while drinking beautifully today, should cruise for another decade or more in the cellar. Caramelized lemons, crushed rocks, and citrus oil all emerge from this rich, weighty, beautifully concentrated 2005 that has racy acidity, tons of extract, and a chiseled, bone-dry finish. It you like serious Bordeaux Blanc, this is one to seek out.Jeb Dunnuck | 95 JDDomaine de Chevalier’s fabulous 2005 white offers terrific acidity, body, and texture as well as high acidity, which suggests this wine should enjoy an incredibly long life. I recently had the 1985 at a charity dinner, and it is still remarkably youthful. The 2005 may last just as long, if not longer. Hints of figs, licorice, honeysuckle, and lemon oil are accompanied by a concentrated, dry, nearly austere wine, but there is so much going on, that it should be prodigious with another decade of cellaring. It will last for 30-40+ years.Robert Parker | 95 RPThe freshness of this wine feels timeless. It's still there four days after the bottle was opened, a beautiful fruit presence that's as essential as the feel of summer rain, rather than the taste of any fruit that rain may become. Depending on the moment you approach the wine, it's become a complex range of flavors, perhaps dried pineapple, orange pith or sour cherry, jasmine, honeysuckle or ginger. The descriptions may be overwrought, but the wine remains reserved (the wine makes me think of Catherine Deneuve, which is enough to make me happy). This will live well for 20 years or more.Wine & Spirits | 95 W&SA crisp, citrus wine, with good fresh fruit flavors. This has clean acidity, along with its ripe fruits, tempered with a touch of wood. As it develops, this wine will become bigger and more important.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WE

Wonderfully aromatic, this sure-to-be legendary wine offers richness, ripeness, and pure yellow fruits, peaches and apricots, all alongside a structured strain of chalky minerality. It is a wine for long aging, the wood spice just becoming integrated, the fruit still in its first vibrancy. But even now, it fills the mouth with generous fruits, and a great finish of citrus.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEThe 2007 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc has long been an exemplary white Bordeaux. Now, as it approaches double figures, it continues to give immense pleasure. Initially, the bouquet is not dissimilar to the previous bottle in 2011 with grapefruit, wet gravel and fresh Granny Smith apples, developing an intriguing licorice note as it opens in the glass after 20-30 minutes. The palate is very well balanced and has developed a touch of viscosity in recent years. The acidity imparts tension and liveliness, lime and grapefruit towards the finish that appears to have opened up. What a pretty Domaine de Chevalier! I would start drinking bottles now, but it will easily last 20-25 years. Tasted June 2016.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 96 RPPale, bright yellow. Reticent but pure aromas of lemon, crushed stone, violet and lavender. Locked up tight on the palate, showing near-painful flavors of citrus peel, crushed stone and vanilla. This very shy and youthfully disjointed wine probably needs 15 years in the cellar to harmonize and express itself.Vinous Media | 93+ VM(Domaine de Chevalier Blanc) The 2007 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc was raised in only thirty percent new wood this year, and this has allowed the more gentle raw materials of the vintage to show exceedingly well, making this wine by quite a wide margin the most impressive white Graves that I tasted at the UGC events. The nose is deep and really classy, as it jumps from the glass in a blaze of apples, fresh figs, petrol, grassy tones, a lovely base of soil and a judicious framing of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, fullish and complex, with a juicy core of fruit, bright acids, lovely focus and a long, crisp and classic finish. A lovely, middleweight example of DDC Blanc for drinking over the next fifteen or so years- premature oxidation notwithstanding. (Drink between 2010-2025)John Gilman | 91 JGFresh and bright, with mineral, lemon and apple aromas and flavors. Full-bodied, with a lemony palate, fresh acidity and a long, subtle finish.Wine Spectator | 91-94 WS

Dense yet agile Smith with dried apple, lemon, aniseed, and gunpowder aromas and flavors. Some stones too. Full body, very racy and fine. 90% savuignon blanc, 5% sauvignon gris and 5% semillon. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 96 JSThis has a gorgeous feel, with opulent fruit offset by racy herb notes and acidity, showing lemon sherbet, shortbread and white peach flavors backed by a salted butter— and tarragon-laced finish, with hints of talc and fennel skittering in the background. Seriously long and still a touch youthful on the finish, this is one for the cellar. Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris and Sémillon. Best from 2017 through 2023. 2,500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WSThe 2013 Smith-Haut-Lafitte Blanc offers a payload of grapefruit, guava and melon aromas that are beautifully integrated with the oak. The palate is fresh and vibrant, very harmonious with a hint of sour lemon that complements that subtle tropical tone. It slips down the throat with ease, completing a gorgeous white Bordeaux. If you are intent on buying just one wine in this off-vintage, this is the one I would load up on.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 94 RP-NMThis is still very young with taut, elegant fruit and a touch of savoury lemon sherbet on the nose. In the mouth, this boasts sweet pear, quince and citrus with a delicious touch of toast and oatmeal. Long and savoury, with a tingling acidity. Drinking Window 2017 - 2029.Decanter | 93 DECThe 2013 Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc is beautiful, but it is going to need time in bottle before offering its best drinking. Today, the 2013 is intensely mineral and tightly wound, both of which bode extremely well for the future. The combination of aging in barrel on the lees but blocking the malolactic fermentation results in a white of unusual texture, pedigree and pure class. Fans of the Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc, and that includes me, will not want to miss the 2013. The blend is 90% Sauvignon Blanc, 5% Semillon and 5% Sauvignon Gris.Antonio Galloni | 93-95 AGStill tight, this wine needs time to reveal its potential. Hints of the tropical fruits, fresh acidity and light spice and toast remain masked for the moment, just needing aging. Drink from 2019.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WE

This estate makes a brilliant white, and their 2020 Château Couhins Blanc is pure gold, offering a bright citrus and lemon zest core as well as lots of white flowers and honeyed mineral-like nuances. Medium-bodied, bright, racy, yet also concentrated, it’s going to benefit from 3-5 years of bottle age and keep for two decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JDFreshly shelled peas on the nose with green apple aromas. Zingy and full of life straight away, vibrant yet so well controlled. A beautiful glass of wine with excellent acidity, weight and texture. It has a lovely salty, iodine tang to the lemon, lime, orange rind, pineapple, grapefruit pith and green apple. Thrilling and vibrant but clean and crisp. So well worked, focused so give this a year or two for it to settle and expand but this is a great white from 2020. A wine to buy, and more importantly drink and enjoy.Decanter | 95 DECThe 2020 Couhins Blanc, 100% Sauvignon Blanc, is bright, crisp and super-expressive. White pepper, sage, mint and tomato leaf play off a core of citrus-infused fruit. I very much like the energy here.Vinous Media | 93 VMExtremely perfumed and vivid with sliced lime, lemon and hints of grapefruit. Full-bodied, yet linear and racy. Always nicely done.James Suckling | 92-93 JSThe insider’s choice among dry white Bordeaux, the 2020 Couhins Blanc unwinds in the glass with aromas of nectarine, mint, white flowers, lemongrass and pastry cream, followed by a medium to full-bodied, satiny and incisive palate, with racy acids and a chalky, passion fruit-inflected finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RP

Rather tropical fruit aromas like pineapple and mangoes, as well as white peaches and lemons with hints of stones and minerals. It’s full-bodied with plenty of fruit, yet it’s fresh and steely. Lots of white peaches at the end. Hints of lees too, like bread dough. 80% sauvignon blanc and 20% semillon.James Suckling | 96 JSCola, liquorice and ripe blueberries on the nose - perfumed, heady and expressive. So delicious on the palate, smooth and driving with excellent energy - a youthful tension to the mid-palate. Sleek and stylish with a gorgeous texture, perfectly weighted to give a mouthfilling expression yet keeping a refined and focused delivery of black fruit, liquorice and floral flavours. Impressive and supremely pleasurable - this makes you want a glass immediately. Spicy, and perfumed because of the Cabernet Franc but all the better for it with 59% Cabernet Franc and 41% Merlot.Decanter | 95 DECThe 2020 Le Petit Cheval is stunning. Rich, deep and expansive, the Petit Cheval is outrageously good. In fact, it could easily be mistaken for a Cheval Blanc from anything less than a great vintage. The aromatics are alluring and the balance is sublime; all that really identifies this as a second wine is a bit of mid-palate depth. Sweet floral and spice accents extend the effortless, gracious finish.Vinous Media | 94 VMI wrote in my note on the 2020 Château Cheval Blanc Le Petit Cheval that this is "one hell of a second wine," and it has a kiss of the elegance and complexity found in the top cuvée. Black fruits, roasted herbs, graphite, and scorched earth notes all emerge from this ruby/purple-hued beauty, which has medium to full-bodied richness, ripe, polished tannins, and a great finish. It will drink nicely for 15+ years.Jeb Dunnuck | 94 JDThis second wine shows so many of the rich, dense qualities of the top wine. Bold black fruits are sustained by serious tannins and a dry core. It will age well. Drink from 2026Wine Enthusiast | 93 WEThe 2020 Le Petit Cheval offers up aromas of minty cherries, plums, raw cocoa, mint and spices, followed by a medium to full-bodied, fleshy and voluptuous palate underpinned by a broad-shouldered chassis of tannin. A blend of 59% Cabernet Franc and 41% Merlot, it’s a rather structured young Petit Cheval that will reward a bit of patience.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91+ RPSleek and solid, with a well-defined core of dark currant and black cherry puree lined with black licorice and sweet tobacco. Boasts black tea and warm paving stone accents through the finish. Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Drink now through 2033.Wine Spectator | 91 WS

A dense, creamy DC white with lots of rich cooked-apple, mineral, cream and praline character. It’s full and very layered with chewy intensity and a long, bitter-lemon and almost honey finish. Pretty phenolic tension, too.James Suckling | 96-97 JSThis classic white wine reveals impressive potential as it unfolds. Along with its enveloping white fruits and crisp citrus it also has a wrought texture that will push it forward for the long term. Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEAnother terrific vintage for this wine, the 2020 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc unwinds in the glass with aromas of nectarine, pear, nutmeg, passionflower and hazelnuts. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and seamless, with racy acids and a bright, pure profile, it nips at the heels of the brilliant and somewhat racier, more refined 2019.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RPA very young, powerful, coiled-up white, with verbena, mirabelle plum, quinine, gooseberry gelée and fleur de sel notes weaving together. The long finish has a flash of bitter almond but keeps a nice nervy feel, with an underlying mineral hint. One to cellar a bit and let unwind. Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon. Best from 2024 through 2029.Wine Spectator | 95 WSThe 2020 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc marries power and tension so well. Lemon confit marzipan, chamomile, dried orchard fruit and crushed flowers all build effortlessly into the expansive, beautifully resonant finish. Above all else, the Blanc is a wine of savory/mineral complexity and structure. I wouldn’t dream of touching a bottle anytime soon. Tasted two times.Vinous Media | 95 VMRipe melon, honeyed mint, and dried herb notes all emerge from the 2020 Domaine De Chevalier Blanc, a medium-bodied, rich, concentrated, yet tight and backward white built for the cellar. Mostly Sauvignon yet with a good chunk of Semillon, this balanced, focused, incredibly impressive dry white needs 3-5 years of bottle age and, I suspect, will evolve for 15+ years.Jeb Dunnuck | 95 JDRound with a soft medicinal, herbal element and toasted spice framing the lemon, lime, elderflower, pear and peach fruit with a core of salty, wet stones. Bitter, sweet and acidic - all the elements melding together harmoniously with an appealing weight. I like the overall sleek and crisp expression, feels well worked and well structured. A great buy.Decanter | 95 DEC

A bigger, richer white, especially in the context of the vintage, the 2021 Château La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc offers up a medium to full-bodied, vibrant, concentrated style as well as classic notes of honeyed melon, crushed stone, white flowers, and dried herbs. I love its mid-palate depth, and it has beautifully integrated acidity and outstanding length. It’s another serious, age-worthy white in 2021 that will benefit from short-term bottle age and be long-lived.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JDThe 2021 La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc marries the natural energy of this cool year with lovely mid-palate creaminess and texture. Understated yet persistent, the 2021 presents a gorgeous display of pear, white flowers and mint, along with a subtle touch of oak that frames the finish. Today, the 2021 is quite a bit less expressive than it was en primeur. It was also bottled in May 2022 (versus May 2023 for the reds) and may be in a closed period, which is not unusual for wines from cold years. We shall see.Vinous Media | 95 VMPeach and waxed-lemon character here. Some fennel and aniseed, too. Very fresh. Medium to full body with a round, creamy palate. A little closed for now at the end. 55.2% semillon and 44.8% sauvignon.James Suckling | 95-96 JSLa Mission Haut-Brion Blanc 2021 leaps from the glass with notes of fresh grapefruit, white peaches, and honeysuckle, leading to touches of elderflower and sea spray. The medium-bodied palate is tightly wound, with vibrant stone fruit and zesty flavors, supported by a crisp backbone, finishing long and steely.The Wine Independent | 95 TWIA fresh, incipiently complex bouquet of pear, grapefruit, freshly baked bread and wet stones prefaces the 2021 La Mission Haut-Brion, a medium to full-bodied, fleshy wine with a satiny attack that segues into a taut, structured mid-palate built around chalky dry extract, which lend this a more tightly-knit, mordant profile than the broader, fatter and more enveloping Haut-Brion Blanc.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94+ RPFloral and green fruit aromas on the nose. Juicy and upfront, lively and fun, this has zing and focus. I love the almost sherbet lemon touch to the initial expression followed by soft green fruit and some softly spiced herbal accents. It’s clear and clean, bright and focussed. Tapers a little towards the finish, just lightening, but lovely and enjoyable - very aerial in style.Decanter | 94 DEC