Plenty of sliced apple and lemon character to this fresh wine. Full body, layered fruit and a tangy, almond and fruit aftertaste. Intense finish of stones, chalk and salt. Oyster shell, too. Needs time to come together. Tingling finish. Better in 2018.James Suckling | 94 JSThis structured wine with big, bold red fruits offers ripe acidity, a dense texture and considerable concentration. It also has the hallmark freshness of the vintage that balances the strong aging potential. Drink from 2022.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WEIn a vintage in which so many wines are open and forward, Domaine de Chevalier’s 2012 Rouge is anything but. As readers know, these wines are capable of aging for decades. The 2012 will certainly need at least a few years in bottle to blossom. With time in the glass, scents of chalk, game, smoke, incense and red cherry jam begin to appear, followed by a hint of white pepper that adds aromatic lift. This is a gorgeous wine from Domaine de Chevalier and proprietor Olivier Bernard, but readers should not be in a hurry. The blend is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot. Stéphane Derenoncourt is the consultant.Antonio Galloni | 93 AGVery floral and elegant with raspberry and blackcurrant fruit mixed with toasty oak/vanillin, followed by a medium to full-bodied, stylish, polished wine that is the quintessentially refined style of Pessac-Léognan. Nevertheless, the complexity and nuance has yet to fully emerge. This medium to full-bodied Domaine de Chevalier is poised for a bright future. It is tight and backward now, as well as restrained aromatically, but everything is there for the future. Forget it for 5-7 years and drink it over the following 30 years.Robert Parker | 92+ RPThis sports lovely, enticing plum sauce, melted black licorice, blackberry pâte de fruit and cherry compote notes, along with fruitcake and graphite accents that fill in the background. The solid structure is fully absorbed into the fruit, and this should cellar well. A solid effort for the vintage. Best from 2017 through 2025. 8,333 cases made.Wine Spectator | 92 WSDeep, rich, damson and blackberry in colour. Still young but with caramel edges, this is still bedding down in terms of its fruit character and tannic density, it will continue to develop and age but the fruit character is a little less generous than in other recent vintages, stops just a tiny bit short on the palate. (Drink between 2020-2035)Decanter | 90 DEC
