Domaine Chevalier 2018 has been released at €52.80 per bottle ex-negociant, up 25.7% on the 2017 (€42) and the same as the 2016. It is being offered by the international trade at £650 per 12×75, up 25.5% on the 2017 release price of £518 per case.
Barrel scores for this year’s Domaine Chevalier has been somewhat mixed. Antonio Galloni (Vinous) scored the wine 94-97 points and claimed that “the 2018 is simply majestic – that’s all there is to it”.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW (Wine Advocate) scored it 94 points. In her tasting note, she said that it “starts a little closed before bounding out of the glass with bold expressions of fresh blackcurrants, kirsch, black raspberries and fragrant earth plus nuances of lilacs, Sichuan pepper and menthol”.
James Suckling, on the other hand, awarded the wine a near-perfect 99-100 points. He said “Wow. I can’t get over the pureness of fruit in this wine” and suggested it could be the “greatest ever?”
James Suckling was not alone with his high score for this year’s Domaine Chevalier. Jeb Dunnuck (96-98) and The Wine Cellar Insider’s Jeff Leve (96-98) also scored the wine favourably.
Jeff Leve added that, “Olivier Bernard calls this the best vintage of Domaine de Chevalier he has ever produced and he is right!”, while Jeb Dunnuck agreed that this was “possibly one of the finest wines ever to come from the Bernard family’s flagship estate”.
Liv-ex members previously voted this year’s Domaine Chevalier the 4th best value wine of the vintage.
Prices for Domaine Chevalier are 66% correlated to our ‘Benchmark Critic’ series. Depending on your critic of choice, today’s release is either coming to market well above the line implied by our ‘fair value’ methodology or represents good value.
Followers of James Suckling will no-doubt find value in today’s release, whereas followers of Lisa Perrotti-Brown may want to consider some back vintages.
The 2015 and 2016, both awarded 95 points by Neal Martin, may look like attractive alternatives.
Domaine Chevalier Blanc has also been released at €69.60 per bottle ex-negociant, up 4% on the 2017 release (€67.20) and the same as the 2016. it is being offered by the trade at £860 per 12×75, up 4.2% on the 2017 (£825).
Looking for more?
Our Bordeaux 2018 pages contain everything you need to know about this year’s En Primeur campaign, including:
- Critic scores
- Release prices
- Bordeaux 2018 analysis tool [members only]
- The conversation on social media
- Liv-ex’s fair value methodology
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