Domaine de Chevalier, Blanc Cru Classe, Pessac-Leognan 2005

The 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!

Domaine 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.

(85% sauvignon and 15% semillon) Bright, pale yellow. Musky aromas of mirabelle, lemon, coconut, flint and resin. Large-scaled, rich and dry, with a sappy quality and lovely aromatic perfume to the flavors of pineapple, lemon and minerals. Boasts terrific viscosity for DDC blanc but is rather closed today. In contrast to the 2006, this rather massive wine is showing its semillon side. The long finish stains the palate with flavors of citrus fruit, minerals, flowers and coconutty oak. This is actually lower in alcohol than the 2006 (13.3%, vs. 13.5%) and considerably lower in acidity at 4.2 grams.