"The 2000 Domaine de Chevalier has long been one of my favourite wines and now at 16 years of age, it continues to live up to expectations. It has a beautiful nose, so lively and vivacious, with black plum and blackberry, cedar and damp undergrowth scents, an undercurrent of tobacco. The palate is medium-bodied with impressive definition, a fine thread of acidity, though still backward and intimating that there is "much more in the tank." The structure is wonderful here, though it does not quite deliver the length you might expect, which compelled me to dock a couple of points. The bottom line: it's a great Pessac-Léognan with a 30-40 year lifespan. Tasted January 2016. 2018-2040. 93 points." Neal Martin, Wine Advocate

Domaine de Chevalier is a Grand Cru Classé de Graves estate in the communes of Pessac-Léognan. Winemaking was first recorded here in the 1600s, although the estate existed in the 12th century. The modern Domaine de Chevalier is very much the creation of one man, Olivier Bernard.

From a family of Bordeaux wine merchants, Bernard was given Domaine de Chevalier to manage as a young man in 1983 and has made it his life's work to build up the estate's vineyards. He has since had various prominent roles in the region, as president of the Union des Grands Crus Classés, Vice Chancellor of the Bordeaux Wine Academy and co-owner of Château Guiraud.

The 100-hectare estate is set in a forest in the Graves, with 45 hectares planted to vines, five of them with white varieties. The composition is 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot for the red wines and 70% Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Sémillon for the white wines.

With the vines in a single block, surrounded by forests, there is no spread of vine maladies and the vines benefit from a particularly rich ecosystem and biodiversity, which the estate does its best to foster, using biodynamics viticulture.