Graves產區位於波爾多市南邊不遠，從中世紀即以礫石土壤而得名，土質貧瘠排水性佳，幾個世紀以來一直是波爾多最重要的產區之一，不僅生產頂尖水準的紅酒，並且也是波爾多最高級的白酒產區；其中Pessac-Léognan又是Graves裡的最精華區域，所有Graves的頂級酒莊(Grand Cru Classé)全都座落在本區中。
1860年一位Arnaud Ricard先生把他位於Léognan村的土地裡一部分的松林砍掉，開始種植葡萄，這是騎士酒莊Domaine de Chevalier的起源。Ricard家族將本酒莊經營得相當出色，因此在1950年代Graves產區制定頂級酒莊名單時，本酒莊的紅白酒雙雙上榜。1983年酒莊賣給Bernard家族，新莊主Olivier Bernard是個完美主義者，對為釀好酒有極高的熱情和堅持；他還聘請到著名的Stephane Derenoncourt來當釀酒顧問，將本酒莊的品質更進一步向上推升。
本酒莊的紅白酒都名列頂級酒莊等級，酒莊100公頃的土地裡有45公頃是葡萄園，表土是此區典型的礫石混合黑色砂土，底下是黏土、礫石和硬質土，其中有37公頃的紅品種：64 % Cabernet Sauvignon、30 % Merlot、3 % Cabernet Franc和3% Petit Verdot，有5公頃的白品種：70 % Sauvignon Blanc和30 % Semillon。騎士酒莊的紅酒固然很精彩，但是現在其白酒比紅酒來得更出名，口感濃郁而香味豐富多變，是波爾多最頂尖的白酒之一。
Rating : 96 Drink Date : 2025-2050
Domaine de Chevalier's 2019 Blanc is performing brilliantly, unwinding in the glass with notes of citrus pith, white currants, crisp orchard fruit, spring flowers, lemongrass and beeswax. Medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, it's concentrated and structured, with terrific depth at the core, racy acids and a long, sapid finish. This is a white Bordeaux where the vulgarity of Sauvignon is sublimated rather than emphasized, and the result is a compelling wine of considerable complexity and aging potential.
This 67-hectare estate in Pessac-Léognan is at the top of its game today, and the 2019 vintage is a striking success. When the Bernard family purchased Domaine de Chevalier in 1983, the vineyards amounted to only 20 hectares: expansion followed in the woodlands (much of which remain) that occupy this site, on the same stony gravel and black sand over iron-rich clay that defines the estate's historic vineyards. It's a cold site in winter, surrounded by trees, but warm in summer, as the stones reflect heat and the black sands absorb it. Farming is now organic and biodynamic, with experiments with cover crops and unhedged canopies, and drainage to improve more humid parcels. Sauvignon Blanc is planted in the estate's coolest sites, Cabernet Sauvignon on its warmest, and everything else is planted in between. Since 1983, Domaine de Chevalier has naturally evolved: as new plantings came online, the wines lost some of the intensity-without-weight that had always been their signature; in the early 2000s, a concerted effort was made to attain fuller maturity and more concentration, and the wines became a little chunkier and more obviously oaky, too; but recent years have seen a return to seamless elegance, without any loss of depth or persistence. In many respects, indeed, the last few vintages of Domaine de Chevalier bear a closer stylistic kinship to the great wines produced at this address in the 1970s and before than they do to the vintages of the early 2000s. Olivier Bernard and his team, in short, are to be congratulated for ushering in a new golden age at an estate that produces one of Bordeaux's most singular and characterful wines.
