Reviews & Scores
Rather full yellow with a gold tinge. Slightly exotic apricot and yellow peach scents on first sniff, with notes of wet stone, lemon zest, mandarin and baked bread quickly coming up. Fat, thick and honeyed on entry, but quickly firmed in the mid-palate by an edge of acidity, with strong iodiney minerality emerging on the back half. This tactile, chewy wine is still a bit disjointed, with its exotic creamy fruit and saline mineral notes still fighting each other, but its long, rocky, precise finish and vibrant acidity suggest that it will repay more time in bottle. Still, this wine shows more personality and nuance today than the 2009, which comes across as more classic and dry. Interestingly, both this wine and the '07 have occasionally been flagged by drinkers as showing premature oxidation notes but both of my bottles became fresher in the glass, which is certainly not a characteristic of wines in decline. Incidentally, this wine was bottled with 7.5 grams per liter of acidity (expressed as tartaric), the highest of any vintage in this vertical tasting. (13% alcohol; 3.1 pH; Brice de la Morandière described '08 as "an oidium vintage saved by the north wind before the harvest," which started on September 22) (Drink between 2021-2037) - VM
VM94September 2019
Like the Bâtard, here the nose is quite restrained but exceptionally elegant and pure with white flower, green apple, pear and wet stone where the latter element continues onto the rich, full and highly energetic flavors that tighten up considerably on the detailed, minerally and bone dry finish that displays distinct citrus mineral nuances. This is long, tight and linear with huge amounts of dry extract that renders the very firm acid spine almost invisible at present though the finish is clearly shaped by it. This magnificent Chevalier should be a genuine stunner in 12 to 15 years. (Drink starting 2020) - BH
BH97July 2011
Tasted just two weeks after the end of malo at the end of Oct. Much more ethereal than the Bâtards. Really high toned and brings a smile. Very tense and sinewy and much more reserved than the Bâtards. Very marked acidity and structure but with great well-defined fruit filling the framework. Still reserved but very correct and fine. - JR
JR18November 2009
Leflaive's 2008 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru opens in the glass with aromas of honeycomb, citrus oil, toasted bread, mandarin, smoke and iodine. On the palate, it's full-bodied, satiny and layered, with excellent depth at the core, chewy extract and a racy spine of acidity, concluding with a pure and penetrating finish. - WA
WA95