When you’re new to Bordeaux, every bottle can be a nerve-wracking and overwhelming experience.
You might open the bottle at the wrong time in the wine’s evolution.
It might be corked after you’ve aged it for years.
It might just not be that good.
But you can be sure that you paid a hefty sum for it, regardless; and nothing about the singular experience is guaranteed.
In my opinion, the rise of single malt and Bourbon over the last decade is the direct result of that uncertainty, and it’s left me with one crystal clear conclusion: most of the guys buying only whiskey today do NOT really drink.
I’m not talking about collectors flipping bottles. I’m talking about the motivation behind the spirits neo-renaissance: you don’t ever have to finish an open bottle because whiskey keeps. You can dole out thimble-sized pours for years, maximizing the investment like a hoarder. Hence, why these same consumers are not interested in wine.
To be into Bordeaux, you have to actually drink; because once you open the bottle, the clock is ticking. The whole point of Bordeaux is the meal, which means you also have to be into food. Hence, why I’m heavily into Bordeaux. There is no whiskey in the world as satisfying as the right bottle of Bordeaux with the right piece of meat, so I’m always willing to risk $100 on that potential high.
Every now and again, I get questions from consumers about a gateway bottle of wine; one that might help open their eyes to what Bordeaux can offer without breaking the bank. Since the finest bottles of aged Bordeaux are often three-to-four figures per bottle, taking that leap of faith (in conjunction with all the possibilities I listed above) is easier when the bottle is under $100.
Well…one of those bottles just walked in the door recently and we’ve actually got quite a good price.
Domaine de Chevalier is one of the most underrated and overlooked properties in all of Bordeaux. I was once gifted a bottle of the 1990 vintage by my former colleague Jim Chanteloup after my first big holiday season in retail. I had no idea what it was at the time, as I had just started learning about Bordeaux and was simply trying to get a handle on the Médoc's classified growths, but I remember him saying: "Trust me; this is a really great bottle."
Back then, the senior wine guys I worked with saw the Chevalier rouge as an insider's claret; a poor man's Haut-Brion. "This property is completely underrated," I recall my colleague Ralph Sands telling me once; "The wines can live forever." The word "secret" is definitely part of the vernacular when speaking about the domaine. Known as "the secret garden" due to its location, the vineyards are planted within a clearing in the middle of a forest, the boundaries of which protect the vines from extreme weather. What's becoming less of a secret, however, is the value of the domaine's great wines—both white and red.
It's the stony, highly-mineral soil, enclosed within a border of forestry, that provides the ideal conditions for top quality wine; the results of which have increased in quality during each decade under Oliver Bernard's ownership. Through his careful expansion, calibration, and improvements in the cellar, the true potential and character of Chevalier has been lifted to new heights and the domaine's lore has begun to permeate the far reaches of wine culture.
2004 wasn’t the best vintage of the last twenty years, but it wasn’t the worst either. The wines were simply classic, rather than ripe and supple like 2005 and 2009. As a result, you won’t pay an arm and a leg for the bottle. Check the reviews though, and you’ll see 94, 95, 94 across the board (if that’s important to you).
I’m hoping to eventually expand the Bordeaux selection at Mission, but before we can do that we need to find more folks who actually like to party.
Until then, look for the occasional sneaky deal like this one.
-David Driscoll