Bordeaux ‘needed the 2014 vintage’

Adrien Bernard of Domaine de Chevalier has said that after a string of “miserable” years, the 2014 vintage was a welcome return to quality for the Bordelais.

The ever-frank Adrien Bernard of Domaine de Chevalier

“We call 2014 a classical vintage because it followed traditional weather patterns which are sadly becoming harder to predict,” said Adrien Bernard who acts as brand ambassador for the Pessac-Léognan estate.

“But thankfully, it was cold when it was supposed to be cold and warm when it was supposed to be warm. It was perfect. It’s exceptional.”

Speaking about previous vintages, Bernard continued: “2010, there’s no surpassing it. But it went over the edge in terms of price and made us [the Bordelais] look stupid because then we just thought everyone would buy everything.”

The Bernard family bought Domaine de Chevalier in 1983 and Adrien’s father Olivier heads up the estate and seeks “balance and harmony” through his wine making with as little intervention as possible in the winery.

However with 2013 – often described as the hardest vintage in 30 years – the yields at Domaine de Chevalier dropped from 45-50 hectolitres per hectare to just 27 and “30% of grapes we just had to leave on the soil,” said Adrien.

“2013 was just impossible. Like the 2007, it will be a perfect wine in a few years with nice fruit but there was not enough complexity naturally so we had to make up the complexity with oak which is not what we want to do. The ageing in oak is not very long but then you take away the character of the grapes.

“It will be beautiful on restaurant wine lists because the price will be really low. You wait 10 months of the year for six weeks of picking and if those weeks aren’t kind to you, you’re screwed.

“But 2014 is elegant and pure with the whites having perfect acidity. I think after the last few years, we really needed the Bordeaux vintage and now we will see a return to respectable pricing.”