Visit to Domaine Benoit Chevallier – Tasting the 2021s

Domaine Benoit Chevallier is another exciting new name in Vosne-Romanée, Benoit having taken over the vineyards of his father’s family. His dad, Maurice Chevallier, was previously the mayor of Vosne-Romanée, and the family has further vineyards in the area; Benoit’s cousin, Yves Chevallier, runs his own eponymous estate.

Benoit is both a friendly and a competent guy who has gotten a fine start as a vigneron. Previously, he was in the technology business, but clearly, he also has hidden talents as a winegrower.

The estate is located on the RD974, and Benoit’s first vintage was 2019. So with a couple of years under his belt, let’s take a closer look at the 2021s.

Style and expression

The style is quite clear for such a young domaine, using destemmed grapes and a relatively long (four- to five-day) cold pre-fermentation. These choices give the wines a spicy, perfumed style that is delicate and could, with a bit of additional refinement, compare favourably to that of Domaine Bachelet in Gevrey-Chambertin.

These are, however, early days for Benoit Chevallier, so the results are somewhat variable. Regardless, these are all good wines.

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Domaine Benoit Chevallier Coteaux Bourguignon 2021

The Coteaux Bourguignon is quite a delightful wine; its 30% Gamay combined with the cool feel of 2021 make it lively, with plenty of drinkability. It has nice concentration and tension and, simply put, is a vin de soif.

(Drink from 2023) – Good (86-87p) – Tasted 20/07/2022 –

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Domaine Benoit Chevallier Bourgogne 2021

The Bourgogne rouge is from the climats Aux Bas des Communes (0.15 ha) and En Lutenière (1.2 ha). A vivid, delicate wine, the pre-fermentation helps by adding a bit of complexity. Why make things difficult, when this works very well?

(Drink from 2023) – Good (87p) – Tasted 20/07/2022 –

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Domaine Benoit Chevallier Vosne-Romanée 2021

The regular Vosne-Romanée shows lovely complexity in its perfumed notes. Not a massively mineral wine, but a Vosne with nice mid-palate juiciness. It is slightly reduced, but is both elegant and delicate, with a smooth, silky texture.

(Drink from 2030) – Very Good (89p) – Tasted 20/07/2022 –

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Domaine Benoit Chevallier Vosne-Romanée Raviolle 2021

A Vosne-Romanée village lieu-dit, this is slightly more on the mineral side, but is also missing some of the silky generosity of the generic Vosne. Bottom line: I prefer the generic. In my opinion, a separate lieu-dit bottling should have a purpose, and be supported by lower yields or very old wines. But first and foremost, it should be more attractive.

(Drink from 2030) – Very Good (88-89p) – Tasted 20/07/2022

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