“We only do well what
we know well”
The privileged relationship I have established over more than forty years with this region of Pessac-Léognan, Graves and Sauternes has strengthened my resolve to work only here. Through this proximity, properties that we have taken over have been able to benefit from the know-how acquired at Chevalier, while respecting each terroir and each story
The influence of the Domaine de Chevalier production philosophy on this terroir has been applied in several stages.
1993
The first took place ten years after buying Domaine de Chevalier. In 1993, a few months after being approached by the religious community of the Sisters of the Holy Family, Domaine de Chevalier agreed to take a lease on Domaine de la Solitude (Pessac-Léognan).
2009
In 2009, very nearby in the same appellation, the destiny of Château Lespault-Martillac was entrusted to Chevalier by the Bolleau family, anxious to develop the potential of the vineyard and to raise the estate to the first-rate reputation it aspires to.
Located on a gravel dome, the vineyard of around ten hectares is mostly planted with old Merlot vines.
Between the two, in 2006, giving free rein to his passion for great white wines, Olivier and his family made their first foray into the region of choice for dessert wines by acquiring a stake in Château Guiraud, Premier Grand Cru Classé de Sauternes in 1855.
2011
In 2011, on the strength of this first approach, Olivier Bernard innovated by deciding to produce, in the heart of the terroir shared by the greatest classified growths of the Sauternes region, a great dry white wine, called Clos des Lunes, whose reputation has quickly spread throughout the world.
Still in the Sauternes region but in neighbouring Barsac, a stone’s throw from the confluence of the Ciron and Garonne rivers, is Château Suau, 2nd Grand Cru Classé in 1855. Long in the hands of the Lur Saluces family, it now belongs to the Biarnes, who decided to hand over management to Chevalier in 2015. After its reputation faded somewhat in the 20th century, the Château is now gradually rejoining the elite of the great dessert wines of Sauternes.
2019
And in 2019, the Célérier family, long-time neighbours and friends, and owners of Château Soubian in Léognan, asked Olivier Bernard and his family to replant the vineyard and relaunch production on its fine clay-gravel terroir, which had lain abandoned since the great frost of 1956. An exciting challenge that marks the return of a family label…
2020
Finally, a few kilometres away, the town of Gradignan, owner of Château Poumey, asked Domaine de Chevalier to make its wine for 25 years as from 2020. The last vineyard in this commune bordering Bordeaux, Château Poumey was saved from urban sprawl thanks to its acquisition by the town in 1988. It is now undergoing organic conversion, like the other estates cultivated by Olivier Bernard. Links are gradually being re-established between the people of Gradignan and their wine heritage, through cultural and festive events.
