News from Domaine de Chevalier: Video of dinner on 16 December 2008 at Domaine de Chevalier

By Alain Labatut:

Hosting a meal for a dozen people, Olivier Bernard decided to serve a series of vintages ending with the number 8, in honour of the most recent one, 2008. The rare series of wines covered some seventy years, from 1928 to 1998.

Chef Marc Demund, whose talents have long been appreciated at Chevalier, prepared a meal of great subtlety that went beautifully with the wines.

As is the custom at Chevalier, the aperitif consisted of hors d'oeuvres and Champagne – in this instance, two delicious bottles of white and rosé Pol Roger, both from 1988.

The first course consisted of a remarkable fricassee of scallops with an endive compote. The powerful, "meaty" taste of the scallops, underscored by the compote's vibrant vegetable nuances, as well as the overall creaminess, were a perfect foil to the creamy texture of white Domaine Chevalier with considerable bottle age. The first wine, quite a rare one, was from 1958. It was still fresh, but did not the show marked acidity one might have expected. Although much less powerful than the wine to follow, this 1958 was a splendid introduction. The second wine, a 1978, was also quite fresh. It was served after a brief interlude so as to avoid unfair comparisons.

For the main course, Marc Demund chose to prepare thin slices of chicken and foie gras with morels, a very festive winter dish. This was delicious, voluptuous, and complex, calling for full-flavoured wines of character and structure. Domaine de Chevalier had no trouble rising to the occasion with a trilogy that was the subject of much conversation around the table. The first red wine was from the 1968 vintage, whose lightness served as a pleasant transition after the vivacious 1978 white Chevalier. The second red wine, from the incredible 1928 vintage, was impressively elegant and distinguished. Served blind, this still powerful wine completely baffled all the guests, including some who thought it was fifty years younger than its actual age! "This is an 80-year-old child," remarked Olivier Bernard. The brace of red wines finished with the beautiful 1988 vintage. While much more powerful than the preceding two, it was incredibly fresh and well-balanced, appearing almost young in comparison.

This 1988 was served with the cheese platter, paving the way for the sumptuous 1998 Château Guiraud, a Sauternes First Growth, whose balance and youth went perfectly with a tasty dessert of raspberrird au gratin from Marc Demund.