The owners of Domaine de Chevalier, the Bernard family, have a long history dating all the way back to 1155! The history of the vineyard is much shorter. It took until the late 1600s before people wine lovers began discovering their wine. Once the estate was purchased in 1865 by Arnaud Ricard for 33,000 Francs, the vineyard became much better known. At the time, the Ricard family were familiar with the Bordeaux wine trade, as they worked as coopers, producing wine barrels. In those days, the estate was selling their wine under the Gascon name of “Chivaley”. The name was changed from “Chivaley” to the French term “Chevalier” which is how the winery eventually became known as Domaine de Chevalier.

Domaine de Chevalier has 65 hectares under vine. For the red wine, 58 hectares are planted to 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, and 2% Cabernet Franc. This shows a change in the vineyard as you will see. During the 1980s before Oliver Bernard took control of the property, the vineyard was planted to 80% Cabernet Sauvignon.

For the white Bordeaux wine, 7 hectares are planted to 70% Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Semillon. The vineyard is planted to a vine density of 10,000 vines per hectare. On average, the vines are close to 30 years of age.

The terroir is gravel, with black sand over clay, and hardpan soil. There are gentle slopes and elevations which rise up to 60 meters at its peak, which is the highest elevation in the appellation.

The vineyard can be divided into 90 separate parcels. The best terroir of Domaine de Chevalier is located right in front of the chateau. This is where you find the oldest Cabernet Sauvignon vines, which are 50 years of age.