Olivier Bernard, at the head of 60 hectares at Domaine de Chevalier, pursues since his arrival at the château in 1983 the quest for excellence started by his forebearers in the 19th century.
With a concern for the protection of the environment, Olivier Bernard stresses on the vineyard management he implemented at Chevalier and that deviates from the "industrial management" of the 70s. He looks for the precision of the work done on the vines to respect the vineyard and so enable the terroirs to express themselves with even more material. Magnifying the fruit to favor the expression of the grape is also a quality token to successfully craft fine wines.
For the harvest, Domaine de Chevalier acquired in 2013 a new destemming machine of extreme sensibility which perfectly respects the quality of the berries; and in 2015 the optical sorting came to complement this equipment. A concrete vat room with about ten tulip-shaped tanks of 90 hl put into service in 2014 and wooden vats installed in 2016 come to complete the existing stainless steel tanks. These four types of containers enable Olivier and his cellar master to choose according to the plots of land, the grape varieties or the age of their vines and to vinify more precisely.
The research of quality and precision led Olivier Bernard to the Sauternes region where the family runs 45 hectares of vines at Clos des Lunes. On these lands where the golden wine, Sauternes, stems from, “botrytis only settles on excellent grapes. Our challenge is to harvest before it comes.” Olivier Bernard managed to prove grand dry white wines could be produced here.
Clos des Lunes exists in three versions: Lune Blanche, Lune d'Argent and Lune d'Or. Olivier Bernard relies on the winegrowers who take care of he vineyard up to the thinning of the leaves. For the green harvest, summer works, harvest, the team of Domaine de Chevalier takes over the vineyard. As much care is taken for the vinification than for the wines of Chevalier. Clos des Lunes is hand-picked in crates, in the morning and like for the famous sweet wine, the harvesters can control 5 to 6 times the rows to pick berry after berry, at perfect ripeness. Lune Blanche is matured in tanks, it is a wine for immediate pleasure; Lune d'Argent is aged at 25% on the lees and Lune d'Or, the very essence, is aged at 100% in oak barrels. The 180,000 bottles produced have all been sold within 2 weeks.
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