Léandre Chevalier - L'Homme Cheval

History of Domaine Léandre Chevalier - L'Homme Cheval

The estate dates back to 1895: the ancestors of Dominique Léandre-Chevalier were already winegrowers, as well as carters and nurserymen, who worked the vines with their horses. The very etymology of the name Léandre-Chevalier means "The Horse Man." In 1985, following the accidental death of his father during harvest, Dominique took over the estate and chose a radically artisanal path: he reduced the vineyard from around a dozen hectares to just a few, ploughed exclusively with horses and planted the appellation's first vines at very high density.

Anticonformist and avant-garde, Dominique Léandre-Chevalier applies a Burgundy-inspired philosophy to Bordeaux, multiplying bold choices: barrels standing upright, petit verdot planted in circles by layering, densities triple those of the grands crus. After financial difficulties in 2018, a Swiss admirer enabled him to revive the adventure and unveil, in 2021, the new L'Homme Cheval range. The estate today covers around three hectares, farmed organically, where each vintage is considered a unique being.

Terroirs and Vines of Domaine Léandre Chevalier - L'Homme Cheval

The vineyard extends across Anglade, in the Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux appellation, close to the Gironde estuary and its marshes, facing the Médoc. It comprises around three hectares spread across seven plots and eight different soil types. Rather than classifying its wines by soil type, the estate has made the original choice to organise them according to vine planting density, which is the true signature of the house.

The vines are thus planted at three densities: 5,500 vines per hectare (the appellation's classic density), 10,000 vines per hectare, and up to 33,000 vines per hectare, an extreme and exceedingly rare density. The grape varieties are almost exclusively red, with merlot, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and petit verdot, some of them very old vines. All work is entirely manual, carried out with horses and in keeping with organic farming principles.

Vinifications at Domaine Léandre Chevalier - L'Homme Cheval

At Domaine Léandre-Chevalier, everything is a matter of patience and ancestral methods. The soils are worked with horses, harvests are carried out by hand and the crop is carefully sorted. The most emblematic signature of the cellar remains fermentation in upright-standing barrels, a singular practice that fully contributes to the character of the wines.

Both alcoholic and malolactic fermentations take place in barrels, often new, and certain white cuvées are aged in amphorae. The estate is also renowned for its blancs de noirs, red grape varieties pressed directly and vinified like white wines, as exemplified by a remarkable blanc de merlot. It is the strength of hooves and hands, and the time spent in the cellar, that forge the identity of these rare wines.

The Cuvées of Domaine Léandre Chevalier - L'Homme Cheval

Le Gentilhomme (Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux, red), formerly Le Queyroux, is the estate's appellation cuvée, made from vines planted at 5,500 vines per hectare. A blend of merlot, cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot, it is a generous and authentic wine, faithful to the richness of its terroirs.

Le Joyau is crafted from vines planted at 10,000 vines per hectare, double the appellation's usual density. More concentrated, it illustrates the pursuit of quality and the finesse that this increased density imparts to the wine.

At the top of the range, a series of single-plot cuvées, often single-varietal, is produced from the extreme plantings at 33,000 vines per hectare. Rare and confidential, these exceptional cuvées express the full singularity of Dominique Léandre-Chevalier's work.

Le Flatteur is a surprising blanc de noir: a merlot vinified like a white grape variety, with both alcoholic and malolactic fermentations taking place in new barrels. Pure and original, it reflects the estate's creative spirit.

The estate also produces other blancs de noirs, both in tank and barrel, from cabernet sauvignon, merlot or a blend of the two, as well as a white cuvée aged in amphorae, in the spirit of the cuvée Le Chevalier, a tribute to family memory. These rare interpretations make L'Homme Cheval a truly singular estate in the Bordeaux landscape.