Chateau Cheval Blanc Grand Cru Classé 2023
Country: France Region: Saint Emilion, Bordeaux
Varietal: 52% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Franc and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2023 Category: Red Wine Style: Dry
Producer: Château Cheval Blanc
Description:
Cheval Blanc is one of the great names of Bordeaux and the most famous château in Saint Emilion. The 39 hectares of vines border Pomerol but the wine is different from Pomerol thanks to the high percentage of Cabernet Franc in the vineyard. A stunning new winery has recently been completed. There is no doubt that this is a great vineyard with an excellent wine-making team led by the talented Pierre-Olivier Clouet and overseen by Pierre Lurton. It is now planted with 49% Cabernet Franc, 45% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon.
Of the 56 parcels of vines at Cheval Blanc, 41 will be used for the grand vin this year. 5 for Petit Cheval, 1 plot of young Cabernet Sauvignon was sold off in bulk and 9 are fallow or new plantings. The blend is 52% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Franc and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon - aged in 100% new oak, except for one foudre and some demi-muids. Picked from 6th September to 4th October. The alcohol is 13.6% and the wine strikes the team here as being like a rounder version of the 2016 vintage.
100/100 Points - William Kelley, Wine Advocate
"From bottle, the 2023 Château Cheval Blanc is one of the most compelling wines of the vintage, just as it was from cask. Bursting with aromas of cherries and mulberries mingled with notions of violets, rose petal and anise, it's full-bodied, velvety and layered, with a deep and enveloping core of vibrant fruit, ripe tannins and a long, expansive finish."
98-99/100 - James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com
"This is so cabernet, with blackcurrants, blackberries, crushed stone, graphite and lead pencil. Full-bodied with tight, chewy tannins that remain fine yet energetic. Winemaker Pierre-Olivier Clouet says this wine is a benchmark for Cheval Blanc. Reminds me of the great 1983. "
97-99/100 Points - Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent
"The 2023 Cheval Blanc, accounting for 75% of this year's crop, is deep garnet-purple in color. After a little swirling, the nose erupts with an atomic perfume of Morello cherries, wild blueberries, black raspberries, and ripe plums leading to a fragrant undercurrent of rosebud tea, menthol, star anise, and cinnamon stick. The medium-bodied palate is fantastically fresh and graceful, delivering super-fine-grained tannins and just enough tension to support the red, black, and blue fruit layers, finishing on a lingering mineral note. This is magnificent. "
98/100 Points - Jane Anson, JaneAnson.com
"A stunning wine, as it was En Primeur and totally delivering in bottle, so much depths and swirling campfire smoke, steel, crushed rose petals, slate, pumice stone, lift and tension, sinewy and full of grace. 38hl/h yield, 75% of overall production (no press wine as ever), harvest September 6 to October 3, and this long harvest has contributed to this complexity of aromatics, 100% new oak, but spread across large casks as well as barrels, plus cement vats. Pierre-Olivier Clouet director."
