Chateau Cheval Blanc - St.-Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classe A 2018 (1.5L)

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Chateau Cheval Blanc Description

Once upon a time, Cheval Blanc was a modest tenant farm (that nevertheless had a long winegrowing history) called Le Barrail des Cailloux. From the time the château was created in 1834 until its present-day boundaries were fixed in 1871, Cheval Blanc became a legend. Since it takes two parents to have children, it can be said that Cheval Blanc was born of the marriage between Merlot, the traditional grape variety in Saint-Émilion and Pomerol, and Cabernet Franc. Helped by the fact that phylloxera spared the estate in the late 19th century, the château’s reputation grew and grew. Since 1998, Bernard Arnault and Baron Frère have perpetuated Cheval Blanc’s tradition of excellence, while introducing elegant modern influences.

Decanter: 100 Points

A great Cheval Blanc that stands up to the potential that I found during en primeur. Extremely restrained and classic in its construction, shot through with points of mint, liquorice, raspberry and eucalyptus. The fresh aromatics mean you could almost think that it is from a cool year, except for the huge density that runs through the palate, along with a creamy texture. Extremely good-quality. Something that you are going to want to put away for a good few decades. I get big, chewy tannins on the finish. Exceptionally good and extremely elegant.

James Suckling: 99 Points

Jeb Dunnuck: 98 Points

Showing beautifully from barrel and now from bottle, the 2018 Château Cheval Blanc is a final blend of 54% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon. It's a pure, classic Cheval Blanc in that it relies more on complexity and elegance than power, offering a beautiful perfume of red and blackcurrants, spring flowers, spice, forest floor, incense, and tobacco. This carries to a medium to full-bodied Cheval Blanc offering wonderful purity of fruit, a seamless, layered texture, incredible tannins, and a lengthy, focused finish. It shows less of the sunny style of the vintage now than it did from barrel, and it's a wonderfully complete wine that delivers awesome freshness in its aromatics, plenty of ripe, sweet fruit, and the tannins and structure that seem to come from a long, cooler season. Reminding me slightly of the 2016, with a touch of the 2001, give this gorgeous wine 5-7 years of bottle age, count yourself lucky, and enjoy over the following 2-3 decades.

Vinous: 98 Points

Wine Advocate: 98 Points

The 2018 Cheval Blanc is a blend of 54% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, with a 3.75 pH and 14.5% alcohol. Deep garnet-purple colored, it needs considerable swirling and air to releases fragrant notes of stewed plums, juicy black cherries and ripe blackberries with underlying suggestions of damp soil, black truffles, rose oil and cardamom with wafts of underbrush and iron ore. The medium to full-bodied palate is densely packed with rich black fruits and loads of earthy accents, framed by super firm, grainy tannins and seamless freshness to balance, finishing with amazing length and a beautiful array of floral and mineral sparks. Thirty-three plots contributed to this wine, out of the forty-three in production. Of the rest, five went into Petit Cheval and five into bulk. It will need a good 6-7 years at least to really start to strut its stuff and should cellar for a further 30 years or more.