Additional Wine Notes
The second wine of Cheval Blanc is made predominantly from declassified grapes intended for the grand vin. The quantity produced varies each vintage and some years it is abandoned entirely. The price makes it appear good value against an old grand vin but it doesn’t come close to it in depth, complexity and ageing potential. It is a wine to be approached within the first decade and has a tendency to be a little short on balance. But perhaps this is a reflection on the quality of the wine it is always compared to.
Producer Notes
Chateau Cheval Blanc is almost certainly the best majority cabenet franc wine in the world. It is also our, and quite a number of other people’s, favourite claret.
The 1947 vintage is recognized as one of the very best wines ever made and the 1981 vintage (one of our favourites) resullted in the owner of the estate setting his dog on a certain American wine reviewer. The reviews have improved since that date.
For the record, the grand vin is usually around 57% Cabernet Franc, 39% Merlot, 3% Malbec, and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the estate also produces a white wine called Le Petit Cheval Blanc and owns a nice spot in the Argentine Andes where they produce something called Cheval Des Andes.
Vintage Notes
2005 was a very good vintage in Saint-Emilion
2005 was an excellent, long-lived vintage in Bordeaux
Other vintages of Le Petit Cheval
Other wines from Chateau Cheval Blanc
2009 Chateau Cheval Blanc: ยฃ960
2014 Le Petit Cheval Blanc: ยฃ275
2018 Chateau Cheval Blanc: ยฃ715
2020 Chateau Cheval Blanc: ยฃ565
Our rating –