Château Cheval Blanc, 1er Grand Cru Classé, St Emilion, 2018
We tasted at Chateau Cheval Blanc after a long day covering the greatest terroirs of St Emilion and Pomerol. If our palates were feeling fatigued, Cheval Blanc revitalised them and reinvigorated our enthusiasm for the vintage. This is a monumental wine, and for this taster, this and Chateau Lafleur were the standout wines from the Right Bank. Pierre-Olivier let us marvel and then nonchalantly said, 'it's not too bad, huh?'. Not too bad, this is a masterpiece. It's classical and elegant like the wonderful 2016, but perhaps there is even more concentration, energy and freshness. Macerations lasted just 22 days, six fewer than normal. It starts with a regal bouquet of potpourri, violets, cassis sweet earth and graphite. The palate is pure velvety black fruit - it is so effortless and charming, yet there is precision and tension. Deeply powerful and concentrated this may be, but it hovers, taut, harmonious, persistent, effortless. There is such presence and length. This is an immensely impressive Cheval; classical, detailed, perfumed, ripe, handsome; this is grandiose in every sense yet wonderfully balanced and refined. A tour de force.
critic reviews
The 2018 Cheval Blanc is deep garnet purple in color. It drifts effortlessly out of the glass with scents of black cherry compote, boysenberry preserves, and anise, plus touches of cedar, pencil shavings, and kirsch. Full-bodied, the palate is rich and muscular with firm, grainy tannins and a long, earthy finish.
When I tasted the 2018 Cheval Blanc from barrel, I felt that it deserved a very good score, though not one that implied potential perfection. The bottle was tasted upon opening, but I only began to pen my tasting note after 3–4 hours’ decanting. I still find the bouquet more open than many recent vintages, the ripe brambly red fruit intermingling with clove, sage and light graphite notes originating from the Cabernet components (46% of the final blend). It is a really seductive bouquet, though not as complex or as nuanced as, say, the astonishing 2016 or the impressive 2015. The palate is medium-bodied with refined tannins. A harmonious and elegant Cheval Blanc that has retained the linearity I remarked upon in barrel. So it is not a flamboyant Cheval Blanc like the Cabernet-dominated 2017, but it is a far better wine thanks to the Merlot imparting flesh and <em>rondeur</em>. The finish is extremely precise but never powerful, almost Burgundy-like in weight, with a lightly spiced aftertaste. As the hours pass in the decanter, it gains depth and a little more precision on the finish. This does not possess the otherworldly profundity to equal legends such as the 1934, 1964 or 2016; it is simply a wonderful Cheval Blanc to sit back and savor as a Saint-Émilion par excellence.