Château Cheval Blanc, St Emilion, 2023
Arnaud explained the Cheval team had to cut lots of fruit on the young vines on the western, gravel side of the estate. Four out of five bunches were sacrificed. As a result, the overall yield is an eye watering 15 hl/ha, the smallest production since 1991. The 2025 has almost the same concentration as 2010 but the alcohol is two degrees lower. Everything went into the grand vin or was sold in bulk, so those who collect Petit Cheval will be disappointed. Quite a cerebral, intense Cheval, coiled around a profound tannic core. There's real energy and drive with lots of serious, dark coffee bean notes, fine black plum, a touch of black olive, liquorice and sweet spice. There's some sweet fruit too, a touch of dark griotte cherry, blackcurrants and blackberry, interspersed with notes of tobacco, truffle, clove and minty cassis. Lots of grip and power leads to a fine, elongated finish with taut, tangy tannins. This is an intellectual Cheval that’s serious and academic with a very long and mineral finish.
critic reviews
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. It's a blend of 52% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Franc and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon, drawing on fully 46 of the blocks that make up Cheval Blanc, and it attained 13.8% alcohol.
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.
The 2023 Cheval Blanc, which was bottled on June 8, the highest production due to the yield (39 hl/ha), a high percentage of vines in production and the selection of Petit Cheval. As usual, technical director Pierre-Olivier Clouet reminded me that there is no vin de presse. It has a delectable bouquet with exquisite delineation: blackberry, raspberry, crushed stone and very light pencil-box scents. Typical Cheval Blanc. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannins, wonderful balance and purity, silky smooth yet there is tangible grip and backbone. Just a judicious dab of cracked black pepper on the finish. One of the best Right Bank wines of the vintage. Effortless.
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. The blend is 52% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon, with pH 3.80.