critic reviews
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.
One of the most profound wines of the vintage is the 2023 Chateau Cheval Blanc, a striking wine that stands out for its strong sense of identity and seamless integration at such an early stage in its life. Wafting from the glass with notes of mulberries, lilac, dark fruits, iris root and violets, it's medium to full-bodied, supple and seamless, with a gourmand core of cool, vibrant fruit that entirely conceals its sweet structuring tannins, concluding with a long, perfumed 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.