2005 Château Cheval Blanc St. Émilion Grand Cru Bordeaux France Wine Tasting Note
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2005 Cheval Blanc continues getting better and better with every tasting. Straddling the fence between hedonistic and classic, with air, the wine displays an intriguing perfume of potpourri, mint, truffle, cherry blossom, and plums. The perfect blend of vibrance and sensuality, while still in its infancy, it is impossible not to be enthralled by its concentration, balance, energy, and layers of sweet, ripe, very ripe, and slightly under-ripe red and black fruits. Drink from 2025-2060. 4,832 Views Tasted Oct 12, 2022Served double blind, there was no doubting the quality here. The show nose, with its floral, black plum, earth, herb, dark cherry and tobacco scents was easy to find. But today, much of the palate is held in reserve, and not showing its opulent, decadent fruit. Another 5-8 years of cellaring will allow this to really come alive. 10,277 Views Tasted Feb 5, 2017This is so young, it's best tasted in the name of science. But if science is your thing, the blend of 50% Cabernet Franc and 50% Merlot is bottled decadence. Silky, lush, rich, fresh and showing no hard edges, the fruit is perfectly ripe, fresh, long and expansive on your palate. If you are lucky enough to own this stunner, I'd wait until at least 2020 to 2025 before starting to pop the cork. 8,972 Views Tasted Jul 12, 2016Blending 52% Merlot and 48% Cabernet Franc, the wine pops with licorice, truffle, tobacco, flowers and fresh, ripe black and red fruits. Silky, soft, refined, elegant, supple, exotic, young and fresh, there is a long kirsch, griotte and black raspberry liqueur sensation that expands in the mouth and on the palate in the finish. As good as this is now, it's only going to get better as it continues to age. 7,090 Views Tasted Jun 28, 2015Still young, clearly there is a great future with this stunner. It's just going to take time, at least another 10 years before the rich, sensuous, concentrated, silky character shines through. There is depth of flavor, silky tannins and a long, pure, essence of perfectly ripe, plum and cherry notes that really hang, long after the wine has left the glass. 5,238 Views Tasted Jun 24, 2015Deep in color, there is a beautiful purity of fruit, but the wine is tight, primary and needed air along with coaxing before the licorice, floral, earth, black cherry, spice and chocolate covered plum notes began to emerge. Silky and seductive, the wine will be much better with at least another decade of bottle age. 8,582 Views Tasted Dec 12, 2012 |
When to Drink Chateau Cheval Blanc, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time
Chateau Cheval Blanc can be enjoyed on the young side with decanting, but the wine is much better wine, these days. Young vintages can be decanted for an average of 2-4 hours, give or take.
This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume. Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment. Chateau Cheval Blanc is usually better with at least 12-15 years of bottle age.
Of course, that can vary slightly, depending on the vintage character. Some of the best vintages take over 20 years before they are mature! Chateau Cheval Blanc offers its best drinking and should reach peak maturity between 15-50 or more years of age after the vintage.
Serving Chateau Cheval Blanc with Wine and Food Pairings
Chateau Cheval Blanc is best served at 15.5 degrees Celsius, 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool, almost cellar temperature gives the wine more freshness and lift. Chateau Cheval Blanc is best paired with all types of classic meat dishes, veal, pork, beef, lamb, duck, game, roast chicken, roasted, braised, and grilled dishes. Chateau Cheval Blanc is also good when matched with Asian dishes, rich fish courses like tuna, mushrooms, and pasta.
Le Petit Cheval Bordeaux Blanc, the white wine of Cheval Blanc
Starting with the 2015 vintage, Cheval Blanc started producing a dry, white Bordeaux wine called, "Le Petit Cheval Bordeaux Blanc". To avoid confusion with their second wine, Le Petit Cheval, on the label for the white wine the printing is in silver and the bottle will have a silver capsule. For the initial vintages, the wine was produced using 100% Sauvignon Blanc.
Starting with the 2018 vintage, the wine comes from a blend representing the vineyard plantings of 80% Sauvignon Blanc and 20% Semillon planted on a 1.4-hectare parcel of vines. The grapes are planted in the vineyard located just across the road from Cheval Blanc in the vineyards previously used by La Tour du Pin.
As we mentioned earlier, the owners of Cheval Blanc purchased La Tour du Pin in 2006. The first vintages of white wine produced were not available for sale to the public. 2015 is the first commercial vintage.
To produce the wine, the grapes are entirely barreled fermented. There is no malolactic fermentation. The wine is aged in 3, large 400-liter oak barrels. The wine is going to be hard to find as not much is produced. The initial release will be about 400 cases and by 2020, the production should increase to an average of 1,250 cases.
Le Petit Cheval will be sold as a generic AOC white Bordeaux Blanc because AOC law does not allow white wine grapes in Saint Emilion. According to Pierre-Olivier Clouet, the Technical Director of Cheval Blanc who spearheaded the project, the wine reminds him in some ways of a great Sancerre from the Loire Valley.
Cheval Blanc also maintains an interest in the Mendoza region of Argentina where they produce the wine Cheval des Andes.