Cheval Blanc - Saint-Emilion 2023

Vinous

97

byNeal Martinthe2/1/2026

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.

Jamessuckling.com

99

byJames Sucklingthe1/27/2026

Blackberry and dark-chocolate aromas with bark, mushrooms, stems, flint, lead pencil and a hint of violets. Medium-bodied with a toned structure from the tight, compressed palate and fine, polished tannins. Extremely long. A blend of 52% merlot, 46% cabernet franc and 2% cabernet sauvignon. Best after 2029.

My Bettane + Desseauve

95-96

by Bettane & Desseauvethe5/15/2024

Tannin présent, élégant et frais avec ce qu’il faut de délicatesse, édifié à partir d’un assemblage de 52 % de merlot, 46 % de cabernet franc et 2 % de cabernet- sauvignon.

Yvesbeck.wine

97-98

byYves Beckthe5/14/2024

Cheval Blanc wird zu 100% in neuen Fässern ausgebaut (die später für die Reifung von Petit Cheval verwendet werden). Das Bouquet von Cheval Blanc ist tiefgründig und homogen. Die Reifung ist kaum erkennbar bzw. findet im Hintergrund statt und soll die Stütze, das Sprungbrett sein, auf dem sich Noten von Holunder, Brombeeren, Süßholz, ergänzt durch Nuancen von Pfingstrosen und Minze, profilieren können. Der Wein ist kompakt und gewinnt dem Gaumen entlang an Dichte und Kraft. Die Tannine treten erst spät auf; Sie zeichnen sich durch ihren feinkörnigen Charakter und subtile herbe Noten aus, während die Säure Temperament und Struktur verleiht. Die Kraft ist maßvoll, was die entspannte Seite des Weins unterstreicht. Er ist breitschultrig, ohne opulent zu sein, kraftvoll, ohne überdimensioniert zu wirken, und sehr fein, ohne leicht zu erscheinen. Feine Bitternoten im Finale erinnern stützen die Aromatik und sorgen für einen langen Nachhall. Ein Cheval-Blanc von ausgezeichnetem Niveau mit einer außergewöhnlichen Balance als rotem Faden.

Jeb DUNNUCK

96-98

byJeb Dunnuckthe5/13/2024

The Grand Vin 2023 Château Cheval Blanc is based on 52% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon and, as always, is resting in 100% new French oak. It's deep ruby/plum-hued and offers a gorgeous array of ripe black cherries, currants, leafy herbs, spring flowers, and spicy oak. This carries to a medium to full-bodied Cheval with gorgeous mid-palate depth, ripe, building, yet polished tannins, and a certainly salty, mineral character on the finish. This is a classic, regal, aristocratic Cheval Blanc that will need bottle age, but it’s absolutely gorgeous. It's the finest wine I tasted on the Right Bank.

Decanter.com

97

byGeorgina Hindlethe5/7/2024

Fresh and floral on the nose, cool and crisp aromas. Purple flowers, red and purple berries with crayon, graphite and liquorice. Gorgeous texture on the palate, this has grip and bite, tannins are present and quite imposing, really coating the mouth with a powdery, chalkiness. It has some layers of tannin and ripe fruit but with freshness and lift all the way through. It’s not immediately charming and generous, it’s more controlled, but not strict. Fresh, clean, precise with style and finesse and this packs more power than some. Raspberries, chalky cherries, bright blueberries with wet stones, lots of liquorice and slate. Balanced and containing both warm and cool vintage markers - lots of complexity on offer. It’s missing a touch of that gorgeous charm that Cheval does so well, a sense of enrobing, but it’s very well constructed with lots of personality. The largest ever vintage in the Cheval cellars with a yield of 40hl/ha. 3.82pH.

The Wine Independent

97-99

byLisa Perrotti-Brownthe5/7/2024

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.

The Drinks Business

98-100

byColin Haythe5/7/2024

Cheval Blanc (Saint Émilion; 52% Merlot; 46% Cabernet Franc; 2% Cabernet Sauvignon; 13.6% alcohol; tasted at Cheval Blanc with Pierre-Olivier Cloüet; whilst there was significant mildew pressure here, the generosity and evenness of the flowering permitted a final yield of 40 hl/ha, the source of the natural balance in the wine according to Pierre-Olivier). Gosh, this is fabulous. More cedar still than Petit Cheval. Very Cabernet Franc in its aromatics. Vertical, explosive aromatically, but gorgeous with it. When the cedar calms, it’s the graphite that sours and it seems to bring with it the fruit. Bramble, blueberry, blackberry, black cherry, damson, mulberry. A little blood orange. On the palate, this is so fantastic texturally. Silk layers unlike the more velvety Petit Chevel, but with even more depth, so we have a sort of incalculable milles feuilles sensation. Just gorgeous texturally. A cascade of layers like the descent of a spiral staircase into the cool dark depths of the cave below. So Gracious and complete. Staggering in its mouth feel. Chocolate. Violet and lavender. Aniseed. Black peppercorns and that cool finish of Szechuan peppercorns and a touch of menthol. Incredibly ethereal and fantastically lifted on the (two minute plus) finish. Utterly brilliant and a complete triumph. 

The Wine Cellar Insider

97-99

byJeff Levethe5/6/2024

The Cabernet Franc makes a strong impression in the nose with its tobacco, flowers, black, with red fruits, chocolate, orange skin, and mint leaf in the nose. However, it is on the palate with its length, purity, vibrance, elegance, and refinement that is the star of the show. The wine starts slow, building in intensity as it lingers. But once it gets going, you find layer, after layer of vibrant, silky, electric fruits. Perfectly ripe, balanced, and fresh, the finish holds with you for close to 60 seconds. The chateau thinks it is better than the 2022, I am not sure. But, I am ready to blind taste both, again, and again to find out for sure. The key to the vintage this year is the uniqueness, and inclusion of each parcel. With 2023, all 41 parcels produced fruit used in the Grand Vin allowing for a true representation of the vineyard into the wine. In other words, 2023 is a vintage where the terroir provides the shape, and character to the wine, more than the climatic conditions. The wine is made from 52% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Franc and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon. 13.65% ABV, 3.8 pH. The harvest began September 6 for the Merlot. The Cabernet Franc took place September 12 - October 3. Drink from 2030-2065. 97-99 Pts.

Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

98

byJane Ansonthe5/6/2024

Contrasts intensity and depth with nuance and softly spoken character. Lift and tension, precisely placed cocoa bean, liqourice root, tomato leaf, tannins, violet and peony florals and slate, sinewy, slow-tug tannins, powerful with lift off. Has plenty to say and demands that you slow down to hear it. 40hl/h yield, 75% of overall production (no press wine as ever), harvest September 6 to October 3. Pierre-Olivier Clouet director.

Vinous

95-98

byAntonio Gallonithe4/30/2024

The 2023 Cheval Blanc is silky, elegant and exceptionally polished. Cabernet Franc is rarely as expressive as it is here. Everything in the 2023 is about detail. All the elements are so well balanced—so integrated. Red/purplish berry fruit, mint, cinnamon, rose petal and blood orange meld together, while seamless tannins wrap it all up in grand style. What a wine.

Vinous

96-98

byNeal Martinthe4/29/2024

The 2023 Cheval Blanc is uncharacteristically backward on first meeting, and it takes time to really fire up its engines. Quite strict and focused (surprisingly so), the bouquet reveals black fruit, a touch of bilberry, with just a whiff of iris flower. The palate has wonderful symmetry, outstanding mineralité and ample tension. It's extremely pure, with less weight than the 2022 but perhaps a touch more nerve. Modestly grippy on the finish, this "serious" Cheval Blanc will deserve several years in bottle. It's cerebral…and I like that. The 2023 is very different from the 2022—a beautiful minor chord.

Falstaff

97

byPeter Moserthe4/29/2024

Deep dark ruby, opaque core of purple reflections, subtle brightening on the edge. Delicate tangerine zest, fine touch of oak, ripe cherries, some redcurrants, floral nuances in the underlay. Complex, taut and fresh, fine red berryish nuances, vivid, still somewhat demanding tannins, salty aftertaste, subtle herbal savouriness and umami in the finish, cherry touch in the aftertaste, definite ageing potential.

Alexandre Ma

98-99

byAlexandre Mathe4/28/2024

Wine Advocate

98-100

byWilliam Kelleythe4/26/2024

One of the most profound wines of the vintage is the 2023 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.

Jamessuckling.com

98-99

byJames Sucklingthe4/25/2024

This is so cabernet, with blackcurrants, blackberries, crushed stone, graphite and lead pencil. Full-bodied with tight, chewy tannins that remain fine yet energetic. Winemaker Pierre-Olivier Clouet says this wine is a benchmark for Cheval Blanc. Reminds me of the great 1983. 13.8% alcohol. 52% merlot, 46% cabernet franc and 2% cabernet sauvignon.