2023 Château Cheval Blanc En Primeur
"One of the most profound wines of the vintage...98-100 points." - (WK) Wine Advocate
Released this morning for sale en primeur at £2,340 per six, 2023 Château Cheval Blanc comes with a potentially perfect 100-point score from The Wine Advocate, as well as excellent scores from several other major critics.
We found lots of tension and minerality in the '23 when we tasted it, beautifully balanced at 13.8% alcohol, with excellent acidity and a velvet texture provided by the fine tannins. Tasting at the château, we get a strong sense each year that this estate is pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved in the vineyard and winery. Other favourite right-bank wines like VCC and Le Tertre Rôteboeuf may impress us with their energy and character, but Cheval Blanc's purity, precision and refinement still clearly distinguish it and place it in the company of the left bank first growths.
The 2023 is released at a 19% discount to the 2022 vintage, another good news story for this campaign. Offered on allocation, please enquire.
Offered en primeur, on allocation. Landing spring 2026.
Magnums available with £20 ex-VAT bottling surcharge per six. Please enquire for other formats.
All previous offers of 2023 Bordeaux can be found here.
Producer Profile
Château Cheval Blanc
Château Cheval Blanc is a 1er Grand Cru Classé (A) in Saint-Émilion. Originally part of the Figeac estate, it became a separate vineyard in 1832. Initially the wines were sold under the Figeac label, but the estate acquired its own identity in the 1850s, under the name Cheval Blanc. The name is believed to derive from a village of the same name which existed here in the 16th century. It was also in the 1850s that Cheval Blanc began to blend Merlot and Cabernet Franc, establishing the style which defines modern Saint-Émilion wines. Today the estate, along Château d'Yquem, is owned by LVMH and managed by Pierre Lurton.
The modern estate is comprised of 39 hectares, divided into 45 plots, each vinified separately. The vineyards are planted to 52% Cabernet Franc, 43% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. The estate is blessed with both clay and gravel soils. Many estates in Saint-Émilion have one but not the other (Cheval Blanc is on the border with Pomerol). There are three main soil types – fine-textured with clay, more coarsely textured with gravel, and large gravel with sand – making up a complex patchwork.
Annual production of the grand vin is around 6000 cases. The second wine is Le Petit Cheval, with around 2500 cases produced. The impressive vat room, designed by architect Christian de Portzamparc, allows for precise vinification by individual parcels.
In July 2021, Cheval Blanc (along with Angelus), announced its intention to withdraw from the St-Emilion classification, due to be renewed in 2022.
| RED | 2023 | Château Cheval Blanc | 75cl | £2,340 per case of 6 | Château Cheval Blanc 2023 / / 75cl £2,340 per case of 6 |
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Tasting Notes"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. 96-98 points" Neal Martin, Vinous.com------"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. 98 points" janeanson.com------"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. 98-99 points" jamessuckling.com------"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. 98-100 points" William Kelley, RobertParker.com |
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