2011 Le Petit Cheval
France
Saint Émilion Grand Cru Classé
Bordeaux
Red
72% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Franc (2024 vintage)
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2011
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2024
2027 - 2036
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Pierre-Olivier Clouet is one of those people who always present a candid viewpoint of the vintage. He is not prone to airbrushing out the difficulties or shortcomings of the growing season at an estate that I believe translates the vagaries of the season more than many others.
“The mildew pressure was huge, but we have the ability to deal with it,” he told me in a busy vat room. “What was novel was just how early it was. There was already some mildew during the primeur tastings. The key was to understand that flowering took place over six weeks, whereas a good one would be 12 to 15 days. This resulted in heterogeneity within bunches, so we did some green harvesting. At the beginning of flowering, we let the earlier-ripening bunches rot in order to eventually have the maximum amount of grapes achieve ripeness. It’s a year where it was impossible to be overripe. Secondly, at the end of flowering. We discarded 34% of the crop, so we picked at 39 hl/ha and vinified at 28 hl/ha, with the bain densimètrique reducing the crop. Every evening, we took 300 berries from each parcel to the lab, where we had six batches with different levels of potential alcohol. When we had the sensation that a particular batch had the right level of ripeness, then it would be taken out of the cold room and the fruit would go through the bain densimètrique Even though we don’t like the idea of densimetric, or saignée, or chaptalisation, we did all three because we sought a good percentage of Grand Vin [it is 70% of the average volume in 2024]. We had to increase the Merlot by half a degree, but we didn’t do it for the Cabernet. There are 37 plots in the Grand Vin, eight for Petit Cheval, and three we sold off in bulk.”
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2024
2026 - 2034
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2023
2026 - 2038
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2023
2028 - 2043
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Cheval Blanc was one of the highlights of my April trip to Bordeaux. The wines are simply captivating. Technical Director Pierre-Olivier Clouet and his team did some passes to trim irregular bunches and open the canopies. Clouet was quite adamant in his view that yields are better managed through pruning than in dropping crop. Harvest ran from September 6 to October 3. Yields were a bountiful 40 hectoliters per hectare. Of the estate's production, 75% is Grand Vin, 10% is Petit Cheval, and 15% was sold in bulk.
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2022
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2021
2025 - 2038
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2021
2029 - 2041
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2021
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2021
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2020
2026 - 2037
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2020
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2020
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2020
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2020
2027 - 2045
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“We have stopped comparing the new vintage with other ones,” Pierre-Olivier Clouet told me at Cheval Blanc, my very first visit of a 6-week trip and my first Bordeaux winery visit since February 2020, Pierre Lurton alongside. “It’s a nonsense really. We have some great terroir that produces great wine and we can only predict which direction we think the wine will go. The growing season was excessive. It was one of the driest vintages since 1959 and it was very warm. We had no rain from 15 June until end of September. The storm in August? The water just went into the river. So, it is essentially three months of dryness. Secondly, the entire year was warm, but the warmth became canicule at the beginning of September and we picked during this period. We decided to pick early and quick just because the fruit was ripe, starting on 3 September and finishing on 23 September, a 20-day window instead of 35-40 days. We harvested on 15 days, during which on five, the temperature was up to 30°C degrees. In that respect, there is a similarity with 2003, even if people do not want to admit that. But the wines are not like 2003 because of the spring, when there was a lot of rain, cool temperatures that helped the vine growth and gain energy. The vines were more resilient. At the end, we have a wine that reflects the years, dense and powerful, but without the negative aspect of the excess. It is more open and sexier than usual but without dryness or bitterness. For Cheval Blanc, the alcohol is 14.2°. Of the total production, 17% was sold off as bulk, 12% went into Le Petit Cheval and the rest for the Grand Vin. We never use pressed wine and in dry vintages, the young vines suffer a little.”
“The real comeback of the Cabernet Sauvignon with the new plots,” Lurton told me. “These two parcels lie close to Figeac. When I arrived in 1991, I was surprised by the location of the Cabernet Sauvignon. Maybe there was a competition with Figeac!"
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2019
2025 - 2045
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2019
2024 - 2034
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2019
2027 - 2039
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2018
2025 - 2040
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2018
2025 - 2038
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2018
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2018
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"We fought quite a bit against mildew in 2018, but fortunately attacks were limited to the leaves and never spread to the grapes," Technical Director Pierre-Olivier Clouet explained. That seems to be backed by production, as yields came in at a health 43 hectoliters per hectare. Harvest started on September 10 and wrapped up on October 21, a phenomenon of spread out picking seen at many properties in 2018. As for the wines, they are positivlety stellar. Prodcutionw was 74% Grand Vin and 10% Petit Cheval, while 16% was sold off in bulk.
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2017
2022 - 2032
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2017
2023 - 2035
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2017
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2017
2021 - 2030
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I made two visits to Cheval Blanc midway and towards the end of my three weeks in Bordeaux. That is not just because of its reputation, but because it is one of the most fascinating wines of 2017. I was met by Pierre Lurton and Pierre-Olivier Clouet, who described the growing season. “The climatic conditions were simple to understand. It is an early vintage, bud-break early. There was the big frost and Cheval Blanc was affected. Over the two nights we lost between 30% and 35% of the vines so that we will bottle 50,000 compared to 106,000 as we did in 2016. This is because the yield in 2016 was much higher and likewise the percentage that went into Grand Vin last year. These days, we are trying to use more parcels so that they all have the capacity to go into the Grand Vin because they all have the DNA of Cheval Blanc. So to keep the identity we used two-thirds of the vineyard instead of selecting more and more severely. We want to respect who we are and the terroir we own. Except in 2015, all the parcels have contributed towards the Grand Vin.”
Before I continue, this is a very interesting approach, one that is contrary to many others who seek to deselect as much of the fruit as possible in order to create a kind of “haut couture” wine. Whilst the intentions might be good (though a cynic might suggest it is to limit supply and increase prices) you can find that the result is a technically perfect, blemish through, almost photo-shopped wine that articulates what the technical director has in mind, instead of a true reflection of how a vineyard translated the vagaries of a growing season. You can see in this report here, how some château lop off swathes of vineyard so that the final blend represents as little as 30% of the acreage. At what point does valid de-selection of less propitious parcels turn into unnecessary or even deleterious manipulation? I guess it depends on the estate however, I for one applaud this philosophy. Now, to continue with 2017...
“It was very dry in July and August that built the tannins in the wine. Thanks to the two weeks of rain in early September it helped the skins evolve. The botrytis started around 10 September so everybody was very anxious, but the cool nighttime temperatures prevented this. We started picking on 6 September, early to capture the delicacy of the Merlot including some Merlot on gravel soil, and finished 11 October in order to have ripe, precise Cabernet.”
The startling statistic is that two-thirds of the vineyard was impacted by frost at Cheval Blanc, a large percentage compared to other estates of similar stature. However, that two-thirds that relied on second-generation fruit only contribute 3% of the final blend, ergo the small production. So what you get is a kind of “remixed” version of Cheval Blanc insofar that there is a higher percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon and less Cabernet Franc. It creates a much stricter, linear, what you might describe as “cool” Cheval Blanc that is fascinating to taste. As I mentioned in my note, it is one of the most cerebral wines of the vintage. As a critic, I have to judge what I think is the best and so would I count the 2017 amongst the best of some 50-odd vintages that I have tasted? No. I miss the Cabernet Franc. More accurately, I miss the marriage of Cabernet Franc with Merlot that makes Cheval Blanc one of my favorite wines in the world. That sentiment is reflected in my cold-hearted score. However, truth is, if in 10 or 20 years you asked me which 2017 I would like to revisit, then it would probably be Cheval Blanc. It’s just a shame that cannot be reflected or factored into my score.
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2016
2021 - 2032
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2016
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2016
2022 - 2036
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2016
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In 2016, Cheval Blanc enjoyed a vintage that brought both quantity and quality. Yields were a generous 40 hectoliters per hectare as opposed to the more normal 30-32. According to CEO Pierre Lurton and technical director Pierre-Olivier Clouet, the crop was marked by a high number of berries within the bunches. In tasting, the wines have a degree of aromatic lift, persistence and purity of flavor that is compelling.
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2014
2020 - 2035
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2014
2017 - 2029
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2014
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Like all of his colleagues, Technical Director Pierre Olivier Clouet describes 2014 as a year with uneven ripening, with the Cabernets favored over the Merlot. As for the wines, well, they are beautiful. The Cabernet Francs appear to be particularly expressive this year.
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2013
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2013
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Pierre Lurton describes 2013 as a vintage of terroir and strategy in which mildew pressure was high all year long. Poor weather during flowering and botrytis just before harvest claimed a significant amount of production and reduced yields to just 18 hectoliters per hectare. Conditions were especially poor at LVMH's Quinault L'Enclos, where no wine was made at all. In the cellar macerations were long, but the winemaking team opted for fewer pumpovers than normal. The malolactic fermentations were protracted, which was not unusual in 2013.
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2012
2022 - 2024
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2012
2016 - 2027
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2011
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2010
2021 - 2032
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2010
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2010
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2009
2022 - 2037
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2009
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2009
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Kees van Leeuwen, the viticulturalist and university professor who has been working with Cheval Blanc for years, told me that sticking to a standard blend is never the strategy at this estate. Rather, only the best lots are assembled in order to make the best wine possible. This is why recent vintages of Cheval Blanc have included somewhat more merlot than previously. Moreover, many of the estate's cabernet franc vines have been replanted recently and aren't old enough yet to go into the grand vin
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2008
2018 - 2032
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2007
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2007
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The harvest was carried out late at Cheval Blanc, and in the end took three and a half weeks, with the cabernet franc coming in at the beginning of October. "The long maturation favored the cabernet franc," according to estate manager Pierre Lurton, who said that the merlot was less elegant and less precise. All the fruit from sandy soil went into the estate's second wine, Le Petit Cheval, as it was swelled by rain. "With its freshness of fruit but rather low acidity, it's hard to compare the 2007 Cheval to a past vintage," noted Lurton.
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2006
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The harvest at Cheval Blanc took place between September 12 and 25, according to estate manager Pierre Lurton, who said that the trie carried out in the vines reflected "the Sauternes influence" (Chateau Yquem is under the same LVMH ownership). The production was ultimately just 30 hectoliters per hectare, and Lurton told me that the cabernet franc on clay did not suffer dilution from the persistent September rains even though it was harvested at the end. Extraction was gentle, with the fermentation temperature held to 28oC and total cuvaison just 21 days, as Cheval got less post-fermentation maceration than usual. Incidentally, the 2006 Yquem looks to be one of the rare stars of a very tricky vintage, as the harvest here started on September 6 (the earliest since 1893, according to Lurton) and the estate had brought in 100 barrels' worth of juice by September 15. The best fruit, said Lurton, came in between September 8 and 15.
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2005
2021 - 2030
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2005
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"In 2005, we did not want to pick too ripe and lose balance," said young enologist Olivier Berrouet, the son of Jean-Claude Berrouet, long-time enologist for Petrus and the other Jean-Pierre Moueix properties. Cheval Blanc harvested between September 12 and 24, stopping for two days between the merlot and the cabernet franc. The merlot in particular came in early, as the estate believes that the window for capturing ripe but fresh merlot is short. "Later-picked merlot would have been monolithic," Berrouet claimed. The 2005 blend is 13.8%, moderate for the right bank in 2005 but high for Cheval Blanc. Extraction was intentionally gentle in 2005, said Berrouet. "The tendency in St. Emilion was to go for maximum flavor. But that was a mistake, as some of the seed tannins were underripe and a bitter taste arrived too early if you overextracted." He went on: "We all know the recipe for color, tannin and structure, and in the Bordeaux region we don't need to go too far to build the structure of our wines. But the things we can't measure are fruitiness, freshness, fleshiness and overall balance, which are the measure of great wine."
00
2004
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While some of its neighbors intimated that Cheval Blanc picked on the early side, there's no doubt that this chateau enjoyed ideal harvesting conditions between September 20 and October 5. Then too, Cheval had previously carried out two green harvests, the first in early July, and was able to bring down production to a moderate 45 hectoliters per hectare. The 2004's creamy sweetness, and its wonderfully suave tannins, suggest a wine of thorough ripeness.
00
2003
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Cheval Blanc has been something of a controversial wine in the early going, with some tasters disappointed not to find more richness and ripeness and claiming that the chateau's vines on sandy soil struggled in the heat of 2003. But then Cheval is always difficult to taste early on, as its high percentage of cabernet franc can be quite tight and closed during elevage and takes time to knit with the merlot. Cheval Blanc's harvest was its earliest since 1893, beginning on September 1 and finishing on September 14. The 2003 grand vin represents a 50% selection. Virtually all of the merlot that made it into the blend is from plots with clay subsoil. The yield was a low 30 hectoliters per hectare, as the grapes had trouble growing larger due to the heat during the weeks leading up to the veraison
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2002
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My visit to this great estate brought two surprises: an utterly delicious 2002 Petit Cheval that may be an interesting value for futures buyers and a stubbornly closed 2000 Cheval that barely resembled the remarkably sweet barrel sample I tasted a year ago. Both the grand vin and second wine have clearly benefitted in 2002 from the year's superior cabernet franc; both wines are roughly 50/50 blends of merlot and franc, with Cheval containing about 3% more merlot. The 2000 should be the fleshiest wine of this trio of vintages but was clearly in a difficult phase when I tasted it.
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1999
2019 - 2027
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1989
2019 - 2024
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