Château Cheval Blanc, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru, 2023

Château Cheval Blanc is one of those names that, among Bordeaux enthusiasts, is enough on its own to spark curiosity. If you are looking for a great Right Bank red capable of combining depth and elegance, the 2023 deserves your full attention: for many critics, it is one of the most compelling interpretations of the entire vintage.

We are in Saint-Émilion, right on the border with Pomerol. The estate's 39 hectares rest on a truly unique mosaic of soils, made up of clay, sand, and gravel, and it is this variety, along with an unusually high proportion of Cabernet Franc for the area, that gives Cheval Blanc its unmistakable personality. Up until the 2021 vintage, the wine was classified as Premier Grand Cru Classé A, the highest rung of the Saint-Émilion classification; starting in 2022, the estate chose to withdraw, and only the Saint-Émilion Grand Cru designation appears on the label. Its prestige, however, remains intact.

In 2023, the flowering, which began at the end of May with favorable weather, allowed for generous yields of around 40 hectoliters per hectare, the highest in recent years for the estate. The harvest took place between September 6th and October 4th. The blend consists of 52% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Franc, and a small 2% of Cabernet Sauvignon, and the wine was aged almost entirely in new barriques, with a small portion in foudres and demi-muids. Technical director Pierre-Olivier Clouet considers it a benchmark wine for the Cheval Blanc style.

In the glass, it appears a deep ruby red with violet reflections. At first, it is a wine that reveals itself calmly: it asks for a few minutes to open up, then reveals cherry, blackberry, raspberry, and mulberry, accompanied by violet, rose petals, and a note of iris, with nuances of anise and pencil lead. On the palate, it is full but never heavy, fresh and slender, with very fine tannins and a long, savory, almost mineral finish. Even though Merlot is slightly in the majority, it is the Cabernet Franc that guides the taste: it provides tension, fragrance, and that spicy vein that makes this wine so recognizable.

At the table, it expresses itself best with refined meat dishes: beef Wellington, roast pigeon, baked duck, or a rack of lamb with herbs. Serve it between 16 and 18 °C and, if you decide to open it in the coming years, give it a couple of hours in a decanter.

My advice? Patience. This is a Cheval Blanc that critics see at its best from 2030 onwards and capable of evolving for several decades: a bottle to put in the cellar and uncork for an occasion truly worth the wait.