Chateau Cheval Blanc 2011 Trophy St. Emilion Bordeaux Wine Review
Vložit
- čas přidán 11. 09. 2024
- Chateau Cheval Blanc (or "white horse") was established in 1832 when the Ducasse family purchased part of Chateau Figeac, which at that time was 200 hectares.
It was originally named Le Barrail de Cailloux, which is loosely translated is "barrel of tiny stones" because it has unique gravel soils. In 1852, when Mille Ducasse married Jean Laussac-Fourcaud, she came with a dowry including 2 of the 5 gravel mounds running through the vineyards of Cheval Blanc and Figeac. Around this time the changed their name to Cheval Blanc.
The Laussac-Fourcaud continued adding to their holdings increasing the size of Cheval Blanc. By 1871, they accumulated a total of 41 hectares of vineyards, which is the current size of the winery today (39 hectares planted with vines).
Chateau Cheval Blanc began winning medals and to this day, pictures of their medals appear on the label.
In 1998 Chateau Cheval Blanc was purchased by Bernard Arnault and Baron Albert Frere. Pierre Lurton (who also manages Chateau d’Yquem, Chateau La Tour du Pin and Quinault l’Enclos) began to manage the property for them. In 2009, LVMH purchased the shares owned by Bernard Arnault.
Cheval Blanc is located on the Pomerol border in the northwest portion of Saint Emilion. As such, it has all the best attributes of St. Emilion and Pomerol. Cheval Blanc has a complex terroir that consists of 3 different soils:40% of their soils are gravel over multiple types of clay, including blue clay, another 40% of their terroir has deep gravel soils, while the remaining 20% of their soils consist of sandy clay in the soil. There are 10 distinctive soil types in Cheval Blanc's terroir.
Generally speaking, Cheval Blanc has a slightly warmer, precocious, microclimate. This helps to produce the beauty in their Cabernet Franc. The vineyard is planted to 52% Cabernet Franc and 43% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon today, but the goal is to return to the original mix of 55% Cabernet Franc, 40% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon.
In 2011, did full scale renovation of winery, barrel cellars and vinification room. They have 50-70 temperature-controlled, cement vats, varying in size that allow each parcel to be vinified separately. The wines are aged in 100% new, French oak barrels for close to 18 months before bottling.
They were elevated in Premier Cru Class A status in 2006 but in 2021, Chateau Cheval Blanc announced they would no longer participate in the St. Emilion classification system so starting with the 2022 vintage, the labels will no longer state Premier Cru Classe A.
For more infomation about the winery, please visit their website at www.chateau-ch...
A real lesson on Château Cheval Blanc!
Congrats Tony!
Thanks for your continued support. Cheers!
I had the 2012 Cheval Blanc the night before last and it had very similar characteristics as what you describe for the 2011. Definitely violets and red fruit with this faint aroma and taste of tea that you describe. As time went by I got some exotic spice but in a very refined and balanced iteration. A wine of great aromatic range and complexity for sure.
ali: thank you for viewing my video and your comments. Cheval is one of the best off vintage wines and 2011-2014 is a good opportunity to pick up decent priced Cheval. Cheers!
Thanks for sharing your experience of this famous wine. I always respect and trust your score. Cheers!
KH: thank you for your continued support. Cheers!
As always great review and insights on the history and also the detailed tasting notes are ace. Cheers.
Dominic: thank you for your kind words and continued support. Cheers!
Great review 🍷. Happy holidays
Same to you Cory!
I only had several Petite Chevals so far, will try to get the 2011 or 2012.Thanks for this in depth review
othmar: I am a big fan of Cheval since I visited the winery and had lunch with the winemaker. He is the person who got me around the concept that there are good/bad vintages...he says there are only different vintages for different moods and foods. But the character/philosophy of the wine is the same each year. Cheers!
Thanks for the review. Question though…. After 2 days doesn’t the wine go bad? Or are you using a preservation system?
Man Yau: I use a pump and then I store in the fridge. Generally, that will stop the oxidation process for a day or two before you see real signs of decline. Many times, I am drinking young wines so I am not too worried about over aeration. In situations where I will be drinking the next day, I generally do not decant the wine on the first day. So I believe with this wine, I opened on the first day without aeration and just drank/poured out around 1/2 bottle to enjoy. The other half was air pumped and then put in the fridge immediately. On the 2nd day I took out of the fridge around 90 minutes before I did my video, then I will do my notes on Vivino after doing my video. Cheers!
@@TrophyWineHunter thanks for the quick reply!
@@user-yj1jq7pp2r Please like, subscribe and keep watching. Cheers!
Thanks for the great video on this wine that I'd love to try one day. Too bad it's so super expensive!!! How do you find vintage variation for Coeval Blanc?
noahcap: there is vintage variation but as the winemaker told me, it is not good or bad, off or great vintage but just different expressions of the same philosophy. So the underlying philosophy of Cheval is complexity over intensity. Cheval doesn't want to overwhelm you, it wants you think about it. Once I got this in my mind, I started to appreciate Cheval on a different level. I am not so much looking for flavors as I am in what situation or foods can I drink this vintage with. I think that is actually what makes Cheval so interesting. Each vintage is slightly different and has its own character. Cheers!
I wonder if you mean pencil shaving type of minerality when you say, almost metallic component. I can totally see how high minerality can be perceived as metallic…
Yes...I think you correct! Thanks!
Thanks from France for your great reviews always interesting. I’m afraid you mixed Bernard Arnault the billionaire owner of LVMH with Bernard Hinault the cyclist who was never involved with this Château.
Yeah I was surprised to hear a former cyclist could have afforded that deal. But great review as always!
climbanddown: thanks for the catch! I will delete that part! Cheers!
@@tomh888 obviouslly, I love Bernard Hinault! Cheers!
would love to drink this somewhere down the line. for now...too expensive !!! ^_^
rick: you will get there one day! Cheers!
Oh boy. He almost gets château and cheval. I'll pass on the blank.
michel: guess you are not too pleased with my pronunciation of things. I am sure there are other youtubers that are a lot of better at getting the names correct. But more importantly, I am getting the facts correct and do my tasting notes assist you? If you can't get around the pronunciation and grammatical mistakes, I understand. But I am always amused that people judge me by my pronunciation of words rather than the actual content. Cheers!