Cheval Blanc impressed. The grand vin represented 65% of the total production this year, which is higher than normal. A sure sign they're happy, and not surprising considering how well the Cabernet Franc ripened, producing alluring aromatics. Ethereal on the palate, packed with minerals, earth and smoke, it’s also wonderfully precise and brimming with fruit. Great weight and balance all round.

The first vintage in the new cellar. Elegantly dark fruited aromas with cacao and cedar. Youthful impression on the palate, with raspberries and redcurrant crispness. The palate builds to a dense core with firm tannins and a refined underlying freshness. A warm, generous finish, round, ripe and black. The driest vintage in 15 years but with an even balance of cool weather and ripening, with a two heat spikes. The late harvest gives the mature tannins. Cheval Blanc was 64% of the production, Le Petit Cheval 23% and the 3ème vin 13%. Drinking Window 2019 - 2035
Tasted by Sarah Jane Evans MW (25 Nov 2019)
Part of Tasting Cheval Blanc 1939 & 1950

The 2011 Cheval Blanc has an elegant, quite refined bouquet with brambly red fruit, scorched earth, terracotta and sage, very complex and harmonious. Could this be Figeac? [Post-script. No, but not far off!] The palate is medium-bodied with rounded tannins, quite plush and sensual, rich for this vintage with plenty of concentrated, quite sweet and spicy, hoisin-tinged fruit on the precise finish. This is a very fine Saint-Émilion. Tasted blind at the annual 10-Year-On tasting.

Offers a loamy, dense feel, with the vintage's briary grip tumbled with dark plum, blackberry and black currant fruit. Anise and tobacco notes fill out the finish, which expands steadily with air, showing added range and echoes of bittersweet cocoa and tobacco. Seems to have a lot in reserve. Best from 2016 through 2030.
– James Molesworth (WineSpectator.com, March 2014)

A beautiful nose of ripe black fruits such blackberries, as well as cocoa, black truffle and mint. Full body with a solid core of very refined tannins that lasts for minutes. Very refined texture, especially for the vintage. 57% cabernet franc and 43% merlot. Try after seven to eight years. – James Molesworth (WineSpectator.com, Jan 2014)

Quality 922 | Brand 995 | Economics 796 | buzz brand
Quality: Predicted life of 15 years, one of the longest drinking windows in its peer group for the 2011 vintage, which averages 11 years Brand: Strong restaurant presence, featuring on 40 of the world's top wine lists, including Garibaldi Economics: More traded at auction than its peers, its top 5 vintages having seen 2,982 75cl equivalent bottles traded in the past year Production: Lower yields than its peer group average of 33 hl/ha

- www.wine-lister.com June 2017