An underrated vintage, the 2011 Château Cheval Blanc is evolving brilliantly. Wafting from the glass with aromas of smoky cassis, blackberries, loamy soil, tobacco leaf, bitter chocolate, mint and violets, it's full-bodied, velvety and multidimensional, with a layered core of fruit, rich and powdery structuring tannin and a long, resonant finish. While the 2009 and 2010 are more powerful and unctuous, readers who prize Cheval Blanc for its extraordinary complexity and unique perfume might well prefer the 2011, as it is a wine that could come from nowhere else.

A vintage that’s being drunk with abandon in France these days, the 2011 Chateau Cheval Blanc showed beautifully, and the firm tannins that define this vintage are nowhere to be found here. Sweet black fruits, spice, incense, and exotic flowers define the bouquet and it has classic Cheval Blanc complexity. Medium to full-bodied, beautifully balanced, with sweet tannins and a great finish, it’s a beautiful Saint-Emilion to drink over the coming 2-3 decades.

The 2011 Cheval Blanc is one of the more plump, opulent and sexy Cheval Blancs made over recent vintages, and its forwardness, lusciousness and complexity seemingly suggest this wine is on a fast evolutionary track. The wine exhibits a dense ruby/purple/plum color, a medium to full-bodied opulence, a sumptuous mid-palate (atypical for the vintage), and a lush, heady finish. It is a super, complex, evolved Cheval Blanc that can be drunk now or cellared for 15+ years. Bravo!
95 points – Robert Parker (Wine Advocate #212, April 2014)

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)

(a blend of 52% cabernet franc and 49% merlot): Bright ruby. Highly perfumed, knockout nose of strawberry, white pepper and flowers. Bright and fresh in the mouth yet delineated and firmly structured, with a seamless quality to its red berry, floral and mineral flavors. This oozes class and grace, finishing long and suave, with very smooth tannins. Though this 2011 is less structured and powerful than the 2010 version, when Cheval Blanc gets the cabernet franc as it did in 2011, it's simply one of the world's greatest wines. But chief viticulturalist and winemaker Kees Van Leeuwen told me that 2011 wasn't a walk in the park: among the estate's many parcels, some had grilled berries and there was huge disparity in the ripening curve between parcels (some were extremely early and others late), leading to a harvest that lasted 23 days, the longest here in memory (normally it lasts 14 to 18 days).

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

Much darker and more savoury than Ausone on the nose. More oak in evidence, more meaty. Spicy and fluid on the palate, remarkably silky tannins but plenty of spicy freshness on the long finish. Less open than Ausone at the moment. Drink: 2020-2035 – Julia Harding (jancisrobinson.com, Jan 2015)

Oh my, there is much more volatile acidity here than in the younger vintages tasted. The fruit is good, but that strong varnish aroma is spoiling the overall impact. Strange lack of purity. An imperfect bottle? (RH)