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 Vintage2021 Label 1 of 422 
(NOTE: Label borrowed from 2020 vintage.)
TypeRed
ProducerChâteau Cheval Blanc (web)
VarietyRed Bordeaux Blend
Designationn/a
Vineyardn/a
CountryFrance
RegionBordeaux
SubRegionLibournais
AppellationSt. Émilion Grand Cru
UPC Code(s)3490890013421

Drinking Windows and Values
Drinking window: Drink between 2030 and 2055 (based on 4 user opinions)
Wine Market Journal quarterly auction price: See Cheval Blanc on the Wine Market Journal.

Community Tasting History

Community Tasting Notes (average 97.3 pts. and median of 97 pts. in 9 notes) - hiding notes with no text

 Tasted by watcheslover on 3/11/2024 & rated 97 points: Hello everyone. I have almost completed my tastings of the 2021 in bottles. There will be no more big surprises (Petrus not tasted). Basically, even if this vintage is not at the level of 2016, 18, 19, 20 and 22. To my taste it is very often superior to 2014 and 2017 in any case. It is very particular with enormous finesse and above all a precision in defining each terroir that is rarely achieved. A school model if you want to introduce your future alcoholic children. And for old people like me :O), the advantage is that it will be drinkable much faster than its elders. Since I'm swamped with work these days, I only put my best notes. For a rating of a particular wine, do not hesitate to write to me;

1 Lafleur 98-99
2 Carmes H-B 98
3 Haut-Brion, Cheval Blanc, Vieux Certan, Margaux, Lafite 97
4 Montrose, Las Cases, Le Pin 96-97

And finally the Oscar for best value for money

Laroque 94-95 (1390 views)
 Tasted by Jeff Leve on 3/5/2024 & rated 98 points: Poised between its regal bearing, and, sensuous, sexy side, this is a clear contender for wine of the vintage, avoiding all of the pitfalls of the vintage. This sublime gem pops from the glass effortlessly with array of flowers, spices, red, and dark red fruits, tobacco, and mint leaves. The palate offers a majestic display of vibrant, al dente red fruits, and ripe, dark red berries, coupled with firm, cashmere, polished tannins, velvet-textured black cherries, and plums. This is showing even better in the bottle than it did in barrel! The wine blends 52% Cabernet Franc, 43% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, making this the highest percentage of Cabernet in over a decade. The willingness to delay harvesting, finishing October 14, along with low yields, at only 28 hectoliters per hectare are part of the reason the vintage was so successful. Drink from 2029-2060. (925 views)
 Tasted by vvWine.ch on 6/20/2022 & rated 98 points: (97-98 vvPunkte) 52% Cabernet Franc, 43% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Die Nase springt aus dem Glas, florale Noten, rote, knackige Früchte, Minze, blonder Tabak, wunderbarer Duft. Im Gaumen feingliedrig, hochelegant, der Wein zeigt viel Struktur, die Frucht ist knackig, genau richtig reif, keinerlei Überreife, der Wein ist super elegant, hat Biss und Rasse, im Abgang eine grosse Länge, viel Frische. Eine Delikatesse die zurück an die kühleren, klassischen Jahre erinnern lässt. (Verkostet "En Primeur" im April 2022. Château Cheval-Blanc) vvWine.ch (5831 views)
 Tasted by watcheslover on 6/11/2022 & rated 96 points: 96-97
One of the best Right Bank of the vintage with Lafleur, Figeac and Laroque (for his fabulous QRP) (3403 views)
 Tasted by Jeff Leve on 5/20/2022 & rated 97 points: A gorgeous wine, especially when you consider the vintage, you start off with a nose offering complexities of tobacco leaf, violets, roses, spice-box, mint leaf, and ripe, red and black pit fruits. On the palate you find layers of sensual, pure, silky fruits, cashmere, polished tannins and a richness created by velvet textured plums and black cherries. There is a slight drop off in the weight of the fruit after the mid-palate that makes this a very, very good vintage for Cheval Blanc, but stops it from being one of the great vintages from the estate. Still, there is a lot to love about the 2021 Cheval, making this one of the contenders for wine of the vintage. The wine blends 52% Cabernet Franc, 43% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13.25% ABV, 3.61 pH. The harvest took place September 24 - October 14, making this a very late vintage here. In fact, it is the lateness of the harvest that is the secret to the success of the vintage. Yields were low at only 28 hectoliters per hectare. Drink from 2029-2055. 96-98 (3376 views)
 Tasted by wineappellation on 5/19/2022 & rated 99 points: EP tasting. Very likely one of the contenders of wine of the vintage....! (2343 views)
 Tasted by chatters on 4/28/2022: En-Primeur campaign for the 2021 vintage; 4/25/2022-4/29/2022 (Bordeaux): Blackcurrant springs from the glass with plums, a little mint, and plenty of polished oak in a supporting role. Touch of coffee here as well. Juicy acidity, fleshy but with plentiful tannins in support, similar profile to the Petit Cheval but even more controlled though it does finish a little hard and I find it very slightly out of whack. Okay (3583 views)
 Tasted by LiteItOnFire on 4/26/2022: No notes due to 400 wines at EP however the Grabd Vin and third Label (QE) delivered the goods (wasn’t as fond of the Petit at least at this stage). This is top five wines of the right bank with very good depth and length. Will take some time to balance out but will be a beauty. Buyer (1605 views)

Professional 'Channels'
By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, 2021 Bordeaux: L’Enfant Terrible (Feb 2024) (2/1/2024)
(Cheval Blanc Cheval Blanc Red) Subscribe to see review text.
By Chris Kissack
Winedoctor, January 2024 (1/1/2024)
(Château Cheval-Blanc St Emilion Red) Subscribe to see review text.
By Georgina Hindle
Decanter, Bordeaux 2021: In-bottle report (12/1/2023)
(Château Cheval Blanc, Cabernet Franc, St-Émilion, Bordeaux, France, Red) Subscribe to see review text.
By Jeb Dunnuck
JebDunnuck.com, 2021 Bordeaux: A Challenging Yet Good Vintage (6/2/2022)
(Chateau Cheval Blanc) Login and sign up and see review text.
By James Suckling
JamesSuckling.com (5/12/2022)
(Château Cheval Blanc St.-Emilion, Red, France) Subscribe to see review text.
By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, 2021 Bordeaux En Primeur: Back to Classicism (May 2022) (5/1/2022)
(Cheval Blanc Cheval Blanc Red) Subscribe to see review text.
By Neal Martin
Vinous, Enticingly Fallible: Bordeaux 2021 En Primeur (May 2022) (5/1/2022)
(Cheval Blanc Cheval Blanc Red) Subscribe to see review text.
By James Lawther MW
JancisRobinson.com (4/27/2022)
(Ch Cheval Blanc St-Émilion Red) Subscribe to see review text.
By Georgina Hindle
Decanter, Bordeaux En Primeur 2021 (4/1/2022)
(Château Cheval Blanc, Cabernet Franc, St-Émilion, Bordeaux, France, Red) Subscribe to see review text.
By Chris Kissack
Winedoctor, April 2022 (4/1/2022)
(Château Cheval-Blanc St Emilion Red) Subscribe to see review text.
By Neal Martin
Vinous, 2+2=5: Bordeaux 2021 In Bottle (Feb 2024)
(Cheval Blanc Cheval Blanc Red) Subscribe to see review text.
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous and Winedoctor and Decanter and JebDunnuck.com and JamesSuckling.com and JancisRobinson.com. (manage subscription channels)

CellarTracker Wiki Articles (login to edit | view all articles)

Château Cheval Blanc

Producer website - Read more about Chateau Cheval Blanc

Their second wine is Le Petit Cheval.

The vineyard on weinlagen-info

Red Bordeaux Blend

Red Bordeaux is generally made from a blend of grapes. Permitted grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and rarely Carménère.Today Carménère is rarely used, with Château Clerc Milon, a fifth growth Bordeaux, being one of the few to still retain Carménère vines. As of July 2019, Bordeaux wineries authorized the use of four new red grapes to combat temperature increases in Bordeaux. These newly approved grapes are Marselan, Touriga Nacional, Castets, and Arinarnoa.

Wineries all over the world aspire to making wines in a Bordeaux style. In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to identify wines made in this way. Although most Meritage wines come from California, there are members of the Meritage Association in 18 states and five other countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Israel, and Mexico.

France

Vins de France (Office National Interprofessionnel des Vins ) | Pages Vins, Directory of French Winegrowers | French Wine (Wikipedia)

Wine Scholar Guild vintage ratings

2018 vintage: "marked by a wet spring, a superb summer and a good harvest"
2019 vintage reports
2021: "From a general standpoint, whether for white, rosé or red wines, 2021 is a year marked by quality in the Rhône Valley Vineyards. Structured, elegant, fresh and fruity will be the main keywords for this new vintage."
2022 harvest: idealwine.info | wine-searcher.com

Bordeaux

Bordeaux Wine Guide

Vins Bordeaux (Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux)

History of Bordeaux

History of 1855 Bordeaux Classification

"2009 is all about ripeness, with wines impressively packed with ripe fruit and high alcohol levels. They are showy, in-your-face, and full of pleasure. The 2010s have the fruit and alcohol levels of the 2009s, but with a compelling freshness on the finish that balances the fruit and provides a perfect sense of structure." - Ben Nelson

"2016 is a landmark vintage in certain spots of Bordeaux and it should be remembered as one of the most inspired campaigns of the last 40-50+ years." -Jon Rimmerman
"The quality of red Bordeaux in 2016 was universally lauded – although the response to the en primeur campaign was muted. Quantity was high too, with the equivalent of 770 million bottles of wine produced. An exceptionally dry summer with cool nights eventually, thanks to mid September rain, resulted in small, thick-skinned, ripe grapes, and the wines are marked by high tannin and acidity, with superb aromatic fragrance." - Jancis Robinson

"2017 was complicated, but there are some excellent wines. Expect plenty of freshness and drinkability from wines that will offer excellent value, and others that will rival 2016 in terms of ripeness and ageability. But they are likely to be the exception not the rule, making careful selection key." - Jane Anson

"In the past, a vintage such as 2022 may have been overripe, raisined and low in acidity but 2022 had a sneaky little reservoir in its back pocket - a near perfect marriage of cool/cold/rain the previous winter and the previous vintage that literally soaked the soils (a key to why 2022 is not 2003...or 1893)." - Jon Rimmerman

Libournais

Libournais (Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux) - Read more about St. Emilion and its wines - Read more about Pomerol and its wines

Saint Emilion Grat Classified Growth, Classified Growths, Grands Crus Classes, GCC

In 1954, while the "Graves" growths had just published their own classification, the wine syndicate of Saint-Emilion, composed by wine growers, brokers and wine traders with the approval of the INAO - Institut National des Appellations d'Origine (A.O.C), decided to work on a classification for the wines of Saint Emilion. Initially, four grades were defined. These were reduced to two - First Great Classified Growth (A and B) and Great Classified Growth - in 1984.

As of Medoc's 1855 historical grading, the Saint-Emilion Great Classified Growth classification is not only based on qualitative criteria by tasting the wines on a ten years period previous to the assessment, but also on commercial considerations such as:
- sales price levels
- national and international commercial distribution
- the estate's reputation on the market

Properties who don't manage to join the club of about sixty Classified Growths are given the denomination of Great Growth ("Grand Cru"), while the remaining wineries of the A.O.C are simply reported as "Saint-Emilion". It is to be noted that the owners must officially apply to appear in the official classification. Thus for example the famous Chateau Tertre-Roteboeuf, whose quality and reputation would easily justify to be listed among the First Great Classified Growths, does not appear here by the will of its owner, François Mitjaville.

The Saint-Emilion Great Growth classification was revised in 1969, 1985, 1996 and 2006. The only two guaranteed vintage (A.O.C) who can apply to the classification are the "Saint-Emilion Grand Cru" and "Saint-Emilion" areas.

By grading 61 properties, the 2006 revision confirmed many growths from the former classification, but also caused a number of surprises and a few inevitable disappointments. Many observers thought that the impressive progression of Perse's Chateau Pavie since 1998 would be rewarded by an upgrade into the First Great Classified Growths (A) category, but finally such was not the case.

Among the estates promoted to the First Great Classified Growths B category are Chateau Troplong-Mondot and Pavie-Macquin, whose efforts made since the Nineties fully justify their new grade. It should be noted that no First Great Classified Growth was relegated to the lower Great Classified Growth class.

Promoted growths from the status of Great Growth ("Grand Cru") to Great Classified Growth ("Grand Cru Classe") are: Chateaux Bellefont-Belcier, Destieux, Fleur Cardinale, Grand Corbin, Grand Corbin-Despagne and Monbousquet.

The demoted growths from the status of Great Classified Growth to Great Growth are: Chateaux Bellevue, Cadet Bon, Faurie de Souchard, Guadet Saint-Julien, La Tour du Pin-Figeac (Belivier), La Tour du Pin-Figeac (Moueix), Lamarzelle, Petite Faurie de Soutard, Tertre Daugay, Villemaurine and Yon-Figeac. If the recent samples of some of the above mentioned properties may justify their current downgrade, there are great chances that estates like Bellevue, Tertre Daugay or Yon-Figeac will be upgraded to their previous rankings by the next revision in 2016 as the progresses noted after 2000, but not entering in the range of vintages (1993 - 2002) appointed for the criteria of selection for the 2006 classification, are noticable.

The two following estates have completely disappeared from the Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classification: Curé-Bon-la-Madeleine (integrated meanwhile to Chateau Canon) and La Clusière (integrated meanwhile to Chateau Pavie).

Finally, no estate considered as "garagiste" has integrated the classification. Valandraud, Mondotte, Le Dome, Bellevue-Mondotte or Magrez-Fombrauge have, for the least, the potential to be ranked as Great Classified Growths. In sight of the very fine quality reached by the above mentioned estates in recent vintages as well as all the innovative wine making methods used by the "garagistes", it remains to be seen whether the authorities will dare to cross the line in 2016..?

St. Émilion Grand Cru

Les Vins de St. Émilion (Syndicate Vitocole de Saint-Emilion) – Read about St. Emilion

Vins de Bordeaux:
Grape Varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot
Soil: Sandy soils with alluvial gravel deposits
Surface Area: 4,160 ha

 
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