Cheval Blanc 2008

St Emilion, Premier Grand Cru Classé A

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Tasting Notes

Bright red-ruby. Brooding aromas and flavors of licorice, cherry pit, bitter chocolate and black cardamom. Lush and sweet in the mouth but with terrific definition and grip. This very young wine is most impressive on the vibrant, mounting, palate-saturating aftertaste, which features fine-grained tannins, solid structure and lovely spicy perfume. Wonderfully aristocratic wine whose outstanding energy should ensure a long and graceful evolution in bottle. (94+ points)

Score: 94

Stephen Tanzer, International Wine Cellar 01 July 2011

The 2008 Cheval Blanc (55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet Franc) is a winner from this underrated, classic vintage. Notes of forest floor, Asian plum sauce, black currants, sweet cherries and spice are followed by a medium to full-bodied wine with deep fruit, admirable purity, and a long, textured finish. There is not a hard edge to this wine, and in all likelihood, it can be drunk now or cellared for two decades.

Score: 93

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com 03 May 2011

In time, the profound 2008 Cheval Blanc will rank alongside this estate's great successes of 2005, 2000, and 1998. A harvest that began at the end of September and concluded October 19 has produced a wine with the 1998's complexity and the power of the 2000. A blend of equal parts Cabernet Franc and Merlot, the dense ruby/purple-tinged 2008 reveals an ethereal nose of subtle menthol intertwined with spring flowers, plums, black currants, and sweet cherries. The wine's seamlessness is enthralling, and, despite the late harvest as well as late malolactics, it is already displaying admirable complexity. This is a beautifully complete, full-bodied Cheval Blanc that dances across the palate with the finesse of a world-class ballerina. Analytically, there is plenty of tannin, but it is totally integrated. While the acids are slightly elevated, they are not noticeable. A tour de force! This wine should evolve for three decades or more.

Score: 95 - 97

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2009 - 2039 30 April 2009

Pierre Lurton told me that the 2008 Cheval Blanc was cropped at 23hl/ha and consists of 55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet Franc. It is a brilliant wine. It has a very pure bouquet with red-berried fruits: wild strawberry, a touch of cranberry and Morello. Beautifully defined and focused, the oak seamlessly integrated. The palate is full-bodied, quite dense at the moment, firm tannins, the Cabernet Franc strong at the moment, touches of graphite towards the finish. Fine tannins here, tightly coiled, masculine at the moment with that Merlot staying in the background and not lending flesh, but there is great poise and backbone here. Wonderful. Drink 2013-2040. Tasted October 2010.

Score: 97

Neal Martin, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2013-2040 01 January 2011

Offers blackberry and flowers on the nose, with hints of prune and spices. Full and chewy, with vanilla and rose petal. This is muscular and angular now, but the finish lasts a long time.

Score: 92 - 95

James Suckling, Wine Spectator 01 April 2009

Exceptionally dark crimson. Very polished. Fragrant and fresh. I got a hit of pine on this wine as well as on its new stablemate La Tour du Pin - maybe from the trees outside the tasting room here at Cheval? Very fine and sculpted and well mannered even if without perhaps quite the spark of life that one would ideally hope for. Very cool and fresh. Lots of very ripe tannin. Clearly lots of Cabernet Franc. Succulent and supple. Ticks all the boxes - am I being niggly to ask for just a little more misbehaviour? Perhaps because I have just tasted the pretty wild Pétrus. Clearly this will have a long life and I can’t see it disappointing anyone. But whom will it actually thrill? Limpid and unctuous.

Score: 18

Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com Maturity: 2018-35 01 April 2009