The 2010 Cheval Blanc contains 13.8% alcohol, which is very high for this estate, and has an unusually high percentage of Cabernet Franc in the final blend (56% versus 44% Merlot). Yields were tiny, adding to the richness and intensity already instilled by the drought of summer and resulting tiny berries. In the style of some of the great Cheval Blancs of the late 1940s, this wine is rich, opulent, full-bodied, and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, as saturated purple in color as any Cheval Blanc I have seen. Mulberries, black currants, fresh minerals, and floral notes jump from the glass of this full-bodied, dense wine. With its tannins, good acidity and surprisingly modest pH, this should be an exceptionally long-lived wine, more backward and delineated than the fatter, more opulent 2009. Drink it over the next 30+ years.
96-98+/100 Punkte - Trinkreife: 2013 – 2041
55 % Cabernet Franc, 45 % Merlot. 30 hl/ha. Noch verhaltenes Bouquet, Kandisnuancen, Flieder, dunkle Pflaumen, Cassis, Schwarzteenoten, setzt mehr auf Tiefe und Würze als auf Frucht. Fleischiger, stoffiger Gaumen, zeigt viel Fett und Schmelz in den reichhaltigen Tanninen, gigantische Aromatik, die im Gaumen zunimmt, gebündeltes Finale. Klassischer Cheval, der erst in 20 Jahren seine effektive Grösse zeigen wird.
19/20 Punkte - Trinken: 2020–2050 2010 Cheval Blanc - 1. Grand Cru Classé A St. Emilion 0,75l. 1050,00 €