2023 Bordeaux Wine Magazine: Cheval Blanc 2022 tasting notes and ratings on futures and ratings “en primeur” by Ronald Rens, M.Sc., Wine Master, Bordeaux Expert
Pierre-Olivier Clouet: We don’t understand where the freshness is coming from
Pierre-Olivier Clouet, Cheval Blanc’s technical director modesty declined all honors for the vintage: “We take no credit for this vintage, it were the vines that did everything themselves.” Like elsewhere, the freshness was a big surprise: “Normally you get a very sweet wine in a hot vintage. This year the heat and the drought didn’t happen at once, but was the signature of the vintage during the entire growing season. We don’t understand where the freshness is coming from. We could have harvested as of August 15. The tannins were already perfectly ripe at that time. We just waited a bit for the alcohol and the tannins.”
All this may be true, but the yields suffered. Cheval Blanc harvested a mere 27 hl/ha. As a result, this year there is no Petit Cheval, the second wine of the former First Growth A.
Freed from the burden of the Classification (where the vineyards are classified and not the label) Cheval Blanc snatched up its next-door estate Chateau La Tour du Pin Figeac.
Chateau Cheval Blanc 2022 (20- points/20)
[53% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon]
Cheval Blanc 2022
The wine shows a deep purple color with a slightly lighter rim. On the nose the wine seems reluctant to show its true colors. It takes a while and some swirling and then there is some good precise fruit, some floral and some prune aromas.
On the palate the I find the typical elegance and freshness of a great Cheval Blanc. It is not just the freshness of the vintage but also the signature Cabernet Franc that adds to the expression of this great 2022. Beautiful precision of the fruit. And the silky tannins are powerful but well-integrated and perfectly ripe. A great Cheval Blanc for that will be able to age for decades to come.
More Bordeaux 2022 tasting notes and ratings:
| 2022 Chateau Ausone | 2022 Chateau Cheval Blanc | 2022 Chateau Angelus | 2022 Chateau Pavie |
|2022 Chateau Lafite Rothschild | 2022 Chateau Mouton Rothschild | 2022 Chateau Latour | 2022 Chateau Margaux |
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