95pts Decanter
Cola, liquorice and ripe blueberries on the nose - perfumed, heady and expressive. So delicious on the palate, smooth and driving with excellent energy - a youthful tension to the mid-palate. Sleek and stylish with a gorgeous texture, perfectly weighted to give a mouthfilling expression yet keeping a refined and focused delivery of black fruit, liquorice and floral flavours. Impressive and supremely pleasurable - this makes you want a glass immediately. Spicy, and perfumed because of the Cabernet Franc but all the better for it with 59% Cabernet Franc and 41% Merlot.
94pts Jeb Dunnuck
I wrote in my note on the 2020 Château Cheval Blanc Le Petit Cheval that this is "one hell of a second wine," and it has a kiss of the elegance and complexity found in the top cuvée. Black fruits, roasted herbs, graphite, and scorched earth notes all emerge from this ruby/purple-hued beauty, which has medium to full-bodied richness, ripe, polished tannins, and a great finish. It will drink nicely for 15+ years.
94pts Vinous
The 2020 Le Petit Cheval is stunning. Rich, deep and expansive, the Petit Cheval is outrageously good. In fact, it could easily be mistaken for a Cheval Blanc from anything less than a great vintage. The aromatics are alluring and the balance is sublime; all that really identifies this as a second wine is a bit of mid-palate depth. Sweet floral and spice accents extend the effortless, gracious finish. –Antonio Galloni
94pts Jane Anson
So much complexity and layers, wonderfully fragrant, raspberry, damson fruits with points of orange and mandarin peel that give flecks of minerality and bitterness in the best way. Balanced acidities, and a serious architecture all combine to give a brilliant brillant Petit Cheval that has improved over ageing and is one to look out for. 39ha, director Pierre Lurton, winemaker Pierre Olivier Clouet. 12% of overall production because the dry summer was tough on the young vines on gravel. 3.7ph.
94pts The Wine Cellar Insider
It is easy to think of this as a mini Cheval Blanc due to its gorgeous display of flowers, sweet cherries, spices and tobacco wrappers in the perfume. The wine offers the perfect blend of freshness, silky-refined-textures and purity in the supple fruits on the palate that keep on with you all way through to the finish. There was a time when second wines were simply second wines. That is clearly not the case as this is a solid example of a baby Cheval Blanc. You can enjoy this on release and for the following 2 decades after that. Drink from 2023-2040.
93pts The Wine Independent
A blend of 59% Cabernet Franc and 41% Merlot, the 2020 Le Petit Cheval has a pH of 3.6 and a deep garnet-purple color. It swans out of the glass with showy scents of crushed redcurrants, blackberry preserves, and kirsch, followed by suggestions of lavender, cedar chest, menthol, and fallen leaves. The medium to full-bodied palate has a firm backbone of chewy tannins, with seamless freshness to support the tight-knit red and black fruit layers, finishing on a lingering mineral note.
93pts Wine Enthusiast
This second wine shows so many of the rich, dense qualities of the top wine. Bold black fruits are sustained by serious tannins and a dry core. It will age well. Drink from 2026.
91pts Wine Spectator
Sleek and solid, with a well-defined core of dark currant and black cherry puree lined with black licorice and sweet tobacco. Boasts black tea and warm paving stone accents through the finish. Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
91pts Wine Advocate
The 2020 Le Petit Cheval offers up aromas of minty cherries, plums, raw cocoa, mint and spices, followed by a medium to full-bodied, fleshy and voluptuous palate underpinned by a broad-shouldered chassis of tannin. A blend of 59% Cabernet Franc and 41% Merlot, it's a rather structured young Petit Cheval that will reward a bit of patience.
History
The present-day Cheval Blanc vineyards had vines at least as far back as the 18th century, as shown by Belleyme's map of the region dated 1764. Nearly a century later, the estate was acquired by the Fourcaud-Laussac family who owned it until 1998, when it was sold to Mr Bernard Arnault and Baron Albert Frère.
The vineyard is in a single block, and borders on the Pomerol appellation. An outstanding terror and unusual proportions of Cabernet Franc and Merlot give this great wine an absolutely unique flavor. Chateau Cheval Blanc has had a greater number of outstanding vintages than any other classified great growth over the past century.
Another unusual characteristic of Cheval Blanc is that once it reaches its peak, it maintains it for a very long time. This admirable wine is powerful, soft, rich, round and silky. It has tremendous fruit and elegance as well as exceptional quality from year to year.
