The 2023 vintage of Château Cheval Blanc is one of the highest-rated Bordeaux wines of the vintage. Critics consistently praise its elegance, aromatic complexity, freshness, and precision, with several considering it a benchmark for the year.
| Critic |
Score |
Highlights |
| Wine Advocate (William Kelley) |
100/100 |
"One of the most compelling wines of the vintage." Layers of cherries, mulberries, violets, rose petals, and anise with a velvety texture, vibrant fruit, and a long finish. Drinking window: 2027–2060. |
| James Suckling |
99/100 |
Blackberry, dark chocolate, graphite, flint, violets, and exceptional precision. Recommends drinking after 2029. |
| Decanter |
99/100 |
Leather, black chocolate, mint, blackcurrant, violet, and liquorice aromas. Praised for refinement, freshness, and remarkable persistence. |
| Vinous (Antonio Galloni) |
98/100 |
"Stellar." Elegant yet dense, with floral, spice, lavender, rose petal, and menthol notes over vivid red fruit. Expected to age for decades. |
| Vinous (Neal Martin) |
97/100 |
Exquisite bouquet of blackberry, raspberry, crushed stone, and pencil shavings with silky tannins and outstanding balance. |
| Jane Anson (Inside Bordeaux) |
98/100 |
Campfire smoke, crushed rose petals, slate, and mineral tension. Calls it a stunning wine that fully delivers on its en primeur promise. |
| Jeb Dunnuck |
98/100 |
Widely published score recognizing its purity, balance, and aging potential. |
Blend
- 52% Merlot
- 46% Cabernet Franc
- 2% Cabernet Sauvignon
- 13.8% alcohol
- Produced from 46 vineyard blocks; approximately 75% of the estate's production was selected for the grand vin.
Style
The 2023 Cheval Blanc is generally described as:
- Medium- to full-bodied rather than massively powerful
- Highly aromatic with floral lift
- Silky, polished tannins
- Exceptional freshness and balance
- Built more on finesse and precision than sheer concentration
Many reviewers compare its graceful style to some of the estate's classic vintages rather than the richer 2022.
Aging
Most critics recommend:
- Best from: 2029–2030 onward
- Peak drinking: roughly 2035–2055+
- Potential longevity: 30–40 years or more under proper cellaring.
Overall assessment
The critical consensus is exceptionally strong:
- Average among major critics: approximately 98.5–99 points
- Highest score: 100/100 (Wine Advocate)
- Frequently cited as one of the finest Right Bank wines of the 2023 Bordeaux vintage and a candidate for the vintage's top Saint-Émilion.
98-100pts Wine Advocate
One of the most profound wines of the vintage is the 2023 Cheval Blanc, a striking wine that stands out for its strong sense of identity and seamless integration at such an early stage in its life. Wafting from the glass with notes of mulberries, lilac, dark fruits, iris root and violets, it's medium to full-bodied, supple and seamless, with a gourmand core of cool, vibrant fruit that entirely conceals its sweet structuring tannins, concluding with a long, perfumed finish. It's a blend of 52% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Franc and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon, drawing on fully 46 of the blocks that make up Cheval Blanc, and it attained 13.8% alcohol.
98-99pts James Suckling
This is so cabernet, with blackcurrants, blackberries, crushed stone, graphite and lead pencil. Full-bodied with tight, chewy tannins that remain fine yet energetic. Winemaker Pierre-Olivier Clouet says this wine is a benchmark for Cheval Blanc. Reminds me of the great 1983. 13.8% alcohol. 52% merlot, 46% cabernet franc and 2% cabernet sauvignon.
98pts Jane Anson
Contrasts intensity and depth with nuance and softly spoken character. Lift and tension, precisely placed cocoa bean, liqourice root, tomato leaf, tannins, violet and peony florals and slate, sinewy, slow-tug tannins, powerful with lift off. Has plenty to say and demands that you slow down to hear it. 40hl/h yield, 75% of overall production (no press wine as ever), harvest September 6 to October 3. Pierre-Olivier Clouet director.
98pts Jeb Dunnuck
A blend of 52% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon raised just about all in new barrels, with a tiny amount in once-used barrels and foudre (roughly 10% of the blend), the 2023 Château Cheval Blanc is an absolutely quintessential Cheval Blanc that's all about complexity, finesse, and elegance. Blackcurrants, mulberries, graphite, spicy wood, smoke, and crushed stone-driven aromatics slowly pick up a kiss of violets and flowers with time in the glass. It's beautifully textured, medium to full-bodied, and flawlessly balanced, with ripe, polished tannins and a gorgeous finish. It's possibly in the same family as the 2019 and is going to shine with 5-7 years of bottle age and evolve for 30+ years on its balance and overall harmony. There are roughly 10,683 cases produced. Drink 2031-2055.
96-98pts Vinous
The 2023 Cheval Blanc is uncharacteristically backward on first meeting, and it takes time to really fire up its engines. Quite strict and focused (surprisingly so), the bouquet reveals black fruit, a touch of bilberry, with just a whiff of iris flower. The palate has wonderful symmetry, outstanding mineralité and ample tension. It's extremely pure, with less weight than the 2022 but perhaps a touch more nerve. Modestly grippy on the finish, this "serious" Cheval Blanc will deserve several years in bottle. It's cerebral... and I like that. The 2023 is very different from the 2022 - a beautiful minor chord.
- Neal Martin
95-98pts Vinous
The 2023 Cheval Blanc is silky, elegant and exceptionally polished. Cabernet Franc is rarely as expressive as it is here. Everything in the 2023 is about detail. All the elements are so well balanced-so integrated. Red/purplish berry fruit, mint, cinnamon, rose petal and blood orange meld together, while seamless tannins wrap it all up in grand style. What a wine!
- Antonio Galloni
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.
