100pts Decanter
A great Cheval Blanc that stands up to the potential that I found during en primeur. Extremely restrained and classic in its construction, shot through with points of mint, liquorice, raspberry and eucalyptus. The fresh aromatics mean you could almost think that it is from a cool year, except for the huge density that runs through the palate, along with a creamy texture. Extremely good-quality. Something that you are going to want to put away for a good few decades. I get big, chewy tannins on the finish. Exceptionally good and extremely elegant.
100pts The Wine Cellar Insider
If awards were given out for sensuality, this gem would take the trophy. Incredibly sexy, with its velvet drenched textures, silky tannins and opulent personality, this wine stands out in a crowd. The nose, with its aromatic display of flowers, plums, cherries, espresso, licorice, dark cocoa and oyster shell is compelling. The seamless finish crosses the 60 second mark with its non-stop display of concentrated, perfectly ripe, dark sweet, red fruits, chocolate, licorice and spice. If you can afford it, it is a wine you should have in your cellar and you'll want to age this for at least 15 years before popping a bottle. The wine was made using 54% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.5% ABV. This wine is a legend in the making.
99pts James Suckling
Love the floral character to the aromas of dark fruit, such as blueberries and black cherries. Red and black licorice, too. The full-bodied palate starts slowly and then expands with super polished, searing tannins that lead you up the palate into a place of grandeur. Lightly chewy at the end. Such great purity and presence here. 6% cabernet sauvignon in the blend with franc and merlot.
98pts Vinous
The 2018 Cheval Blanc is magnificent. In a vintage in which so many wines are opulent and dense, Cheval Blanc maintains striking translucence while conveying the natural radiance of the year. Silky, perfumed and exceptionally vivid, the 2018 pulses with energy from start to finish. Sage, mint, lavender and mocha all meld together on the sumptuous finish. Cabernet Franc, such a Cheval signature, has probably never been so ripe. In a word: dazzling.
-Antonio Galloni
98pts The Wine Independent
The 2018 Cheval Blanc is deep garnet purple in color. It drifts effortlessly out of the glass with scents of black cherry compote, boysenberry preserves, and anise, plus touches of cedar, pencil shavings, and kirsch. Full-bodied, the palate is rich and muscular with firm, grainy tannins and a long, earthy finish.
98pts Wine Enthusiast
The first thing that strikes about this wine is its massive density. The second is the richness of the structured Cabernet Franc that is such an important element in the blend. Weight is balanced by the intense fruits and amazing freshness of a wine that has such concentration. This wine will age for years. Don’t touch it before 2027. Cellar Selection
98pts Jeb Dunnuck
Showing beautifully from barrel and now from bottle, the 2018 Château Cheval Blanc is a final blend of 54% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon. It's a pure, classic Cheval Blanc in that it relies more on complexity and elegance than power, offering a beautiful perfume of red and blackcurrants, spring flowers, spice, forest floor, incense, and tobacco. This carries to a medium to full-bodied Cheval Blanc offering wonderful purity of fruit, a seamless, layered texture, incredible tannins, and a lengthy, focused finish. It shows less of the sunny style of the vintage now than it did from barrel, and it's a wonderfully complete wine that delivers awesome freshness in its aromatics, plenty of ripe, sweet fruit, and the tannins and structure that seem to come from a long, cooler season. Reminding me slightly of the 2016, with a touch of the 2001, give this gorgeous wine 5-7 years of bottle age, count yourself lucky, and enjoy over the following 2-3 decades.
98pts Wine Advocate
The 2018 Cheval Blanc is a blend of 54% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, with a 3.75 pH and 14.5% alcohol. Deep garnet-purple colored, it needs considerable swirling and air to releases fragrant notes of stewed plums, juicy black cherries and ripe blackberries with underlying suggestions of damp soil, black truffles, rose oil and cardamom with wafts of underbrush and iron ore. The medium to full-bodied palate is densely packed with rich black fruits and loads of earthy accents, framed by super firm, grainy tannins and seamless freshness to balance, finishing with amazing length and a beautiful array of floral and mineral sparks. Thirty-three plots contributed to this wine, out of the forty-three in production. Of the rest, five went into Petit Cheval and five into bulk. It will need a good 6-7 years at least to really start to strut its stuff and should cellar for a further 30 years or more.
97pts Wine Spectator
This has the vintage's profile, with a sleek and slightly austere frame holding a core of cassis, bitter cherry and raspberry coulis notes tightly together while flashes of bay, dried anise and savory add range and detail. Has a late tug of warm earth along with a very perfumy echo through the finish. A beauty. Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.
96pts Vinous
When I tasted the 2018 Cheval Blanc from barrel, I felt that it deserved a very good score though not one that implied potential perfection. The bottle was tasted upon opening, but only began to pen my tasting note after 3-4 hours of decanting. I still find the bouquet more open than many recent vintages, the ripe brambly red fruit intermingling with clove, sage and light graphite notes originating from the Cabernet components (46% of the final blend). It is a really seductive bouquet, though not as complex or as nuanced as, say, the astonishing 2016 or the impressive 2015. The palate is medium-bodied with refined tannins. A harmonious and elegant Cheval Blanc that has retained the linearity I remarked upon in barrel. So it is not a flamboyant Cheval Blanc like the Cabernet-dominated 2017, but it a far better wine thanks to the Merlot imparting flesh and rondeur. The finish is extremely precise but never powerful, almost Burgundy-like in weight, with a light spiced aftertaste. As the hours pass in the decanter, it gains depth and a little more precision on the finish. This does not possess the otherworldly profundity to equal legends such as the 1934, 1964, or 2016; it is simply a wonderful Cheval Blanc to sit back and savor as a Saint-Emilion par excellence.
-Neal Martin
Winemaker Notes
Deep, intense red color. The nose is redolent of tremendously fruity and floral notes, with touches of raspberry and violet. Swirling in the glass reveals a more intense bouquet with black cherry, blackberry and blackcurrant aromas. The ever-present floral notes go on to develop rose and lilac overtones. Spicy and balsamic nuances round off the already complex bouquet with cocoa beans and black pepper aromas. The nose is impressively fresh, complex, and well-defined. The wine starts out sumptuously rich and full-bodied on the palate. The powerful rich tannins contribute to the deep, long, firm, well-balanced, and refined structure. Very elegant, it coats the palate and continues into a long, crunchy, fresh aftertaste. The finish marks a return to floral and fruity aromas with spicy overtones. The precision and balance of this wine are on par with the estate's greatest vintages.
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.
