Wine Advisor
Cheval Blanc 2000
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Description
Château Cheval Blanc, a 1er Grand Cru Classé (A) is unquestionably the leading estate in St. Emilion. It is located in the north-west of the St. Emilion appellation, bordering Pomerol. Cheval Blanc obtained its first medal at the 1862 Universal Exhibition in London. In fact, a representation of this bronze medal is found on the château’s present-day label. Cheval Blanc won their first gold medal at the 1878 Universal Exhibition in Paris, and this new distinction also appeared on the label. In 1886, Cheval Blanc won a second gold medal at the Universal Exhibition in Antwerp. Reflecting this series of successes and a wine well on the way to achieving international recognition, a château was built on the estate.
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted blind at Bordeaux Index’s 2000 tasting in London. This has a lovely ripe, mushroom-scented nose with brambly black fruit, touches of toffee and scorched earth. Some ripe Cabernet Franc here. The palate is medium-bodied, chewy tannins softening all the time, mulberry, raspberry, a touch of cooked meat with a dash of chocolate towards the slightly lactic finish. It has superb, a Cheval Blanc that is full of character with vibrant peppery finish. Daring to vie with the 1998. Drink 2015-2050. Tasted March 2010.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
An ex-chateau bottle, this is the best bottle of Cheval Blanc 2000 that I have encountered in several years, though we had to reject one corked example first! Coming directly from the chateau, it has a backward, sultry bouquet that demands coaxing form the glass, but it eventually reveals wonderful delineation and brooding power with scents of dark plum, fireside hearth and anis. The palate has a sublime entry, almost understated until a wave of intense dark cherry and iodine crashes onto the back palate. Velvet smooth in the mouth, this is clearly a vin de garde that has a very long future ahead. Tasted February 2014.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The millennial Cheval Blanc has such an opulent nose with ripe blackberry, graphite, crushed violets and a touch of sage with wonderful definition. The palate is full-bodied with firm, tensile tannins, great precision and focus, yet still a Cheval that is biding its time and will need another 6-8 years before it really begins to blossom. Tasted June 2010.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
This closed, backward blend of 53% Merlot and 47% Cabernet Franc boasts a saturated purple color along with a reticent but striking bouquet of blackberries, blueberries, truffles, and mocha. In spite of its tightness, aeration reveals scents of licorice, menthol, and saddle leather. Opulent and full-bodied, with low acidity, sweet tannin, and a 60-second finish, it is unquestionably as profound as the 1990 and 1982. I still believe the 2000 has the potential to be the most compelling Cheval Blanc since the mythical 1947 and 1949, but patience is required. It should merit a three digit score in 7-10 years, but it is closed at present. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2030+. Note: The score for this wine was 98 in The Wine Advocate but it is changed to 100 per Mr. Parker as of August, 2006.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Last year, the 2000 Cheval Blanc appeared to be the wine of the vintage. It has not changed, but about a half dozen other offerings have added considerable weight and are now worthy rivals to this prodigious effort. The most port-like Cheval Blanc I have ever tasted, it represents the essence of this noble vineyard. A blend of equal parts Merlot and Cabernet Franc, it boasts a saturated purple color along with a striking bouquet of blackberries, blueberries, truffles, and mocha. As the wine sits in the glass, scents of licorice, menthol, and saddle leather also emerge. Opulent and full-bodied, with a diaphanous quality (each layer peels away to reveal even more nuances), low acidity, sweet tannin, and a 60-second finish, it is unquestionably a profound wine. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2030+.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
First tasted at the chateau in July 2001 when it was stupendous, a potential legendary wine. Then at Farr's 2000 horizontal: this seemed subdued in comparison - as if it knew Ausone was the better wine and had gone off in a strop. Lacks some life on the nose - doesn't really sing. The palate is very concentrated, sweet cassis and plum though it lacks some vigour and vitality. The 1998 is probably a better wine. This is still superb but not as good as it thought it was in Spring 2001. Two weeks later: ten professional tasters in a blind tasting of Saint Emilion 2000's and every mark was either 91/100 or 92/100. That's not to say a bad wine: the Cabernet Franc really coming through on the nose: earthy - very Saint Emilion. Palate has good grip, tannic, peppery but very harmonious with an attractive blackberry leaf finish. Very refined. Last at the Cheval vertical in July 2005. A deep lucid, garnet hue. The nose is dominated by vanillary new oak with cedar and forest floor. Very fine definition, with a floral, violet scent emerging. An unbelievably lush, smooth entry on the palate, what I would describe as a perfectly symmetrical wine. Very good acidity and wonderful balance. Blackberry, blueberry, tobacco and chocolate. Very sumptuous with a plush finish as soft as a shag-pile carpet. A wine that makes an immediate impression on the senses, although it is so flamboyant I wonder whether it will last as long as the 1998? One for the hedonists. Tasted July 2005.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Coming out of a relatively dormant state, this 2000 is a spectacular Cheval Blanc. Of recent vintages, I think only the 2009 can give it a run for its money. A blend of 53% Merlot and 47% Cabernet Franc, the wine has a sweet nose of menthol, melted licorice, boysenberry, blueberry, and cassis. A broad wine with compelling purity, a layered texture, and sweet tannin, with hints of coffee and earth in the background, this is by far the best Cheval Blanc since 1990 and before 2009. It is a legend in the making and can actually be drunk now, as the tannins have nearly melted away. This is a beauty with incredibly complex aromatics. Drink it over the next 25-30 years.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Readers can put money on this one ... it's a no-brainer, Cheval Blanc 2000 is the wine of the vintage! Approximately 50% of the harvest made the grade for manager Pierre Lurton. This wine offers an explosion of berry fruits, a texture akin to cashmere, and layers of melted tannin infused with awesome levels of extract and fruit. Seamless and extraordinarily pure, the 2000 Cheval Blanc has everything one would ever want in a wine. It is not enormous, but it has a level of intensity and concentration without any sense of heaviness that sets it apart from most wines. Moreover, the tannins are melted and totally unobtrusive in a wine that, analytically, is high in tannin. The glorious nose of blueberries, blackberries, coconut, new saddle leather, and flowers is to die for. The texture is so plush that the palate gets lost in a dizzying smorgasbord of flavors and aromas. This is the greatest young Cheval Blanc I have ever tasted. If there is one wine worth killing for in 2000, it is Cheval Blanc. As a postscript, this wine is a blend of 50% Cabernet Franc and 50% Merlot.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The Cheval Blanc 2000 continues to age at a glacial pace, although the aromatics are open with lovely blackberry and graphite scents, here augmented with a hint of undergrowth and autumn leaves. The palate is full-bodied with precise, poised tannins that give this wine wonderful focus and drive. It is very fresh with a core of opaque dense black fruit at its heart. There is a sense of compactness to this Saint Emilion that urges you to cellar it for another decade…it promises to repay your patience. Tasted December 2012.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
A wine of exquisite aromatic depth and grace, the 2000 Cheval Blanc is fully captivating. All the elements fall into place in an effortless, gracious wine. It’s frankly hard to move past the 2000 Cheval, because at this point, I want nothing to compete with it.
Reviewed by: Ian d'Agata
(a blend of 53% merlot and 47% cabernet franc; 43 h/h): Deep ruby. Penetrating blackcurrant, menthol, herbal, cocoa and tobacco aromas. Rich, ripe and dense, with a chocolatey, voluptuous mouth feel but also plenty of acidity to provide lift to the blackcurrant, plum and licorice flavors. Dominated by its merlot component, this wine finishes long and suave, with lingering notes of blackberry and black truffle. Although it's hard to resist this wine's thick creamy fruit, amazing balance and very polished tannins, I find it lacks the sheer complexity of great vintages of Cheval Blanc in which cabernet franc is prevalent. Finishes very long, and still extremely young.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2000 Cheval Blanc is a wine that I have encountered more than a dozen times. Now at just over 20 years of age (how time flies - I remember tasting this from barrel), it has a lovely, quite beguiling bouquet of brambly red berries, iron rust, Provençal herbs and clove, powerful and somehow enveloping. The peppery palate is medium-bodied with quite firm, stocky tannins and good backbone, though coming after a vertical of recent vintages, it feels more rustic and feral. As Pierre-Olivier Clouet noted, there are fewer "pixels" in this millennial Cheval Blanc, but you can’t help falling for its charms. Ready to drink now but will age for the next 20–30 years. Tasted at Cheval Blanc.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Good medium ruby. Blackberry jam, tobacco leaf, minerals, violet and shoe polish on the nose. Then very concentrated but painfully tight and closed in on itself, with its cool blackberry and chocolate flavors dominated by its tannic structure. Showing the slightly green, medicinal quality that often characterizes young cabernet franc. Today there's little evidence of the velvety texture or sappy ripeness this wine showed from barrel a year ago, but Cheval's track record suggests that this very intensely flavored wine simply needs time. Finishes very long and gripping, with rather tough tannins. I would expect this to merit a score in the mid-90s with 10 or 12 years of additional bottle aging.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Bright full ruby. Extraordinarily sweet, liqueur-like aromas of black cherry, boysenberry, blueberry, violet, tobacco leaf, caramel and smoky oak. Extremely dense and powerfully concentrated, but with a texture like liquid velvet. Confectionery sweetness seems almost too much, but it's hard to imagine any taster turning down another glass of this elixir. As ripe and thick as this is, it boasts urgent, sappy fruit and great lift from the 50% cabernet franc. The extraordinarily long finish stains the palate with fruit. It will be fascinating to taste this wine alongside the great, more classic '98 (which I scored 95+ at the Desai tasting at the end of April) 10 and 20 years from now.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Bright, full ruby. Superripe aromas of black raspberry, violet and bitter chocolate. Velvety and dense but with great verve. Firm, perfectly integrated acids and a vibrant floral character from the cabernet franc give the middle palate terrific lift. Finishes with utterly noble tannins and great length. Has all the components to make a great bottle. This was explosive in January and February, Lurton offered. It still good today but it will close up in a couple of months. Its pH of 3.8 is slightly higher than that of the '98 but lower than the '99. An early candidate for the top right-bank wine of 2000.
About the Producer
Château Cheval Blanc is a highly lauded wine estate in the Saint-Émilion region of northeast Bordeaux. Classified with the top ranking of Premier Grand Cru Classé A, it is regarded by many as one of the greatest wines of the appellation – if not, the greatest. It is certainly the most famous Cabernet Franc-based wine in the world, albeit often alongside very similar levels of Merlot. Typically, the "grand vin" (the estate's eponymous wine) is lush and full bodied with great weight of fruit. It tends to require ten years of bottle age and the best vintages can last half a century or more. The second wine of the estate is Le Petit Cheval. The vineyard is located in the northwest of the region, bordering Pomerol (La Conseillante is a neighbor) and consists of 39 hectares (96 acres) divided into 45 plots. There is an unusually large amount of Cabernet Franc planted – about 49 percent – with 47 percent Merlot and four percent Cabernet Sauvignon. The unusual planting proportions reflect the terroir; most vineyards in the region are either clay or gravel-based over impermeable sedimentary rock, but Cheval Blanc is unique in having a patchwork of soils with the two types in roughly equal proportions. The clay soils provide base wines with velvety tannins, while those from gravel soils are more aromatic and elegant. Vines have been grown since the 14th Century at this spot but the vineyard as it is known today took shape in the 19th Century when the core plots were added to by purchases from the nearby Figeac estate. Subsequent replantings established the atypical half-Merlot, half-Cabernet Franc proportions. Cheval Blanc gained its first medal at the 1862 Universal Exhibition in London – the first of a series of successes building its reputation and achieving price levels comparable to the Médoc first growths, which paved the way for a château to be built on the estate. In the first classification of Saint-Émilion wines in 1955, Cheval Blanc was awarded the highest possible rating and remains a Premier Grand Cru Classé A. In 1998, after 166 years of continuous family ownership, Bernard Arnault, the head of luxury goods firm LVMH, and the late Baron Albert Frère (a Belgian billionaire investor) jointly purchased the estate. The spectacular new cellar opened in 2011, with 52 concrete vats (replacing stainless steel) of differing sizes corresponding to different vineyard plots. The grand vin spends 16 to 18 months in new oak barrels from a variety of cooperages.
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Package Size
1 x 6L1 x 75cl12 x 75cl3 x 1.5L
