Wine Advisor
Le Petit Cheval 2014
View analysis
Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2014 Le Petit Cheval, a blend of 52% Merlot and 48% Cabernet Franc, has a crisp, tightly wound bouquet with blackberry, black olive (as per its primeur sample) and a subtle estuarine undercurrent that becomes more conspicuous with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red berry fruit intermingling with white pepper, clove and a pinch of Chinese five spice. It has moderate depth, a sense of approachability in that the tannins do not really grip the mouth, and the latter half appears appealingly smooth and harmonious. There are no rough edges here, just a touch of frisson on the saline finish. Very fine, a Saint Emilion Deuxième Vin to drink over the next decade.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The Le Petit Cheval 2014 is a blend of 52% Merlot and 48% Cabernet Franc, representing 25% of the production. Matured in 50% new oak and 50% one-year old wood, it has a voluminous bouquet with black olive-tinged, raspberry and wild strawberry fruit, hints of vanilla developing with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin. There is a linearity here, a strictness and poise. It does not have a fantail of concentrated fruit on the finish, but it does linger in the mouth and delivers an unexpected tang of Shezhuan pepper on the after taste. As my score implies, this deuxième vin is equal to many a Saint Emilion Grand Cru Classé.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
Extremely perfumed and beautiful with currant and cherry aromas and just a hint of flowers. Medium body, very fine tannins and sheer polish and beauty. Lovely fruit. Want to drink it now, but it’ll be better in 2019. Second wine of Cheval Blanc.
About the Producer
This wine comes from the Saint-Emilion region on the right bank of Bordeaux, France. It is worth mentioning that, in view of the excellent quality and uniformity of the grapes, Château Cheval Blanc did not brew the second-brand wine in 2015. Except for a small part of wine for internal use that is not for sale, the remaining grapes are all used for wine production. Brew the real wine. The winery implements a rigorous and meticulous brewing process to minimize the use of chemicals to produce fresh, elegant, delicate and balanced wines. After the grapes are crushed, they are placed in small tanks with a capacity of 450 kg, after which the must flows into the fermenters by gravity flow (Gravity Flow). Depending on the weight of the must after crushing and the plot of origin, the winemaker will choose a different fermenter and only fill 3/4 of it. After 12 hours of alcoholic fermentation, the workers perform skinning three times a day. According to the daily tasting by the technical team and the cellar supervisor and the measurement data of the liquid hydrometer, the workers will gradually reduce the number of skins in the late fermentation period. After the alcoholic fermentation is complete, the wine is soaked in the skins for several days in temperature-controlled fermenters at 28-30°C to make the tannins more supple and the structure smoother. Afterwards, the wine liquid is transferred to a fermenter at 20°C for 3 weeks to several months of malolactic fermentation (Malolactic Fermentation) to soften the acidity and stabilize the structure. After all the fermentation processes are completed, the wine is transferred to new oak barrels and aged in an underground cellar with a constant temperature of 14°C for 16-18 months. The winemaker will change barrels at this stage, using inert gas to transfer the 210 liters of wine to adjacent oak barrels to minimize oxidation and maintain the balance of the wine. After aging in barrels for three months, the winemaker tastes the wine in each oak barrel, and then mixes the wine to prepare the current year's Cheval Blanc red wine.
1996(1)1999(1)2000(1)2001(1)2002(1)2003(3)2005(3)2007(2)2008(2)2009(3)2010(2)2011(7)2012(4)2013(2)
Package Size
