Chateau Cheval Blanc 2008 3000ml

96 POINTS

Roger Voss - Wine Enthusiast

95-97 Barrel sample. A wine that goes instantly for juiciness. The mineral perfumes of Cabernet Franc come through only after penetrating the dense Merlot fruit cake flavors. It is a powerful wine, based upon ripe acidity.

95 POINTS

Roger Voss - Wine Enthusiast

A great success, showing impressive concentration. It is almost severe to begin with, then sweet tannins sweep in. The higher than usual proportion of Merlot gives a wine that combines plumpness with black plums, figs and acidity. Obviously for aging.

95 POINTS

Neal Martin - Vinous

The 2008 Cheval Blanc is one of the go-to wines of the vintage. Now at 15 years old, it has retained the energy and focus it displayed from the outset: black fruit, crushed stone, wilted violet petals and touches of forest floor cohere wonderfully in the glass. The Cabernet here is more expressive. The palate has a slight chewiness on the entry, but it "relaxes" in the glass. It shows off its delicate lattice of tannins and perhaps a bit more backbone than I have observed on previous bottles. It's very intense on the finish where, as before, the Cabernet Franc takes charge. Superb. Keep it another three to four years if you can. Tasted at the Lia's Wings/book dinner at Medlar restaurant.

95 POINTS

Neal Martin - Vinous

The 2008 Cheval Blanc has a very precise, mineral-driven bouquet, a mixture of red and black fruit, energetic and incredibly focused, perhaps even more so than Ausone? The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin though I discerned a patina of oak dragging its heels, waiting to be subsumed. There is great concentration and yet conversely it feels bright and fresh; with aeration evermore nimble and sprightly. Towards the finish there are subtle hints of bay leaf and cedar, the Cabernet Franc taking over the steering wheel from the Merlot. There is a lot going on in this outstanding Cheval Blanc that does not deserve to be in the shadow of the feted 2009 or 2010. (Tasted at BI Wine & Spirit’s annual 10-Year On tasting.)

95 POINTS

James Suckling

I am really impressed with this. It is powerful and rich with so much blueberry, vanilla and spice on the nose and palate. It's full and very spicy, and fruit on the palate, but remains refined and subtle. Rich and polished tannins. This needs at least five years of bottle age to come around.

94 POINTS

Stephen Tanzer - Vinous

Bright red-ruby. Brooding aromas and flavors of licorice, cherry pit, bitter chocolate and black cardamom. Lush and sweet in the mouth but with terrific definition and grip. This very young wine is most impressive on the vibrant, mounting, palate-saturating aftertaste, which features fine-grained tannins, solid structure and lovely spicy perfume. Wonderfully aristocratic wine whose outstanding energy should ensure a long and graceful evolution in bottle.

Richard Hemming MW - JancisRobinson.com

Quite suppressed on the nose, with a tight, dark-fruit profile and bitter-savoury notes on the finish. Very different to the Ausone just tasted – austere by comparison, and with a sense of density that is rather unwieldy at present – but should relax with age. Score: 17/20

Jancis Robinson

Tasted blind. First bottle: TCA. Second bottle: Smells of dried grasses. Focused and fresh but without great concentration. A bit inky on the end. Finishes a bit suddenly. Sour. But I may be underscoring this. Score: 16.5+/20