SF | Dense deep ruby with merest halo to flag incipient youth; the nose betrays bonfires, incense and dark fruit, chalk, verbena and a hint of quince, its fruit yielding and generous, red fruit to the fore, but not without a ripe dark underscore to celebrate a ripe and fecund vintage. The fruit and acidity dance neatly together on the palate, the tannins, despite their intensity, gentle in the middle, and discreet on the finish. A charming Cheval, biding its time in the shadows, just beyond the paddock. 95
AJ | Dark, dense purple-black, but to my untutored eye this seems to have the same depth as the Petit Cheval. The aromas are more forceful here than in the Petit Cheval, and more focussed too. The vintage is refracted rather than reflected here: not so much freshness, as giving an unusual direction to the trajectory of the fruit: more alert, more planty. The cream and sweetness is subdued for the time being. It needs longer, of course, but there is great aromatic wealth here, which seems to amplify with time spent in the glass, and in which you could find much (tangerine, linden, carnation). An exciting prospect. And on the palate, too, this gives us much to think about as we savour. It is really daringly light-toned; on a scale of 1-5 for tannin, we seem barely beyond 1.5 or 2, though this may be an effect of the tannin's silkiness. (See below.) The virtuoso fruit is a very fine reading of the aerial energy of the vintage: all in the upper register, but very complex. Sumptuous and detailed fruits, and such aromatic fruits, too; the acidity is hugely articulate in this sense, though it wouldn't measure as dominant. A magical wine, virtuoso in the upper register. I admire it .. but as a simple sensual being, I almost long for a bit more flesh and texture, a bit more base -- and perhaps ignoble -- gratification. [However .. on re-tasting against its peers, it is evident that the bass register is there too; it's just that at this stage one doesn't notice it. It's Cheval Blanc, it can do everything -- just give it time to do it.]Drink Dates: 2028 - 2048.