AJ | Saturated dense black-red: opaque and brooding. There's a power of fruit here, bearing down through the glass but every bit as elegantly as you'd expect Cheval Blanc to bear down: warm, spicy, whollly ripe (of course), glowing, with some incense, leather and vellum in the background. Totally seamless and beguiling, yet very true to the fresh, lively and almost fugitive ideal of the vintage. And then ... that's it, in the mouth. Nothing else to say, really, except to note that in this case Petit Cheval is very much cast in the mould of Cheval Blanc this year: they are perfect siblings, and both provide very similar kinds of pleasure but with different levels of intensity and perhaps (in the long term) allusiveness. The `21 a ballerina Cheval, a white horse in a tutu, but (as always) a lesson in discretion, charm, finesse, grace and drinkability. Drink Dates: 2030 - 2045. 95
SF | Dense ruby red, saturated yet bright, near opaque a the core. A softly seductive nose of red fruit and spice, hints of spice and a lick of iodine; behind that bergamot, verbena and a Cabernet Franc cadenza borrowed from the herb garden. Beautifully textured, ethereal and elegant in its highlighting of the fruit character, yet with sufficient tannic undertow to endure and ensure potential longevity and a capacity to develop. A finley pixilated denouement defers both to the purity of the organic upbringing and the very finely judged minutiae of the winemaking process, itself focused on exaction and the mechanics of upbringings . Artistry wins here, as it should always win... Drink Dates: 2029 - 2045. 93