Chateau Cheval Blanc - Saint Emilion 2022 750ML

The 2022 Château Cheval Blanc is based on 53% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon, brought up all in new oak, and this is the second year where no Petite Cheval was produced. (2015 was the last.) Its deep purple color is followed by a riveting Cheval Blanc that has fabulous aromatics of blackcurrants, spice, flowers, spicy wood, and white truffle. These carry to a medium to full-bodied, remarkably pure, elegant, seamless 2022 that has a layered, rounded mouthfeel, absolutely riveting purity, velvety tannins, and a great finish. It brings to mind a more refined, elegant version of the 2010 and is every bit its equal. Hitting 14% alcohol with a healthy pH of 3.83, it warrants a solid decade of bottle age and will have 40-50+ years of overall prime drinking.

This is a wine that soars to new heights with its brightness and weightlessness. The balance of serene fruit that’s perfectly ripe. Full-bodied yet tight and polished where it seems delicate and compressed, with berry, chocolate and walnut character. The finish is endless and poised.

The 2022 Cheval Blanc is quite unusual in that it was made from 46 out of the 47 parcels that make up the estate, the highest proportion of blocks ever used in the Grand Vin. There is also no Petit Cheval. One block was sold in bulk, and everything else went into the Grand Vin. That's basically it. In tasting, the 2022 is a wine of sublime elegance, and yet there's a certain strictness in its vertical build that keeps things buttoned up. Time in the glass starts to release the Cabernet Franc aromatics, but this remains incredibly dense. It barely budged over the two days I followed it. All the 2022 needs is time. The only question is how much.

Loganberry, boysenberry and blackberry compote notes give the core an almost outsized feel, but there's restraint and focus, as touches of warm loam, licorice root and smoldering tobacco keep this well-grounded. There's cut and drive too, even though this is dense and slow-moving, with alder smoke, Turkish coffee and bittersweet cocoa checking in. Then a lilting black tea and violet backdrop emerges at the very end, adding grace and sensuality. A marvelous expression of a distinctive vintage.

An extremely gorgeous 2022 taking the best from the vintage in terms of power, concentration and structure and presenting it with elegance, purity and a kind of quiet confidence that Cheval does so well. Crushed stones, salt, blue fruits and soft perfumed aromas on the nose. Smooth texture, so fine, silky, supple and agile, this has such an alluring energy from the first sip. Tannins are velvety soft providing a gentle grip with a powdery, chalky graphite, liquorice and fresh mint touch. This feels calm and controlled with the power coming slowly and subtly in the undercurrent of lush ripe fruit. Intensity is matched by accessibility with a combination of high acidity and appealing sweetness with layers of nuance and detail. So complete - nothing is missing here, but it's more about what it's not saying than what it is. A great wine that has potential for upscore in bottle. Potential 100 point wine. A yield of 27hl/ha, due to size of the berries. 3.86pH. 72IPT. No Petit Cheval this year, a total of 78% grand vin production.

One of the stars of the vintage is the striking 2022 Cheval Blanc, a blend of 53% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon that bursts from the glass with aromas of mulberries, cherries and wild berries mingled with mint, orange zest, pencil lead, vine smoke and exotic spices. Medium to full-bodied, velvety and layered, it's rich and gourmand, with beautifully refined tannins, lively acids and a long, saline, pungently perfumed finish. Harvest began on 29 August, with all the Merlot picked before the month was out, and the result is a wine that is as vibrant as it is lavish.

The wine is very fine, elegant and impressive. It has depth and concentration, being very floral and offering great black fruits alongside the firm tannins. There is a lovely line of succulent fruit and acidity. Almost accessible now, it is really set for long-term aging.