Cheval Blanc Masterclass

Yesterday we were treated to a Cheval Blanc master-class with Pierre-Olivier Clouet and Arnaud de Laforcade. This young and talented Technical Director and Finance Director team gave us a wonderful tasting and shared their wine-making philosophy in our chilly St James’s Street Cellar.

We started with a flight of Quinault L’Enclos, the newest addition to the group. This small vineyard in the outskirts of Libourne was purchased in 2009 and has undergone a complete transformation in the vineyard and the winery. The gravelly vineyards have been ploughed and organic farming techniques have been adopted. In the chai, Pierre-Olivier is using a much lighter touch, allowing the vintage and the terroir to speak. The progress is evident just from the three vintages we tasted: 2010, 2011 and 2012. The 2012 is wonderfully aromatic, is packed with transparent fruit and is beautifully balanced. Texturally, this is so refined – the tannins are fruity and long with no sense of dryness. This is definitely an estate to add to the watch list. 

Pierre-Olivier then introduced the wines from Cheval Blanc. The first flight paired the 2010 Petit Cheval and the 2009 Grand Vin. It was extraordinary to re-taste these magnificent wines. At 14.5% alcohol, the 2010 Petit Cheval is a most impressive wine. It possesses all the hallmarks of this arresting vintage: power, alcohol, and the most intoxicating of bouquets, but everything is in perfect balance – this is so harmonious you want to drink it right now! Cheval 2009 is clearly a baby. It has the exoticism of the vintage with copious amounts of extract and regal, large scale tannins. It is a tour de force that requires and will reward patience. 

Our next flight was an opportunity to see the progress of the 2011s. You might expect 2011s to struggle after the 2010 and 2009, however, the 2011s equipped themselves admirably. Aromatically they are more reserved. The fruit is dark, brooding and mineral, although there is a nice clarity and precision here. Petit Cheval’s tannins are quite powdery at the moment, a common trait in 2011. The Grand Vin is noble and classy, finishing with pure refined fruit tannins – a noteworthy effort. 

The next brace came from the 2006 vintage – something of a forgotten year. Petit Cheval is already quite evolved displaying secondary aromas and gorgeous, mouth-coating iodine and mineral flavours. The Grand Vin is by contrast very primary. The fruit is pure and sexy and the firm tannins require a little more time to blend into the wine. This is a splendid wine which the Cheval team are quite rightly very proud of. 

The final flight only had just one wine, the magnificent 2000 Cheval Blanc. This is a wine that really deserves its own flight. It has been a 100 point wine and in our opinion is thoroughly deserving of the accolade. It is unctuous and rich, yet delicate and refined. There is no sense of heaviness; it just keeps giving wonderful perfumed nuanced fruit. This is a deeply complex wine that one can’t help to admire right now, but one senses this could be one of the all-time great Chevals, which will last well into the 21st century.

We’d like to extend our sincere thanks and gratitude to Pierre-Olivier and Arnaud for sharing their passion, time and above all, wonderful wines with us.

Tom Jenkins, Bordeaux Buyer

Bordeaux 2012 - Interview with Château Cheval Blanc

Stars of Southwold

The sleepy town of Southwold in Suffolk has become home to one of the most thorough and respected blind tastings of Bordeaux wines. A panel of UK buyers and journalist (with literally hundreds of years of experience...) descend on the Crown Hotel to give their verdict. This year it was the turn of the much maligned 2007s.

So, what were the winners and the losers? The best flight of wines unsurprisingly came from Sauternes and Barsac. This included revered names such as de Fargues, Climens, Suduiraut, Rieussec and of course, Chateau Yquem. Yquem 2007 was unequivocally declared the wine of the week and averaged a mighty 19/20 from the panel. All agreed that this was a superb flight and that 2007 is one of the great vintages for sweet Bordeaux. If there had been a little disagreement during the primeur tastings as to whether Climens or Yquem took first place, there was no such debate this time around. (If you are interested in a case of Yquem 2007 for your cellar, please speak to one of our sales team).

Of the reds, Mouton took first place on the left bank with an average score of over 18/20, with non first growth, Leoville Las Cases taking silver. Over on the right bank, Petrus and Cheval Blanc took top billing, but there were strong showings from Eglise Clinet, VCC, Le Pin, Evangile and Providence. The Pomerol plateau obviously hadn’t heard that it was a Cabernet vintage...

To conclude on this rather capricious vintage, the sweeties are sensational and are widely available for less than their 2001 counterparts. The Lesser reds from both banks are generally well made, but often lack a little substance. In some cases the wines are somewhat forced and this shows in the tannins. The best terroirs and those with the means and know-how have created some delicious wines with real character and sufficient structure to age for more than a decade. As one of the learned members of the panel pointed out, wine is supposed to give pleasure; the 1997s did just that, and the 2007s clearly surpass the `97s in every respect. They may not be as intellectual or profound as the so called `great` vintages, but they will be good fun!

Bordeaux 2009 – More scores (the right bank)

Time for more of our results. We asked our eight strong team to list their top ten wines from the right bank, excluding Lafleur, Le Pin, Ausone and Cheval Blanc. This proved even more chaotic than the left bank with 21 properties receiving votes. The results are in and after a little number crunching and it would seem that the J&B team have a taste for Pomerol... Gold, silver and bronze were taken by Evangile, Vieux Chateau Certan and Conseillante. Evangile edged out VCC by a nose, but interestingly only received three maximums to VCC’s four. The only other wine to take the coveted `ten points` was Denis Duarantou’s Eglise Clinet. The remaining seven spots in the top ten were contested between Tertre Roteboeuf, Angelus, Eglise Clinet and four wines from the Moueix stable: Providence, Certan de May, Hosanna and Belair-Monange.

It is also worth mentioning a few wild cards that emerged from our lists. Montlandrie, a new Castillon estate made by Denis Durantou,Tour de Pin, a St Emilion produced by the Cheval Blanc team and the exceptional Roc de Cambes made by Francois Mitjaville from the humble appellation of Côtes de Bourg.

Evangile - 71
Vieux Chateau Certan - 67
Conseillante - 59
Tertre Roteboeuf - 33
Angelus - 32
Eglise Clinet - 31
Providence - 28
Certan de May - 25
Hosanna - 23
Belair Monange - 19
Larcis Ducasse - 13
Figeac - 8
Chapelle d'Ausone - 7
Pensees de Lafleur - 7
Roc de Cambes - 6
Petit Cheval - 3
Lafleur Petrus - 2
Montlandrie - 2
Clos Fourtet - 2
Tour du Pin - 1
Canon - 1

Bordeaux 2009 - Scores on the doors...

We understand that the Wine Spectator are first to publish their scores for 2009 Bordeaux. We haven’t had a chance to look for ourselves, but James Suckling is apparently in typically buoyant mood, rating many wines near to perfection. We too have succumbed to the allure of numbers. In a highly scientific approach all eight members of the team have been asked to rank their favourite wines from the vintage. There are six categories: `First Growths`, including La Mission Haut Brion, Le Pin, Lafleur, Cheval Blanc and Ausone; `Left Bank and Graves` (excluding 1sts); `Right Bank` (excluding 1sts); best value buys (from either bank); top five Sauternes/Barsac and top five dry whites. The top ranked wine from each taster is awarded a maximum `dix points`, all the way down to the tenth placed wine, which receives just one point, a bit like Eurovision... then we tot up the scores and voila, we have a comprehensive list of the best wines.

The results are in and we start with the First Growths. 75 out of a potential 80 is quite an endorsement for Latour, a staggering wine and quite deserving of first place. It is also interesting to note that the list alternates between left/right bank until no. 8, making it difficult to call as a left/right bank vintage at the very top end.


Latour - 75
Le Pin - 67
Margaux - 59
Ausone - 57
Lafleur - 46
Lafite Rothschild - 40
Cheval Blanc - 38
Haut Brion - 25
La Mission Haut Brion - 17
Mouton Rothschild - 16

Results for the other categories will follow in the coming days.

Bordeaux 2009 – The right bank (St Emilion)

Our first taste of St Emilion was Cheval Blanc – what better place to begin. Tour du Pin was pretty, well made and could be one of the best values from the commune. Petit Cheval is outstanding, complex, impressive and down right delicious. The Grand vin then goes and wipes the floor... A tour de force and clearly one of the greatest wines from this illustrious estate.

All good things must come to an end and they certainly did at the UGC St Emilion. Another heavy shower, a pathetic fallacy if we ever saw one, soaked us and our spirits. Let’s start with highs (in no particular order): Larcis Ducasse, Troplong Mondot, Clos Fourtet, Canon, Pavie Macquin and Figeac. There were all too many wines that were unbalanced, outrageously tannic and generally unappealing.

Still under heavy skies, we travelled to Angelus where we were met by pretty girls and delicious wines. What a great stable of beautiful right banks from Hubert de Bouard. First off Fleur de Bouard proved an enormously attractive Lalande de Pomerol, the Grand Cru St Emilion Bellevue was staggeringly good, all velvet and undergrowth, whilst Angelus was seriously slick. From the crowded Angelus to the tight squeeze of Ausone, another of the vintage’s greats, how they achieve a wine of such concentration and focus year in year out is quite puzzling.

As usual we left Tertre Roteboeuf until last, the heady cherry on our flavoursome cake. Tertre was rich but vivid and vital, whilst Roc de Combe was glorious, pushing its sibling as close as ever for sheer intense quality. We had an insightful and thoroughly interesting interview with Francois Mitjavile, this will follow soon.