2011 Petit Cheval
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Tasting notes
The 2011 Petit Cheval is more Merlot driven and noticeably different to its successor. Dark fruit. Intense tightly-woven tannins match the inky ruby colour of this wine. This is impressively backward, with coffee and cinnamon spice emerging with some air in the glass. Monumentally precise for all its richness, this needs at least five more years in bottle.
Critic scores
Average Score
James Suckling
Decanter
More reviews and scores
The quality of Cheval Blanc’s second wine continues to go from strength to strength. For example, the 2011 Le Petit Cheval reveals savory, high-brow nuances along with black currant, black cherry, spice box and mineral notes. Round, generous and medium-bodied, this sleeper of the vintage is ideal for drinking over the next decade or more.
Heavy bottle. 75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc, 55% new oak (less than usual). Deep cherry red. Beautiful restraint and that wonderful, gentle freshness. Gliding tannins, no sweetness, though there's fragrant fruit, and I cannot avoid the word mineral. Very very sublte. Not especially aromatic. Utterly tender and fine. Not powder, not dusty, just so refined. The wine disappears gently on the finish evanescent rather than short. (JH)
This is well done for the second wine of Cheval with orange peel and chocolate with hints of hazelnut. Full to medium body, with fine tannins and a lovely finish. This is the first year that the wines of Cheval were made parcel by parcel in the new winery. James Suckling, jamessuckling.com
About the producer
Ch. Cheval Blanc is one the finest producers in Bordeaux. The Saint-Emilion estate’s Cabernet Franc-dominant wines are consistently among the top wines of the vintage.