| Score: |
98 VM.
"(12% alcohol): Ruby-red with a garnet rim. Enticing nose offers minty blackcurrant, rose petal, cedar, and red cherry liqueur aromas. Then rich, suave and dense in the mouth, with voluptuous red cherry, raspberry, mineral and cocoa flavors complicated by tobacco and flinty nuances. The finish is smoothly tannic and extremely long, with a strong mineral nuance and just a hint of phenolic dryness. An extremely refined Cheval Blanc, exhibiting impeccable balance and breed; very cabernet franc-dominated and hence very Cheval Blanc. The year was memorable for a bout of frost on May 29 that sharply reduced crop levels; the summer started hot, then turned cool, but temperatures warmed up again during a magnificent September. The harvest took place from September 18 to 27. Only 160 barriques were made from a freakishly low yield." Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, Oct 2011 |