Château Cheval Blanc is a property in the Saint-Émilion region of Bordeaux, classified with the top ranking of Premier Grand Cru Classé A. It is regarded by many as the greatest wine of the appellation, and is certainly the most famous Cabernet Franc-based wine in the world. Typically the grand vin is lush and full bodied with great weight of fruit. It tends to require 10 years of bottle age and the best vintages can last half a century or more. The second wine is Le Petit Cheval.
The vineyard is located in the northwest of the region, bordering Pomerol – La Conseillante is a neighbor – and consists of 39 hectares (96 acres) divided into 45 plots. There is an unusually large amount of Cabernet Franc planted, about 49 percent, with 47 percent Merlot and 4 percent Cabernet Sauvignon. The unusual planting proportions reflect the terroir; most vineyards in the region are either clay or gravel-based over impermeable sedimentary rock, but Cheval Blanc is unique in having a patchwork of soils with the two types in roughly equal proportions. The clay soils provide base wines with velvety tannins, while those from gravel soils are more aromatic and elegant.
Vines have been grown since the 14th Century at this spot. The vineyard as known today took shape in the 19th Century when the core plots were added to by purchases from the Figeac vineyard, and replantings established the atypical half-Merlot, half-Cabernet Franc proportions. Cheval Blanc gained its first medal at the 1862 Universal Exhibition in London, the first of a series of successes building its reputation and achieving price levels comparable to the Medoc first growths, which paved the way for a château to be built on the estate. In the first classification of Saint-Émilion wines in 1955, Cheval Blanc was awarded the highest possible rating and remains a Premier Grand Cru Classé A. In 1998, after 166 years of continuous family ownership, Bernard Arnault and Baron Albert Frère jointly purchased the estate.
The spectacular new cellar opened in 2011, with 52 concrete vats (replacing stainless steel) of differing sizes corresponding to different vineyard plots. The grand vin spends 16 to 18 months in new oak barrels from a variety of cooperages.
