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Château Cheval Blanc Bordeaux Le Petit Cheval 2023

The 2012 iteration of the St Emilion classification is famous (or should that be infamous?) for several reasons. First, it was the first time since the classification was drawn up in 1955 that there were promotions to the very top tier, Château Angélus and Château Pavie joining Château Ausone and Château Cheval Blanc at this level. Secondly, there were the many years of court proceedings by those unhappy with the outcome of the classification and the processes that created it, which arguably became the 2012 classification’s legacy, perhaps more talked about than the classification itself. More than a decade would pass before the judgements were finalised, the fines were paid, and a line could finally be drawn under the affair.

There were some more positive consequences of the classification, even if some of them were rather indirect. One such sequela concerned a small property next to Château Cheval Blanc, and in the same ownership, named Château La Tour du Pin. The team at Cheval Blanc, led by Pierre Lurton and Pierre-Olivier Clouet, felt a successful ranking for La Tour du Pin was far from certain, one reason being the property’s heterogeneous terroir. And so a plan was hatched. The best parcel, covering just 1.4 hectares and situated just across the road from the Cheval Blanc vineyard, would be transferred to that estate, the first addition to the Cheval Blanc vineyard in more than a century. The remainder, however, would be replanted to Sauvignon Blanc, a new project to develop a white wine under the name Le Petit Cheval Blanc.

More than a decade later, this project is now bearing good volumes of fruit. Following the acquisition of the other half of the La Tour du Pin estate (the property having been divided during the 1880s) in 2022, today the white vineyard of Château Cheval Blanc covers 10 hectares, an area which would dwarf the white vineyards of many cru classé châteaux in Pessac-Léognan. The first vines were planted more than a decade ago, although the final few hectares were only planted in 2024, so at the moment just 6.5 hectares are in production. Although initially the plan was to plant only Sauvignon Blanc, the vision changed with the passing vintages, and after a few years Semillon was added to the planting programme. Today the vineyard is two-thirds Sauvignon Blanc and one-third Semillon, a ratio which tends to come through in the blend of the wine.

Château Cheval Blanc Bordeaux Le Petit Cheval 2023

In conversation with estate manager Pierre-Olivier Clouet last week he described his work in the white vineyard, which he approaches with a “red vineyard mindset.” He tends the vines as if he were making red rather than white wine, maintaining their vigour at a low level, looking for bunches of small berries, giving the fruit good exposure to ensure the flavours are ripe rather than green. In his words, “I like to burn away the greenness.” Then, however, he harvests early, to ensure that the ripe flavours come with acidity. The fruit is picked by hand and pressed gently, yielding just 50% of the potential volume, and of this 80% is used to blend Le Petit Cheval Blanc. The rest is sold in bulk, or bottled for the vineyard workers.

In the cellars the vinifications take place in large oak vessels, mostly wooden cuves or foudres, to minimise the impact of the oak on the style. A few demi-muids may be put to use, as required by the volume of juice, but no small Bordelais barrels. Pierre-Olivier works the lees extensively, something that is quite apparent when tasting the wine which is very textural in style. Again it comes back to Pierre-Olivier’s red mindset. “In red winemaking we use the skins to bring density, but we don’t have that in white winemaking, so instead we use the lees,” he states. The wine then sees a long élevage, remaining in oak for 22 months before bottling, making it one of the very few Bordeaux whites to ride out two winters in élevage.

I would have thought I had tasted every vintage of Le Petit Cheval Blanc since the inaugural release in 2014, but looking back at my notes I seem to have missed the 2017. This had me scurrying back to check my notes, which reminded me that in this severely frosted vintage no white wine was released that year. So the only extant vintage I have not tasted is the 2023……until now that is. In the glass the 2023 Le Petit Cheval Blanc displays a very pale hue. Aromatically Sauvignon dominates, as it does in any young Sauvignon-Semillon blend, albeit in a distinctly ripe and expressive style; the nose feels a touch exotic, with notes of lime and buttercream, dressed with interesting complexities of white pepper, candle smoke and white flowers. The palate speaks of the lees-working, being immediately textural and luscious, with a very complete and polished outer surface, carrying notes of pear and greengage. Underneath this texture, however, there resides a phenolic backbone which carries it through to a long, spicy and grippy length, the structure of the Semillon showing. With time – coming back to this 24 hours later – it shows even more precision and a fresher cut. I am sure there is development potential here, and I suspect this deserves five years or more in bottle to display its true potential. 92/100 (15/9/25)

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