2020 Le Petit Cheval Bordeaux Blanc in Magnum

Description

96   Antonio Galloni for Vinous
“The 2020 Le Petit Cheval (Blanc) is fabulous. Rich, creamy and wonderfully expansive, the 2020 is just gorgeous. Lemon confit, white flowers, passion fruit and a touch of oak all grace this wonderfully expressive dry white from Cheval Blanc. I especially like how the 2020 gains freshness with aeration, always a good sign with whites. There’s tremendous precision and class here.” (February 2023)

92   James Molesworth for Wine Spectator
“Fresh, with a mix of white asparagus, oyster shell, white peach and fleur de sel. Very pure, sneaky long finish. Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon. Drink now through 2025.” (January 2023)

Winemaker’s Notes:

For more than 10 years, Château Cheval Blanc has challenged itself to produce a great white wine on this small 6.6 hectares vineyard nested in the parcels of its elder. A genuine variation, in white, of the identity of Cheval Blanc, this wine is a blend of some 12 different plots, on sandy and clay soils, where 80% sauvignon blanc and 20% sémillon fit perfectly.

2020 Vintage
The first trimester saw above-normal temperatures, which led to the earliest budburst this young vineyard has ever seen, on March 19th for the Semillon and March 21st for the Sauvignon. Flowering and veraison were extremely rapid (1 week for flowering and 8 days for veraison) and very homogeneous. Water stress appeared in mid-July, remaining moderate until the harvest. The harvest, which was very early, took place from August 19th to 24th.

2020 was a particularly successful vintage for Le Petit Cheval blanc, with bergamot, citrus, slightly grapefruit, fruity touches of pear, white flesh fruit. Freshness and a mineral note that comes from the ageing in large vessels. The nose is bright, fresh, precise and clean. The palate is vibrant, with a beautiful attack, freshness, tension, a relatively strong acidity, salinity and nice bitters that lengthen the mouth, and which compose with a beautiful volume, wide, creamy. A very nice balance for a wine that is already accessible, from its youngest age.