TASTING NOTES:
Precision and breadth come together in this mouthwatering Sauvignon Blanc with 20% Semillon. The wine opens with notes of warm citrus, bergamot and fresh white blossom, then unfurls with a flinty minerality. Lees ageing gives it a full and creamy texture, but the finish is long and crystalline.
- Decanter, 94 pts.
The 2019 Petit Cheval is a stunning second wine - if it can even be called that. In 2019, Petit Cheval is a blend of four parcels that were in the Grand Vin in 2018. Dark, supple and expressive, the 2019 offers up an exotic mélange of black cherry, spice, new leather and graphite, all of which build effortlessly in the glass. The Petit represents 5.5% of the château's production in 2019, but it is more of a second selection, as 12% of the wine that year was sold in bulk.
- Vinous, 94 pts.
A wine that I don't get to taste often, the 2019 Château Cheval Blanc Le Petit Cheval Blanc is a stunning white that's certainly worth seeking out, and it actually reminds me of the great white from Château Margaux. Vibrant citrus, white flowers, lime, and chalky mineral notes all emerge on the nose, and it's medium-bodied, has terrific purity, bright acidity, and the balance to evolve for over a decade.
- Jeb Dunnuck, 93 pts.
Exhibiting aromas of plums, sweet wild berries, rose petals, spices and cigar wrapper, the 2019 Le Petit Cheval is medium to full-bodied, velvety and seamless, with supple tannins and succulent acids. Pierre-Olivier Clouet explains that his aspiration is to produce 100% Cheval Blanc and that, as a result, this cuvée simply represents anything that doesn't belong in the grand vin's blend. Of course, however, it shares some of the latter's DNA.
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 91 pts.
