CRITIC REVIEWS
Sarah Jane Evans MW
The first vintage in the new cellar. Elegantly dark fruited aromas with cacao and cedar. Youthful impression on the palate, with raspberries and redcurrant crispness. The palate builds to a dense core with firm tannins and a refined underlying freshness. A warm, generous finish, round, ripe and black. The driest vintage in 15 years but with an even balance of cool weather and ripening, with a two heat spikes. The late harvest gives the mature tannins. Cheval Blanc was 64% of the production, Le Petit Cheval 23% and the 3ème vin 13%.
William Kelley
An underrated vintage, the 2011 Cheval Blanc is evolving brilliantly. Wafting from the glass with aromas of smoky cassis, blackberries, loamy soil, tobacco leaf, bitter chocolate, mint and violets, its full-bodied, velvety and multidimensional, with a layered core of fruit, rich and powdery structuring tannin and a long, resonant finish. While the 2009 and 2010 are more powerful and unctuous, readers who prize Cheval Blanc for its extraordinary complexity and unique perfume might well prefer the 2011, as it is a wine that could come from nowhere else.