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Cheval Blanc 2005

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Right Bank > St Emilion
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyCabernet Franc/Merlot

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Label

Tasting Notes

The 2005 from Cheval Blanc is a quintessentially elegant, beautiful, deep bluish/ruby-colored wine from St.-Emilion, with raspberry, blueberry, and floral notes, impressive density, great precision, freshness and purity. Full-bodied, but extremely light on its feet, I don’t mean to gush, but it is super-intense, rich and just so meticulously crafted! This is another fabulous wine and a perfect expression for this vintage. It is difficult to forget the gorgeous blueberry and raspberry fruit, full body, sweet tannin, a multi-layered texture, and purity and palate presence of this stunning wine. Drink it over the next 20 years. P.S. In 2005, this was 50% Cabernet Franc and 50% Merlot. Drink 2015-2035.

100
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (219), June 2015

The 2005 Cheval Blanc is a blend of 50% Merlot and 50% Cabernet Franc. Medium to deep garnet-brick colored, it needs a lot of time and patient swirling to reveal an achingly fragrant nose of kirsch, potpourri, crushed rocks, and menthol with emerging wafts of roses, underbrush, and blackberry pie. Medium to full-bodied, it delivers a rock-solid supporting wall of firm, grainy tannins with a taut, muscular, multilayered black fruit core, accented by loads of floral and mineral sparks, finishing long and oh so fragrant. You can consider drinking this now, but it is still a little tightly wound and closed. Expect that next-level experience to come with another 5-10 years in bottle, then watch it strut its stuff over the following 30 years+.

100
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent, July 2022

The Château Cheval Blanc 2005 has an intense bouquet, one that is more complex than Ausone with a slight marine influence infusing the blackberry and raspberry fruit, hints of wilted violet and cassis surfacing with time an joining the chorus line.. The palate is beautifully balanced with filigree tannin. It feels linear at first and then fans out marvellously with a bravura finish that lacquers the mouth. There is clearly quite brilliant precision here, impressive length and poise with a touch of salinity on the finish. What a spellbinding Cheval Blanc, a Saint Emion that is just going to get better and better with each passing year. Drink 2020 - 2060

98+
Neal Martin, RobertParker.com, February 2015

Always a fabulous nose of black fruit, dark chocolate, nuts and spices. It's full-bodied with beautifully dense tannins reminiscent of cashmere. A long, long finish rounds out this beautiful wine. It would be better to leave it alone until 2020 but so hard not to revel in its splendor now.

98
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, October 2015

Almost equal proportions of Cabernet and Merlot, summing up how balanced the 2005 vintage was. Rosehip, rose petal, ripe raspberry fruits. Now beginning to open up, even inching towards tertiary with its wisps of florality and tobacco but still with so much power and concentration. This is right up there as one of the wines of the vintage, with huge complexity, touches of Asian spice, mint leaf, you really feel just how much is going on in the glass. Plenty of Cheval signature in its classicism and balance, with a moreish bitter almond and salted cracker signoff. I last had this three or four years ago and it was not ready, but it has flipped the switch now, and can be enjoyed with a good few hours in a carafe. Harvest September 12 to 27, 42hl/h yield. 100% new oak, 57% of overall production, no press wine. Vinified in the old cellar, and this is three years before the arrival of current technical director Pierre Olivier Clouet, with Thierry Garnrud cellar master, Pierre Lurton director. Unrolls in the glass, with decades ahead of it.

99
Jane Anson, JaneAnson.com, September 2022

Tasted blind. Nose is light, sweet and tarry. Palate is very thick and sweet. Dense and rich with the (dried) fruit character virtually subsumed into the tannins! Dramatic rather than irresistible. Cheval?
Drink 2020-2045

18.5
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, March 2017

Good deep ruby-red. Knockout nose offers terrific vinosity to the aromas of dark raspberry, mocha, minerals, licorice, menthol and dark chocolate. Lush, fat and suave, with superb energy and lift to the fine-grained, palate-staining flavors. Despite its rather high 14% alcohol, this boasts near-perfect balance and finishes with outstanding verve. A great vintage for Cheval, and likely to improve in bottle for at least two or three decades.

96+
Stephen Tanzer, International Wine Cellar

Came eighteenth out of 184 wines

17.53
-, Southwold Bordeaux Tasting, January 2009

A lovely Cheval-Blanc, with ultra-elegant red fruits and violet aromas, silky texture, refined tannins. Will probably equal and even surpass the 1998, with the same cabernet Franc freshness and nobility. Compared to Ausone there is a small lack of vinosity. Drink from 2017.

19
Michel Bettane, Decanter.com, April 2006
Read more tasting notes...

The dense ruby/purple-hued 2005 Cheval Blanc’s ethereal bouquet of menthol, coffee, wet stones, black cherries, blackberries, and hints of graphite and spice soars from the glass. An equal part blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot, it is medium to full-bodied with a gorgeous texture in addition to high tannins that glide over the palate with no angularity or astringency. While it does not quite reach the perfection of the 2000, it should rival the profound 1998 and 1990. This is not a Cheval Blanc for near-term drinking as it demands at least a decade’s worth of cellaring. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2035

96
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (176), April 2008

This spectacular blend of nearly equal parts Cabernet Franc and Merlot has put on weight over the last year (as most top Chevals tend to do). The color is an inky/blue/ruby/purple, and the wine reveals an extraordinary aromatic profile of subtle mocha, licorice, pain grille, and abundant red, blue, and black fruits. As usual, there is an underlying hint of menthol, or is it forest floor? A classic, quintessential medium-bodied Cheval Blanc boasting a stunning texture and high tannin, but neither aggressiveness nor angularity, the 2005 appears capable of rivaling the extraordinary 2000 and 1998. However, the production of 95,000 bottles is relatively small. It requires 6-8 years of bottle age, and it should evolve effortlessly for 35+ years.

96/100
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (170), April 2007

A prodigious Cheval Blanc that should challenge the 2000 and 1998 as the finest Cheval since the 1990, the 2005's final blend consisted of 55% Cabernet Franc and 45% Merlot. The Merlot harvest began on September 15th and lasted until the Cabernet Franc was finished around October 6th. Administrator Pierre Lurton told me, "I prefer to pick the Merlot a little early, and the Cabernet Franc a little late." The deep ruby/purple-colored 2005 reveals an extraordinary projected, surreal bouquet of menthol, red, blue, and black fruits, and hints of mocha, licorice, and sweet oak. This opulent, tremendously concentrated Cheval Blanc possesses undeniable finesse, elegance, and freshness as well as a vibrant, nuanced, delineated personality. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2030+. The estate’s second wine, the 2005 Le Petit Cheval (55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet Franc) is one of the better efforts over recent years.

95/98
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (164), April 2006

The 2005 is ferociously closed on the nose - broody and backward, opening slowly with wild strawberry, crushed stone, bay leaf and Chinese tea. The palate is medium-bodied with firm, gently grippy tannins, citric peel and a masculine, assertive finish. This is a long-term Cheval Blanc but it does not have the sheer audacity or bravura of the 2009. Tasted December 2012.

95+
Neal Martin, RobertParker.com, May 2013
97
James Suckling, WineSpectator.com, February 2008

I am not sure what to say about the nose. It's so complex, with minerals, berries, wet earth and light vanilla. Turns to licorice and mint. Full-bodied, with amazing tannins and a long, long finish. This is so refined and long. Pure silk

95/100
James Suckling, WineSpectator.com, March 2006

Blackish ruby without enormous depth. Beguiling, well knit, quite evolved nose with warmth and some macerated currants. There seems to have been a deliberate attempt to create something lively with lift rather than a blockbuster here. This is more elegant than many right bank 2005s and in my book all the better for it. Some may worry that it has evolved dangerously fast. But it's a very fine wine by any standards. Tannins are almost resolved. 14%
Drink 2018-2040

18
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, February 2015

Some development on the rim. Fresh nose and then very rich and sweet on the front palate.A little angular on the finish but lots of concentrated fruit. Real life to this - some Cabernet Franc? Just a little light on the finish. £7,500 a case currently

18.5
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, February 2009

Very dark and lustrous. Much more obviously Cabernet Franc than the Petit Cheval - quite rigorous and yet still ripe though with some really aromatic leafiness - in the appetising rather than underripe spectrum. Even a hint of black pepper. Extremely broad and ripe and sumptuous. Full, sweet yet with lovely lift and lustrousness - it does seem less earthbound than some recent vintages. Certainly very, very ripe. The finest tannins - like the threads in a silk shawl. A lovely skein of flavours. So very, very neat and confident. Great freshness! Very reminiscent of older classic Cheval vintages - 1983 with a bit more flesh? Drink 2015-35

19+
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2006
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.