The 2012 Château Cheval Blanc is a beautifully balanced wine with a deep red-purple color. It features aromas of red and blackberries, floral notes, and a touch of mint and graphite. On the palate, it offers a smooth attack, fine tannins, and incredible length. A blend of 53% Merlot and 47% Cabernet Franc, this elegant wine is already complex and will continue to evolve gracefully over the next 20 years.

Decanter | D 96
Published: Mar 3, 2022
Drink: 2022-2040

A beautifully balanced claret with a fragrant silky texture, fine backbone and length on the palate, promising a long life. Not a ‘big’ wine but a delicious one with class. Made in the spanking new cellar (inaugurated June 2011).
Closure: Cork
Alcohol: 13.50%
Body: Medium

The Wine Advocate | RP 95
Published: Aug 31, 2018
Drink: 2020-2040

Medium to deep garnet colored, the 2012 Cheval Blanc reveals lovely cassis, warm black cherries and redcurrant jelly notions with underlying hints of cedar chest, garrigue, Indian spices and damp soil. Medium to full-bodied, it possesses wonderful energy and freshness on the palate with a beautifully poised ethereal nature and long mineral-tinged finish. This elegantly crafted beauty should enter its drinking window in a couple of years and cellar gracefully for another 20 years.  

Jancisrobinson.com | JR 17.5
Published: Jun 14, 2022
Drink: 2021-2040

Tasted blind. Mid crimson with a smudgy rim. Appetising, slightly saline nose. Lots of energy here and well-managed tannins. A complete, vivid, dry (not sweet; not drying) wine with a little Cabernet influence. Ch Cheval Blanc?

Chateau-cheval-blanc.com

Since it won its first medal, still featured on its labels, at the Universal Exhibition of London in 1862, Château Cheval Blanc has maintained its place as one of the world’s greatest wines. Its grace, alchemy and elegance are the incarnation of refined French culture, of unparalleled quality.

Château Cheval Blanc has been situated in the commune of Saint-Emilion for 200 years. It covers 39.5 hectares divided into 55 plots, each of which is different and unique. Each plot has its own characteristics according to its age, size and, in particular, its soil and grape variety. Each plot is vinified separately so that it can express its individuality fully before blending and so that it can contribute to the overall coherence of each vintage.

Château Cheval Blanc has always been managed with longevity in mind: all the particularities of this legendary Bordeaux have been preserved throughout the years – its terroir, grape varieties and style – whilst its qualities continue to become more refined and assertive.  Thanks to the mineral and vegetal heritage and increasingly rigorous know-how, Château Cheval Blanc has made a place for itself on the most prestigious tables across the globe for over a century and a half.

2012 TASTING NOTE
2012 was dry and rather warm with a superb Indian summer. 2012 Château Cheval Blanc is a truly beautiful wine already showing astonishing complexity and great aromatic precision.

A surprisingly complex vintage from a very young age.
Red purple dress with purple highlights.
To the nose, a great aromatic purity, with red and blackberries and a delicate floral note, completed by freshness (mint, eucalyptus) and minerality (graphite).
Powerful attack, followed by a mid-palate with melted tannins and perfect smoothness. Incredible length for a delicate and coated finish.

Blending: Merlot  53 % Cabernet Franc  47 %