2016 Chateau Cheval-Blanc - St. Emilion 1er Grand Cru Classe A

Falstaff Magazin - 98pts - PM: *Dunkles Rubingranat, violette Reflexe, zarte Randaufhellung, würzig, schwarzbeerige Frucht, zart nach Lakritze, dunkle Kirschen, feiner Edelholztouch, angenehme Kräuterwürze. Komplex, wirkt sehr engmaschig, dezente Extraktsüße, integrierte, tragende Tannine, schokoladiger Touch im Abgang, mineralisch, reife Herzkirschen im Finale, sicheres Reifepotenzial. Vin de Garde, der in fünfzehn bis zwanzig Jahren viel Trinkvergnügen bieten wird.* - 05/2017

Vinum Magazin – 19/20pts: *Von schon fast beängstigender Präzision, mit dichtem und doch sehr geschmeidigem, seidigem Tannin, saftig und frisch und mit immenser fruchtiger Länge!*- 06/2017

Weinwisser - 19/20pts - GL: *Dichtes Granat, satt in der Mitte, mit feinem, violettem Schimmer am Rand. Das Bouquet gibt sich nur ganz langsam preis, fast scheu. Dann steigen doch kleine, konzentrierte schwarze Beeren, dunkle Edelhölzer, Irisblüten, etwas Malz und dahinter feinduftige Schattenmorellen auf. Nimmt zunehmend an Komplexität zu. Am kräftigen Gaumen mit stützendem, perfekt ausgereiftem Tannin, vielschichtig mit Graphitnoten, Lakritze, Wacholder sowie Wildkirschen und einem Hauch Rosmarin. Sehr komplex bis ins ganz langanhaltende, erhabene Finale. Eine elegante Cheval-Blanc- Delikatesse mit gewaltigem Potenzial!*

JancisRobinson.com - 18.5+/20pts - JR: *The property is divided into 45 different plots and each plot has made some grand vin in the last five years. This is from 33 plots. 38% Cabernet Franc, 59% Merlot. The remaining 3% is Cabernet Sauvignon, from a parcel that has been replanted with Cabernet Franc successively. But they have decided to recover this gravelly plot by the road to St-Émilion with Cabernet Sauvignon. This is the first year it's in the grand vin as a reflection of the traditional assemblage of Cheval Blanc.
Tasty floral start and then quite rich. A bit of grainy astringency (from those concrete vats?) in terms of texture - by no means unpleasant. Lots of floral notes, hint of putty and then lovely richness underneath. Quite a contrast between nose and palate. Smudgy palate and precise nose. Tannins really present on the end. Very floral on the nose. Big gap! Not sweet!!* - 04/2017

JamesSuckling.com - (98-99)pts - JS: *This is very powerful Cheval with searing tannins and bright fruit, acidity and mineral undertones. Full and muscular yet beautifully formed and polished. It’s all about the form to this. Better than 2015.* - 04/2017
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JamesSuckling.com – 99 pts – JS: *Wet earth and sliced, fresh mushrooms. Menthol. Dark berries, such as blackberries and blueberries. Full-bodied, dense and whole, but you don’t feel the tannins, even though it is so powerful and structured. Detailed and defined. Cashmere. Wonderful finish. Glorious young Cheval. Try after 2025, but so wonderful already.* - 12/2019

Vinous.com - (96-99)pts - AG: *A wine of precision and extraordinary beauty, the 2016 Cheval Blanc is also one of the highlights of the year. In the glass, it is precise, delicate and understated. Hints of espresso, plum, spice and wild cherry all develop in the glass, but it is the wine's feel and vivid personality that stand out most. I expect the 2016 will put on weight during its aging, both in barrel and later in bottle. It is an absolutely stunning wine in every way.* - 04/2017
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Vinous.com – 98 pts - AG: *The 2016 Cheval Blanc is one of the most beguiling wines of the vintage. Constantly changing in the glass, the 2016 is at once wonderfully refined and yet also quite powerful. Dark cherry, espresso, spice, leather, tobacco, mint and lavender give the 2016 tremendous aromatic presence. On the palate, the 2016 is rich, exotic and persistent, with real staying power and captivating balance. Pierre Lurton, Pierre-Olivier Clouet and the team at Cheval Blanc turned out a masterpiece in 2016. Don't miss it.* Januar 2019

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate - (97-99)pts - NM: *The 2016 Cheval Blanc is a blend of 59% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Franc and (the return of) 3% Cabernet Sauvignon from the gravel soils since in this vintage the vines showed absolutely no stress. It delivers 14.25% alcohol with an IPT of 75 and a pH 3.67, which Pierre Lurton told me is a little lower than normal. As usual, it is matured in 100% new oak. It has a very pure, correct and quite penetrating bouquet with black cherries, blackcurrant, graphite and a touch of wild mint. It is bashful at first but opens with confidence with aeration (incidentally, I allowed my sample 40 minutes to open). The palate is medium-bodied with filigree tannin and a killer line of acidity that imparts so much freshness from the starting gun. That soupçon on Cabernet Sauvignon does make a difference, lending a subtle vein of graphite that runs throughout the wine. It remains linear, with laser-like focus towards the extraordinarily persistent finish, pencil lead on the "HB"
aftertaste. This is a classic and intellectual Cheval Blanc, not as charming perhaps as the 2015 Cheval Blanc, but it will unquestionably age gracefully over decades not years.* - 04/2017
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Vinous.com - 98pts - NM: *The 2016 Cheval Blanc is the first year that replanted Cabernet Sauvignon was included in the Grand Vin. This has an intense, tightly wound bouquet that unwinds with aeration, maintaining stunning delineation and precision and offering scents of blackberry, briar and graphite and a faint hint of dark chocolate. The palate is very harmonious, precise and classic in style, and a little spicier than I recall from barrel. The oak is seamlessly integrated, and the pixelated, fresh, marine-tinged finish lingers in the mouth. Wow! Very different from the more rounded 2015 Cheval Blanc, though this might end up being the more classic but cerebral proposition.* - 01/2019