Chateau Cheval Blanc 1er Grand Cru Classe A 2015

In 2015, Technical Director Pierre-Olivier Clouet made a decision that speaks louder than any score: no Petit Cheval was produced — 90.5% of the entire harvest was deemed worthy of the Grand Vin, an extraordinary selection rate that signals the vintage's near-flawless raw material. The Wine Advocate's Lisa Perrotti-Brown awarded 100 points.

The 42-hectare estate sits on quaternary alluvium from the Isle river at Saint-Émilion's north-western edge, directly bordering Pomerol. Soils divide into three identities: gravel over deep blue clay (home to the oldest Cabernet Franc vines, some planted 1920), deep gravel, and sandy clay — non-calcareous throughout, fundamentally unlike the limestone plateau that defines most of Saint-Émilion. That blue clay retains moisture and moderates the estate's slightly warmer, more precocious microclimate, preserving the tension that keeps this wine alive for decades.

The 2015 blend — 55% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Franc — was assembled from up to 56 individually vinified plots, each fermented in a purpose-sized, gravity-filled concrete vat. Malolactic fermentation in tank preceded 16–18 months in 100% new French oak (Tronçais and Bercé forest, 225 L barriques), racked manually 5–7 times under nitrogen. The assembled Grand Vin then returned to barrel for a further ~12 months.

Cheval Blanc remains the only major Right Bank estate where Cabernet Franc — planted here since Jean Laussac-Fourcaud's audacious 1860s replanting — structurally dominates the house identity, even in a Merlot-led vintage like 2015. Drinking window: 2027–2067.