89 points,

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, April 2006

The 2003 Cheval Blanc, a tiny production of 5,000 cases, was bottled early to protect its delicate style. It is a light to medium-bodied, superficial, but seductive effort offering notes of cherries, herbs, smoke, and new oak. It possesses moderate depth as well as exceptional elegance and finesse. I suspect enough of its noble terroir comes through to please this estate’s fans. Obviously, the vintage’s severe heat and drought did not benefit Cheval Blanc’s lighter, gravelly soils. This fragrant 2003 is best consumed over the next 12-14 years.

89 -91 points,

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, April 2005

Administrator Pierre Lurton told me that this wine is scheduled to be bottled in late March or early April to preserve its delicate fruit. Highly perfumed and somewhat evolved, it offers up scents of cedarwood, cranberries, mulberries, and currants. Its deep ruby/purple color is followed by the attractive, fragrant, sweet bouquet, and fresh, medium-bodied flavors. While there is not significant depth, substance, or concentration, it is a pure, elegant 2003 that may put on weight and perform even better in 4-5 years. My instincts suggest it will not be a long-lived example of Cheval Blanc. The final blend was 56% Cabernet Franc and 44% Merlot. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2017.

89 -92 points,

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, April 2004

A delicate, elegant style of Cheval, that’s more into fruit than size, structure, and intensity, this soft, finesse-styled, medium-bodied effort reveals notes of cranberries, mangoes, cherries, and crushed stones in its moderately intense perfume. In the mouth, it is stylish, soft, pure, and builds incrementally. About 4% press wine was added to the final blend. The harvest, which produced only 30 hectoliters per hectare, was Cheval Blanc’s earliest ever, with the Merlot picked between September 1 - 5, and the Cabernet Franc between September 10 - 15. It was not easy, as manager Pierre Lurton acknowledged, having a vineyard on gravelly soils in the stifling unprecedented heat of the summer of 2003. Only 50% of the crop made it into Cheval Blanc, a blend of 60% Cabernet Franc and 40% Merlot (the highest percentage of Cabernet Franc in many years). Anticipated maturity: 2008-2018.

96 points,

Wine Spectator, March 2006

Blackberry, mineral and lightly toasted oak. Subtle and complex. Full-bodied, with wonderfully sweet fruit character and ultrarefined tannins. Goes on and on. Gorgeous and seductive. Best after 2009.

About Winery

Situated in the farthest corner of St. Emilion, bordering into Pomerol. (Appellation Saint Emilion Control...Premier Grand Cru Classe ...One of the rare properties to never have changed hands, the vineyard has been the property of the Fourcaud-Laussac for over 150 years. 15 hectares of land sold by Figeac to Monsieur Ducasse in 1832, and a further 15 hectares acquired in 1837 constituted the future Cheval Blanc. In 1854 Mademoiselle Ducasse married Monsieur Fourcaud-Laussac. On this occasion 5 hectares were added to the domaine which henceforth sold the wine under the name of Chateau Cheval blanc. Since this time, the heirs of Fourcaud-Laussac have run the domaine." www.chateau-cheval-blanc.com

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