2001 Cheval Blanc Bordeaux Blend

Bordeaux Blend - 750ML
Reg: $499.00
$464.00
This product is
out of stock
Most orders placed M-F by 3pm (PT) ship same day.
Orders placed on a weekend or holiday will ship the next business day.
Shipping Info

Free storage available
Wine Storage

REVIEWS

JL 97 VN 96 JS 95 JA 95 W&S 95 NM 93 WA 93 WS 92
JL 97

TheWineCellarInsider.com, February 2024

Continuing to improve, here, you find everything great about Cheval Blanc. Silky, sensuous, and complex, the wine kicks off with its display of flowers, cherries, mint, and blue fruit. The palate is opulent, lifted, and...
VN 96

Vinous, September 2021

The 2001 Cheval Blanc has a slightly more expressive and less feral bouquet compared to the 2000, perhaps better defined, although I miss the menthol aspect that develops on the previous vintage. But give it an hour's...
JS 95

jamessuckling.com, June 2016

I have always believed in the 2001 Cheval Blanc. It may even be better than the more highly thought of 2000 and it's certainly much less expensive. It sells for about $550 a bottle compared to $1000 a bottle for the 2000...
JA 95

janeanson.com, June 2021

Nuanced supple tannins with saffron, cold ash and violets notes. Extremely charming, this highlights so many of the things that Cheval Blanc does so well - nuance, elegant, precision, flesh, silken fruits with freshly...
W&S 95

Wine & Spirits, December 2004

Rated, no tasting note given.
NM 93

Neal Martin's Wine Journal, July 2011

At nearly ten years of age, the Cheval ’01 has impressive precision on the nose with the Cabernet Franc component beginning to make its presence felt. The succulent black fruit now contend with herbaceous, dried meat...
WA 93

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, June 2004

I was surprised by how soft, opulent, even voluptuous the 2001 Cheval Blanc performed out of bottle as this estate’s wines tend to shut down when young. Its deep ruby/purple color was accompanied by sweet aromas of...
WS 92

Wine Spectator, March 2004

Dark and intense, with blackberry, plum and light vanilla aromas. Subtle and complex. Full-bodied, with plenty of berry and vanilla character and a long, silky finish. Very racy. Very refined and long. Love the caressing...

WINE DETAILS

Color & Type Red
Varietal Bordeaux Blend
Country France
Region Bordeaux
Sub-region Saint Emilion
Vintage 2001
Size 750ML

Chateau Cheval Blanc is a Premier Grand Cru Classe “A” estate located near Pomerol, but within the commune of Saint-Emilion. Its 39 hectares are divided into forty-five plots. While most of the appellation's other famous estates have limestone soil, Cheval Blanc's soil is alluvial, with roughly equal proportions of gravel and clay.

The vineyard has an original combination of grape varieties: 49% Cabernet Franc, 47% Merlot, and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon. Each plot has its own specific profile and, to a certain extent, are treated like separate vineyards because of differences in the age of the vines, grape variety, soil type, surface area, type of rootstock, etc. The combination of these many facets accounts for Cheval Blanc’s great complexity.

Archives show that vines have been grown at Cheval Blanc at least as far back as the 15th century, but the most prestigious part of Cheval Blanc's history can be dated from 1832 when the core plot of the present-day estate was purchased by Jean-Jacques Ducasse, President of the Libourne Trade Tribunal. Over the next twenty years, the purchase of plots belonging to Chateau Figeac led to the vineyard as we know it today.

The impressive 6,000 square-meter cellar adjacent to the chateau, designed by Christian de Portzamparc and inaugurated in June 2011, houses a state-of-the-art winemaking facility and features two enormous waves of white concrete that rise magnificently out of the ground. There is a garden of wild grasses atop an artificial hill, whose gracious curves are overlooked by the chateau. The wine cellar holds fifty-two concrete vats in six rows.

Formerly known as vin de Figeac, this wine was first sold under the name Cheval Blanc in 1852. The first gold medal won by Cheval Blanc came at the 1878 Universal Exhibition in Paris and that distinction appears on the label.

Each vineyard plot is vinified separately. At the start of fermentation, the juice is gently pumped over three times daily. As fermentation proceeds, pump-over frequency decreases and is eventually stopped when the desired level of extraction has been reached.

The young wine is aged 16 to 18 months in new French oak barrels. Six to seven different coopers are used to ensure complexity and harmony. During this period, the wine is racked by hand five to seven times. Blending takes place after the first three months.