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Goedhuis, April 2023, Score: 98-100
Cheval Blanc 2022 is an exquisite wine encapsulating the very best this vintage has to offer. Wine Director Pierre-Olivier Clouét explained that there was no press wine in the final cuvée. The impact of the warm, drier summer months meant the skins were unusually thick, which protected the juice within, and in his view, is the reason for the extraordinary perfume and diversity of fruit flavours this year. Damson, rose petal, lavender and sour cherry unfurl from the glass. Joyous in the mouth, with an astonishing subtlety and grace, there is a precision and clarity to the flavour profile, combining red and dark fruits with spices and autumnal woodland. The tannins have a sensual texture and the wine’s silky layers just keep unfolding over time. Quite simply gorgeous.
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Neal Martin, January 2025, Score: 98
Three-quarters of the Merlot in the 2022 Cheval Blanc was Merlot picked in August—when no grape had ever been picked in that month before. It aged for just 13 months since the balance, texture and freshness were all exactly where they should be and there were concerns about the pH and potential spoilage if it spent a second winter in oak. The 2022 has an incredibly intense nose, yet it effortlessly maintains the delineation that most Right Bank estates can only dream about. Hints of blackcurrant, blueberry, violet, Earl Grey and an underlying mineralité come through with time. The palate is medium-bodied, perfectly balanced, pure and well defined with filigree tannins and hints of pencil shavings infusing the shimmering black fruit. A deft touch of black pepper on the aftertaste completes one of the standout wines in recent years. Tasted in September 2024 and then in January 2025 because I...err...forgot that I had already visited!
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Neal Martin, April 2023, Score: 98-100
The 2022 Cheval Blanc is a lucid, deep purple color. With profound intensity on the nose, this Cheval offers blackcurrant, blue fruit, iris petals, crushed stone and incense aromas. It is blessed with breathtaking delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with seamless tannins. There is palpable verticality in this Cheval, almost "correct" and "strict", yet endowed with stunning depth and complexity. The Cabernets are clearly in the driving seat here and lend it Left Bank allure. Consequently, while it is not the most flamboyant Cheval Blanc I have tasted at this stage, it constitutes a wine for those serious about their Bordeaux. It will give the same satisfaction as when you finish reading a literary masterpiece. Drink 2032-2080
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Antonio Galloni, January 2025, Score: 99
The 2022 Cheval Blanc is quite unusual in that it was made from 46 out of the 47 parcels that make up the estate, the highest proportion of blocks ever used in the Grand Vin. There is also no Petit Cheval. One block was sold in bulk, and everything else went into the Grand Vin. That's basically it. In tasting, the 2022 is a wine of sublime elegance, and yet there's a certain strictness in its vertical build that keeps things buttoned up. Time in the glass starts to release the Cabernet Franc aromatics, but this remains incredibly dense. It barely budged over the two days I followed it. All the 2022 needs is time. The only question is how much.
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Antonio Galloni, April 2023, Score: 98-100
The 2022 Cheval Blanc is shaping up to be one of the wines of the vintage. Deep, seamless and striking in its beauty, the 2022 possesses pedigree to burn. Readers will find a sumptuous wine, but there’s plenty of tannin lurking beneath all of that intensity. In fact, the 2022 is the most tannic Cheval since 2010. The aromatics are surprisingly vibrant for a wine from a warm, dry year. The wine's energy is palpable. The 100% new oak is not all perceptible, which is another sign of top-notch balance. Time in the glass brings out a whole range of exotic Franc notes, followed by blood orange, red fruit, mind and dried herb touches. The 2022 includes 17% press wine (compared to the 11% or so that is typical), but as I have noted in my comments elsewhere in this report, the press lots were of high quality in 2022 because the winemaking was gentle. Once again, Cheval Blanc represents a pinnacle of excellence. Readers should note there is no Petit Cheval in 2022. Drink 2032-2062.
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Wine Advocate, April 2023, Score: 97-99+
One of the stars of the vintage is the striking 2022 Cheval Blanc, a blend of 53% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon that bursts from the glass with aromas of mulberries, cherries and wild berries mingled with mint, orange zest, pencil lead, vine smoke and exotic spices. Medium to full-bodied, velvety and layered, it's rich and gourmand, with beautifully refined tannins, lively acids and a long, saline, pungently perfumed finish. Harvest began on 29 August, with all the Merlot picked before the month was out, and the result is a wine that is as vibrant as it is lavish.
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James Suckling, April 2023, Score: 99-100
This is a wine that soars to new heights with its brightness and weightlessness. The balance of serene fruit that’s perfectly ripe. Full-bodied yet tight and polished where it seems delicate and compressed, with berry, chocolate and walnut character. The finish is endless and poised. Wine of the vintage? 53% merlot, 46% cabernet franc and 1% cabernet sauvignon.
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Matthew Jukes, April 2023, Score: 19.5+
There is a very small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon in Cheval Blanc in 2022, and while I cannot necessarily detect it, I imagine without this eye-dropper of cassis, it would be a lesser creation. And this is the point of 2022 Cheval Blanc – it is a very intricately assembled wine. The other noteworthy fact in 2022 is that no Petit Cheval was made. All of the parcels were deemed good enough for the Grand Vin, and anything substandard for Cheval Blanc was sold as bulk. A supercomposed nose leads the way here, with deep, dark wells of black fruit and stunning but subtle spice. This makes for a very smooth and subtle Cheval Blanc with none of the bombast or, indeed, the amplitude of some of the other top wines in this vintage. It is hard to hang onto any one theme here as there is a slippery nature to this vintage which glides across the palate without any noticeable traction or astringency. This is polished winemaking, appearing weightless and silky on the palate, and the tannins are ultra-fine, suave and hidden within the suspension of the wine. This vintage of Cheval Blanc will appeal to purists and novices alike and will drink young, too, and then last the long haul. It appears to have an array of talents that some of the previous vintages lack, and for this reason, it is one of the foremost wines on the Right Bank in 2022.
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Jancis Robinson, April 2023, Score: 18.5
Floral notes from the Cabernet Franc with a hint of mint and chocolate. Sumptuous texture, the fruit juicy and fresh but the perception silky and smooth. Powerfully built but ripe tannins behind. Delicious and just so refined. One of the wines of the vintage. (James Lawther MW) 13.9%. Drink 2032 – 2055
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Jeb Dunnuck, April 2023, Score: 96-98+
I was able to taste the 2022 Château Cheval Blanc in its individual components as well as a final blend, which is incredibly insightful when trying to understand a young barrel sample. The final blend is 53% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon (which is similar to the 2010), and as always, it's resting in new barrels. A deep, concentrated, structured Cheval Blanc, it has beautiful cassis, violets, flowers, and chocolate-driven aromatics. These carry to a full-bodied, concentrated, structured 2022 that stays tight, focused, and firm on the palate, with very little in the way of baby fat, yet the tannins are fine and polished. With a stacked mid-palate and a great finish, this masculine, structured, dense, powerful 2022 is going to need a decade or more of bottle age, but it should be brilliant.
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Jane Anson, April 2023, Score: 98-100
Kicks off with an explosive nose of freshly crushed red roses, liqourice root and smoked sandalwood. The exuberance of the vintage means that this is a Cheval that feels more approachable at this stage than many years, but no less complex. Blueberry, raspberry and cassis fruits, along with ink, soot, baked earth, incense and saffran, closing to mouthwatering lime and mandarin zest that add juice and length on the finish. Just a great wine from director Pierre Olivier Clouet and the team. 100% new oak barrels for ageing. Harvest began on August 29 (earliest ever, with 80% of Merlot bought in by the end of August), then Cabernet Franc in by September 20. 3.86ph. No Petit Cheval this year, but just 78% of production in the 1st wine. And this is the first year where Cheval Blanc is just a simple, lowly AOC St Emilion, after its withdrawal from the classification. A potential 100 points.
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LPB, April 2023, Score: 98-100
The 2022 Cheval Blanc is a blend of 53% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon and it has a deep garnet-purple color. It erupts from the glass with an intense perfume of violets, rose oil, and licorice, leading to a vibrant, fruity core of juicy blueberries, fresh blackberries, redcurrant preserves, and raspberry coulis, plus a waft of cinnamon stick. Medium-bodied, the palate begins fragrant and opulent, textures and flavors melting in the mouth like Turkish Delight, leading to a generous core of juicy black, blue, and red berry layers, supported by super-fine, silt-like tannins, finishing very long, minerally and refreshing. So graceful, so singular, so Cheval.
