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More wines available from Chateau Cheval Blanc
750ml - 1 Bottle
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The 1985 Cheval Blanc has always been one of the picks of the vintage for what was a fecund decade for the...
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Berry, cherry and chocolate on the nose, with hints of spices. Full-bodied, with chewy tannins and a spicy, cedary,...
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The standout wine of the entire tasting. Powerful, smooth, mouthfilling sweetness, still deeply coloured. You will...
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Good full ruby-red. Knockout, complex nose offers vibrant aromas of raspberry, sour red cherry, strawberry, licorice...
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Winery
Chateau Cheval Blanc
Vintage: 2008
2008 saw very high yields across wineries in much of the southern hemisphere, as a result of highly favorable climatic conditions. Although in many areas, these high yields brought with them something of a drop in overall quality, this could not be said for South Australia's wines, which were reportedly excellent. Indeed, the 2008 Shiraz harvest in South Australia is said to be one of the most successful in recent decades, and western Australia's Chardonnays are set to be ones to watch out for. New Zealand's Pinot Noir harvest was also very good, with wineries in Martinborough reportedly very excited about this particular grape and the characteristics it revealed this year.
Pinot Noir also grew very well in the United States, and was probably the most successful grape varietal to come out of California in 2008, with Sonoma Coast and Anderson Valley delivering fantastic results from this grape. Elsewhere in United States, Washington State and Oregon had highly successful harvests in 2008 despite some early worries about frost.
However, it was France who had the best of the weather and growing conditions in 2008, and this year was one of the great vintages for Champagne, the Médoc in Bordeaux, Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence, with Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay grapes leading the way. Italy, too, shared many of these ideal conditions, with the wineries in Tuscany claiming that their Chianti Classicos of 2008 will be ones to collect, and Piedmont's Barberesco and Barolo wines will be recognized as amongst the finest of the past decade.
Varietal: Red Bordeaux
The Bordeaux method of blending quality grape varietals is something which has long been imitated and envied around the world. Whilst there are six Bordeaux grape varietals allowed for the production of red wine in this region of France – Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Carménere – the most common and widely used combination involves a careful blend of the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, usually with a small percentage of Petit Verdot to boost the overall flavor and balance things out. This process accentuates the finer points of all these varietals, and takes the astringency of one type whilst rounding it out and mellowing it with the light tannins and fleshiness of another. The results are rarely short of spectacular, and are perfect for oak aging, where the flavorful magic of Bordeaux wine making can really take place, and the complex aromas and characteristics can truly come forward.
Region: Bordeaux
The wineries of Bordeaux in France are widely considered to be amongst the finest on earth, with many of the chateaux found on the Left Bank and in the Médoc region routinely demanding enormous prices and being snapped up by collectors looking to add the best examples of the world's white and red wines to their cellars. Bordeaux's secret to success comes from the fact that the terroir of the region is exceptionally rich in minerals, helped by the clay and gravel soils which typify the area and the Gironde river which runs through it. Normally humid in climate, the nearby Atlantic coast supplies cooling breezes, making Bordeaux a winemaker's dream and resulting in extremely high quality grape varietals. For hundreds of years, the wineries of Bordeaux have been mastering the art of wine blending, and today produce a wide range of wine styles using many of the sixteen grape varietals permitted to grow in the region by French law.
Country: France
France is renowned across the globe for its quality wines and the careful expertise which goes into making them, but what is truly remarkable about this relatively small country is the vast range of wines it produces in such huge amounts each year. Not only are the finest red wines in the world said to come from the beautiful regions of Bordeaux and Burgundy, but elsewhere in the country we find the Champagne region, and areas such as the Rhone Valley and the Loire, whose white wines consistently receive awards and accolades by the plenty. This range is a result of the great variety of climatic conditions and terrain found in France, coupled with generations of wine makers working within single appellations. Their knowledge of specific terroirs and grape varieties has, over time, perfected the production of wines within their region, and the end results continue to impress the world to this day.
Appellation: Saint Emilion
The beautiful sub-region of Saint Emilion in France's legendary Bordeaux region is regarded as the home of many of the world's finest red wines. The blending techniques employed in Saint Emilion have been passed down for generations, and aim to express the very finest flavors of the grape varietals used, most commonly Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The climatic conditions in Saint Emilion are perfect for growing many of the Bordeaux grapes, and high yields of exceptional quality are commonplace. Fed by the mighty Gironde river and benefiting from superb clay and gravel based soils, Saint Emilion produces millions of bottles of high quality blended and unblended red wines each year, and continues to be a firm favorite of wine experts and the general public alike.