2005 Château Cheval Blanc, St Emilion, Bordeaux

The 2005 Cheval Blanc has been nothing less than magical on two separate occasions. A wine of breathtaking nuance and sophistication, the 2005 Cheval dazzles right out of the gate. With a few hours of aeration, the aromatics blossom and the wine is explosive in every dimension. Espresso, rose petal, mint, blood orange and incense all open as the 2005 shows off its magnificence and pedigree. Bright saline underpinnings convey energy, tension and brilliance. Cheval Blanc is perhaps not as immediately seductive as some of the other top 2005s, but it's all there. In spades. I would give it a few more years to unwind.

Drink 2025 - 2055

Always a fabulous nose of black fruit, dark chocolate, nuts and spices. It's full-bodied with beautifully dense tannins reminiscent of cashmere. A long, long finish rounds out this beautiful wine. It would be better to leave it alone until 2020 but so hard not to revel in its splendor now.

This double magnum was extraordinarily drinkable. I don't know whether the wine had been carefully double-decanted; it was poured straight from the big bottle. But this was amazingly approachable. It was spicy, dense, sweet and scented. I'm sure a long and glorious life lies ahead too. 

Drink 2013 - 2040

Harvest September 12 to 27, 42hl/h yield. 100% new oak, 57% of overall production, no press wine. Vinified in the old cellar, and this is three years before the arrival of current technical director Pierre Olivier Clouet, with Thierry Garnrud cellar master, Pierre Lurton director.

Almost equal proportions of Cabernet and Merlot, summing up how balanced the 2005 vintage was. Rosehip, rose petal, ripe raspberry fruits. Now beginning to open up, even inching towards tertiary with its wisps of florality and tobacco but still with so much power and concentration. This is right up there as one of the wines of the vintage, with huge complexity, touches of Asian spice, and mint leaf, you really feel just how much is going on in the glass.

Plenty of Cheval signature in its classicism and balance, with a moreish bitter almond and salted cracker signoff. I last had this three or four years ago and it was not ready, but it has flipped the switch now and can be enjoyed with a good few hours in a carafe. Unrolls in the glass, with decades ahead of it.

Drink 2022 - 2060

A magical showing, the 2005 Chateau Cheval Blanc is a powerful, deep, incredibly massive wine by this estate’s standards, yet it nevertheless never loses a sense of elegance, purity, and finesse. Bombastic notes of cassis, flowery incense, tobacco leaf, and dried soil all flow to a full-bodied red that has sweet, integrated tannins, a beautiful mid-palate, flawless balance, and a huge finish. It’s drinking shockingly well today, and my money is on it continuing to show this way for another three decades.

Drink 2019 - 2049

57% of the wine went into the Grand Vin, 26% Le Petit Cheval and 17% the 3ème vin.

Subtle, complex, alluring aromatics. The palate is exceptionally smooth, ripe and intense with blackcurrant fruit, full and fleshy, lifted with freshness and with very fine tannin running through. Glorious! A very dry year, warm but without 2003’s heatwave, creating small berries, with a concentration of tannin, acid, and colour delivering.

Drink 2019 - 2030

The 2005 Cheval Blanc has a very intense bouquet, conveying so much energy that it almost knocks you sideways. That strong marine influence remains, and the aromatics have opened up since I last tasted it. The palate is medium-bodied with a firm backbone, yet more pliant than previous bottles, offering dense black fruit laced with mint and quite a potent saline note that drives the finish. This is surprisingly peppery on the incredibly long aftertaste. Awesome, but it needs more time. 

Drink 2021 - 2060

50% Cabernet Franc and 50% Merlot.

The 2005 from Cheval Blanc is a quintessentially elegant, beautiful, deep bluish/ruby-coloured wine from St.-Emilion, with raspberry, blueberry, and floral notes, impressive density, great precision, freshness and purity. Full-bodied, but extremely light on its feet, I don’t mean to gush, but it is super-intense, rich and just so meticulously crafted! This is another fabulous wine and a perfect expression for this vintage. It is difficult to forget the gorgeous blueberry and raspberry fruit, full body, sweet tannin, multi-layered texture, and purity and palate presence of this stunning wine.

Drink 2015 - 2025

Good deep ruby-red. Knockout nose offers terrific vinosity to the aromas of dark raspberry, mocha, minerals, liquorice, menthol and dark chocolate. Lush, fat and suave, with superb energy and lift to the fine-grained, palate-staining flavours. Despite its rather high 14% alcohol, this boasts near-perfect balance and finishes with outstanding verve. A great vintage for Cheval, and likely to improve in bottle for at least two or three decades.