Cheval Blanc St-Emilion 2015

100 points Lisa Perrotti-Brown (Wine Advocate): "Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2015 Château Cheval Blanc is still incredibly primary at this very youthful stage. With coaxing, it unfurls to reveal beguiling notions of ripe black cherries, mulberries, licorice, baking spices and smoked meats with touches of incense and potpourri plus wafts of cast iron pan and crushed rocks. Full-bodied, very rich, very firm/taut and with very ripe, fine-grained tannins, it allows a glimpse at its incredible depth of flavors with a very long multi-layered finish. Wow. Drink: 2027-2067. (8/31/18)"

100 points/'Cellar Selection,' Wine Enthusiast: "Made with 45% Cabernet Franc, this great wine offers a beautiful, rich and perfumed character. It was an exceptional vintage for the estate, which incorporated fruit from parcels of the vineyard that would normally be used for the chateau's second wine into this blend. It is packed with black-fruit flavors and broad tannins, with a background of juicy acidity and a firm structure. Drink from 2027. Alcohol 14.5%. (Apr 2018)"

100 points Lisa Perrotti-Brown (The Wine Independent): "All the plots but two made it into Cheval Blanc 2015. Those two were sold in bulk and no Petit Cheval was made in that year. With 55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet Franc, the deep garnet colored 2015 Cheval Blanc prances out with a gorgeous perfume of roses, spearmint, and black tea, before giving way to a core of chocolate-covered cherries, redcurrant preserves, and juicy plums, plus a waft of iron ore. Full-bodied, the palate is dense and muscular, featuring a fine frame of grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing with loads of floral and mineral fireworks. Stunning! Alcohol 14.5%. Drink: 2024-2064. (11/17/22)"

100 points Jeff Leve (The Wine Cellar Insider): "It can be a dangerous combination for all the right reasons when you blend decadent sensuality with velvety tannins and layers of silky fruits. You cannot help but devour the wine far too quickly. Concentrated, full and rich, the fruit glides across your palate effortlessly. There is lift, volume, length and complexity. This is a wine for the future which will easily earn a legendary status as it ages evolves and matures. If you cannot afford it, make you find friends that can, as this is a wine you need to taste. (May 2018)"

99 points Antonio Galloni (Vinous): "Totally seamless in the glass, with no beginning and no end, the 2015 Cheval Blanc is simply extraordinary. It's hard to describe the 2015, because all of its elements are so perfectly in place. Beautifully delineated aromatics make a strong opening statement. Vibrant and wonderfully nuanced on the palate, the wine exudes energy and vitality through to the persistent, silky finish. Many other 2015s speak with more assertiveness and volume, but Cheval Blanc is more understsated. In 2015, Cheval Blanc created quite a stir in announcing that a whopping 91% of their crop would be bottled as Grand Vin. There will be no Petit Cheval, while the rest of the wine was sold internally. Drink: 2025-2055. (Feb 2018)"

97-99 points Peter Moser (Falstaff): "Dark ruby with purple reflections and subtle brightening on the rim. Aromas of fine dark berry fruit, a hint of chocolate and nuances of exotic spices, multi-faceted and mineral. The palate is powerful and finely structured with substantial yet silky tannins with ripe cherry notes. Extremely complex and possessing great energy and length, the wine lingers for minutes on the finish and has great ageing potential. The second wine Petit Cheval was not produced this year. (5/30/16)"

98 points Wine Spectator: "A lovely sanguine hint leads off, followed by racy, elegant juniper, tobacco, red currant and damson plum notes that move in unison. Broadens and deepens, adding notes of currant preserves, warm ganache and smoldering tobacco, with a swath of loamy structure. Yet even as the bass line increases in volume through the finish, this maintains purity and poise. Should deliver some stunning aromatics at peak, which will take awhile to achieve. Best from 2025 through 2045. (3/31/18)"

98 points Jeb Dunnuck: " I continue to absolutely love the 2015 Cheval Blanc. It’s one of those powerful, sexy, yet also weightless and elegant wines that’s going to drink well all its life. Checking in as a blend of 55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet Franc brought up in new barrels, it offers a kaleidoscope of aromas and flavors led by beautiful sweet fruits as well as incredible floral, spice, and graphite nuances. It’s full-bodied, with a rich, rounded, opulent texture, sweet tannins, and a blockbuster finish. As with a lot of 2015s, it has the sweetness of fruit and ripe tannin that allows it to drink well today, but it’s going to be very long-lived and have 3-4 decades of prime drinking. Drink: 2022-2062. (6/14/19)"

98 points Stuart Pigott (JamesSuckling.com): "Not a particularly deep color for this very ripe vintage, but this has a really beautiful nose, with a wide spectrum of red and black fruit, plus some floral notes. Rich, yet poised, with excellent balance of ripe fruit and full, fine tannin. Very long finish that’s bright and lively, considering the imposing scale of this wine. Drink or hold. Château Quintus vertical tasting. (5/31/22)"

98 points Chris Kissack (Winedoctor): "The blend here is 45% Cabernet Franc and 55% Merlot, and this – in case you have forgotten – was the vintage in which the team here made no second wine, having decided to exclude just two parcels from the grand vin, In the words of Pierre-Olivier Clouet, “all the planets were aligned”. The two rejected plots went into a third wine. The élevage was in 100% new oak, for a period lasting 18 months. I get very confident desiccated and concentrated fruit on the nose, very sweet and perfumed, rich in black cherry, presumably coming from the Merlot, these sweet aromatics mixed with praline and caramel nuances from the oak, along with dark fruit notes reminiscent of black olive and currant, the classic super-ripe Merlot notes you see in this vintage. The aromatics of the Cabernet Franc seem less prominent at the moment in this wine. The palate is huge, broad, convincing, structured and imposing, seemingly with huge intent. It carries the flavours of cherry, smoked currant, praline and dried blackcurrant fruits. There is a pile of oaky wrapping here, but underneath that there is a rich depth of grained, savoury, imposing fruit. I see huge potential here, in a wine that is brooding, rich, dark, savoury and spiced with praline and pepper, all wrapped up in sweet, toasted, high quality oak. This is truly impressive, showing such energy, a great Cheval Blanc to my mind, and a wine that will need twenty years, or more, to begin to reveal its full potential. (May 2018)"