Chateau Cheval Blanc 2000

LISA PERROTTI-BROWN: "A blend of 53% Merlot and 47% Cabernet Franc, the 2000 Cheval Blanc has a medium garnet-brick color. It explodes with an amazingly complex array of fragrant earth and exotic spice scents, leading to a core of raspberry preserves, cherry cola, dried mulberries, and violets, plus hints of licorice, iron ore, and unsmoked cigars. The palate is gracefully styled and medium-bodied with layer upon layer of fruit, earth, and perfumed spice flavors, framed by silky tannins and beautiful tension, finishing long and minerally. Phenomenal!"

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "Coming out of a relatively dormant state, this 2000 is a spectacular Cheval Blanc. Of recent vintages, I think only the 2009 can give it a run for its money. A blend of 53% Merlot and 47% Cabernet Franc, the wine has a sweet nose of menthol, melted licorice, boysenberry, blueberry, and cassis. A broad wine with compelling purity, a layered texture, and sweet tannin, with hints of coffee and earth in the background, this is by far the best Cheval Blanc since 1990 and before 2009. It is a legend in the making and can actually be drunk now, as the tannins have nearly melted away. This is a beauty with incredibly complex aromatics."

FALSTAFF: "Dunkles Rubingranat, violette Reflexe, zarte Randaufhellung. Mit feinen Nuancen von süßen exotischen Gewürzen unterlegte schwarze Herzkirschenfrucht, ein Hauch von Tabak und Anis, kandierte Orangenzesten unterlegt, facettenreiches Bukett. Stoffig, extraktsüße Textuir, reife Herzkirschen, sehr gut integrierte, präzise und reife Tannine, etwas Nougat, feines Säuregerüst, angenehme salzige Mineralität im Nachhall, verfügt über eindrucksvolle Länge, ein großer Chevy, der seinen ersten Trinkhöhepunkt offensichtlich erst annähernd erreicht hat."

JEB DUNNUCK: "Closed and backward over the past decade, the 2000 Chateau Cheval Blanc seems to have turned the corner and is drinking spectacularly well today, with the hallmark elegance and complexity of this estate front and center. Sweet red and black fruits, spice box, dried flowers, and forest floor notes all develop with time in the glass, and it has a balanced, resolved style on the palate that’s a joy to drink. The 2000 is blend of 53% Merlot and 47% Cabernet Franc, and while mature, it has another two decades or more of prime drinking ahead of it."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Not quite as giving or generous as previous bottles, which is more about this bottle, than the wine, here you find an opulent, rich, luscious wine with all the flowers, herbs, tobacco leaf, black cherry, plum and wet earth you could ask for. Silky and vibrant on the palate, the wine is closing in on maturity, another 5 years should do the trick."

WEINWISSER: "Mittleres Weinrot mit erstem Reifeschimmer. Das Bouquet beginnt zaghaft und braucht erst mal etwas Luft. Doch dann beginnt das sich langsam entwickelnde Nasenbild mit dunklem Caramel, Butter, Kandis, Mocca Jogurt, Irisch Moos, Lebkuchenaromen, Haselnusslikör, roten Kirschen und hellen Edelhölzern. Ein richtig intensiver Reigen mit unglaublichen Aromen mix. Im Gaumen füllig, sublim, aussen schon recht weich, innen noch eine feinsandige Kontur vom noch nicht ganz reifen Cabernet Franc aufzeigend. Die Tannine sind aber hoch fein und die Balance stimmt auch. Mehr Eleganz wie Power. Es ist kein Verbrechen diesen Wein jetzt schon mal zu entkorken. Es ist aber möglicherweise sinnvoller noch ein paar Jahre auf diesen langlebigen Cheval zu warten."

WINE ENTHUSIAST: "In 2000, it seems the Cabernet Franc made Cheval Blanc. It has given a mysterious, wonderful perfume to the intense richness of the Merlot. It has less of the explosive power of Ausone, it is more subtle and elegant, reserving its explosion of richness for the end, when a welter of black fruits seems to go on for ever. "

DECANTER: "Deep to very deep red. Sumptuous aromas of raspberries, blackberries, and menthol, full ripe and perfumed but restrained. The rich attack still shows powerful tannins, and youthful, firm acidity. It's taut and spicy, subtle and complex, with tension on the finish, which is very long."

JANCIS ROBINSON: "Mid crimson. Toasty nose that is very definitely Cheval. Well balanced and quite advanced and very subtle and racy. Very long. Bit of a striptease in terms of the slowness with which it reveals itself – and most of the pleasure is on the finish. Wonderful complexity on the finish. SO long... Bravo!"

JAMES SUCKLING: "A very nice nose of blackberries, dark chocolate, and flowers. Full bodied and smokey, with a meaty, mushroom, tobacco, and berry character. Wonderfully long, long finish to this muscular wine with fine tannins. This is still evolving but needs another five or six years. Find the wine"

WINE SPECTATOR: "A light menthol hint gives way to bay and tobacco leaf notes, which hold steady throughout, while the core of dark currant and fig fruit flavors takes on a warm, macerated, almost hedonistic feel. The finish has a tarry hint but is very polished and refined overall, with finely beaded acidity and a light iron accent. This is so caressing and languid, you almost lose sight of how long it is. Lovely."