Press

Cheval Blanc

Cheval Blanc launches a white wine after eight years of experience.

Jane Anson

14 septembre 2016

Château Cheval Blanc will release its first white wine later this month, after nearly a decade of trials at the highly regarded Bordeaux estate. Jane Anson tasted it…Cheval Blanc: How it came aboutThe vines come from parcels that were previously in Château La Tour du Pin Figeac (Moueix).Cheval Blanc’s co-owners, luxury group LVMH and Albert Frère, bought the vines in 2006 after La Tour du Pin Figeac lost its ranking in St-Emilion. Experiments with a small area of white wine began in 2008.At the last St-Emilion reclassification in 2012, 1.38 hectares of the vineyard were redesigned to be included in the footprint of Château Cheval Blanc itself. This left 6.5 hectares for the white wine plan. Cheval Blanc replanted parts of the vineyard and grafted others, allowing some plants to be up to 40 years old in terms of rootstock. 80% of the vineyard is Sauvignon Blanc and 20% Semillon. The estate plans to add Semillon to the wine from the 2018 vintage.’We spent several years understanding what the terroir would give us and testing everything from clones to yeast strains for winemaking,’ Cheval Blanc technical director Pierre-Olivier Clouet told Decanter.com. ‘It’s very important to us that this is a classic white Bordeaux, which tastes more of our terroir than any overtly varietal flavour.

‘decanter.com/author/janeanson