Château Cheval Blanc

Château Cheval Blanc (French for "White Horse Castle"), is a wine producer in Saint-Émilion in the Bordeaux wine region of France. Its wine held the highest rank of Premier Grand Cru Classé (A) status in the Classification of Saint-Émilion wine from 1955 until it withdrew from the classification in 2021.[1] It is one of five wine-producing châteaux of right bank Bordeaux awarded First Growth status.

History

In 1832, Château Figeac sold 15 ha to M. Laussac-Fourcaud, including part of the narrow gravel ridge that runs through Figeac and neighboring vineyards and reaches Château Pétrus just over the border in Pomerol. This became Château Cheval Blanc which, in the International London and Paris Exhibitions in 1862 and 1867, won medals still prominent on its labels.

The château remained in the family until 1998, when it was sold to Bernard Arnault, chairman of luxury goods group LVMH, and Belgian businessman Albert Frère, with Pierre Lurton installed as estate manager, a constellation similar to that of the group's other chief property Château d'Yquem. LVMH acquired Arnault's share in 2009.[2]

Vineyard

The vineyard is considered to have three qualities: one third Pomerol as it is located on the boundary, one third Graves as the soil is gravelly, and the remaining third typical Saint-Émilion.[3] The vineyard area is spread over 41 ha, with 37 ha planted with a composition of grape varieties of 57% Cabernet Franc, 40% Merlot, and small parcels of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon. The average annual production is 6000 cases of the Grand vin and 2500 cases of the second wine, Le Petit Cheval.[4]

Controversy

The manager of Château Cheval Blanc, Jacques Hebrard, was outraged at the evaluation of his 1981 vintage barrel samples made by influential wine critic Robert Parker and asked him to re-taste. Upon arriving, Parker was attacked by Hebrard's dog as the manager stood by and watched. When Parker asked for a bandage to stop the bleeding from his leg, Parker says Hebrard instead gave him a copy of the offending newsletter. Hebrard denies that Parker was bleeding.

However, Parker did retaste the wine and found it significantly changed from his previous evaluation; he therefore gave the wine an updated evaluation in a later issue of his publication The Wine Advocate.[5]

In popular culture

The Rumpole of the Bailey Series 4 episode "Rumpole and the Blind Tasting" deals with a large shipment of Château Cheval Blanc found in the garage of a minor South London fence, a regular client of Rumpole's, with the fence claiming he had no idea how it got there. The wine later proved not to be Château Cheval Blanc but rather cheap plonk in used Château Cheval Blanc bottles, as part of a scheme to commit insurance fraud; the bottles were shown to have been planted in the fence's garage by the wine merchant who owned the bottles, with the intent of reporting the bottles as stolen in order to claim the large insurance payment from the total loss of the wine.

The film Sideways features the Cheval Blanc 1961 vintage as a plot element, despite the main character's stated aversion to Merlot and dismissive statements about Cabernet Franc.

Sean Connery drinks Château Cheval Blanc in the 1983 James Bond movie Never Say Never Again.[6]

In the 1990s film Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult, after Frank is thrown in prison, he starts a prison riot in the cafeteria with a rousing speech complaining about the prisoners' accommodations, including, "This Chateau LeBlanc '68 is supposed to be served slightly chilled! This is room temperature!" The filmmakers slightly altered the name of the wine, fearing its owners would not want their product used in a spoof film.

External links

• Château Cheval Blanc official site
• "The Greatest Wine on the Planet"—Slate (13 February 2008)