2012 Chateau Cheval Blanc Le Petit Cheval
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Tasting notes
The 2012 Petit Cheval has the wine’s highest ever proportion of Cabernet Franc. Small dark red berries on the nose with ethereal cherry notes. This is a medium-bodied wine that simply mounts and mounts in the glass, with warm hints of vanilla and a sweet eucalyptus note on the finish.
Critic scores
Robert Parker
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
The 2012 Petit Cheval has a very alcoholic nose with a touch of oxidation, lacking freshness with fungal notes usurping any fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly drying tannin and modest weight, a little dry and austere towards the finish. I would drink this sooner rather than later. Tasted blind at the Southwold Ten-Year On tasting.
Tasted blind. Hint of fur and oxidation on the nose. Fruit on the way out. (JR)
Tasted blind at the Southwold Bordeaux tasting. The 2012 Le Petit Cheval has a low-key nose that might be lost in the crowd of its more ostentatious peers, but it is well-defined with beautifully integrated oak, briary and graphite aromas developing with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp tannin, a keen line of acidity and an almost Left Bank finish that deserves a round of applause. Under blind conditions, I was not the only one to give this one of my most positive comments against the "big boys." Not to be underestimated. Tasted January 2016.