Le Petit Cheval 2020 (750ML)

95 JS / 95 DE / 94 JD / 94 VM / 93 DE / 93 WE / 93 WI / 16.5 JR

The quality of the tannin is impressive in this second wine, with lovely aromas and flavors of currants, berries and cherries with some chocolate and walnut. Medium body. Racy and fine. 59% cabernet franc and 41% merlot. Give it three to five years to come completely together, but already very beautiful.-James Suckling

Cola, liquorice and ripe blueberries on the nose - perfumed, heady and expressive. So delicious on the palate, smooth and driving with excellent energy - a youthful tension to the mid-palate. Sleek and stylish with a gorgeous texture, perfectly weighted to give a mouthfilling expression yet keeping a refined and focused delivery of black fruit, liquorice and floral flavours. Impressive and supremely pleasurable - this makes you want a glass immediately. Spicy, and perfumed because of the Cabernet Franc but all the better for it with 59% Cabernet Franc and 41% Merlot.-Georgina Hindle, Decanter

I wrote in my note on the 2020 Château Cheval Blanc Le Petit Cheval that this is "one hell of a second wine," and it has a kiss of the elegance and complexity found in the top cuvée. Black fruits, roasted herbs, graphite, and scorched earth notes all emerge from this ruby/purple-hued beauty, which has medium to full-bodied richness, ripe, polished tannins, and a great finish. It will drink nicely for 15+ years.-Jeb Dunnuck

The 2020 Le Petit Cheval is stunning. Rich, deep and expansive, the Petit Cheval is outrageously good. In fact, it could easily be mistaken for a Cheval Blanc from anything less than a great vintage. The aromatics are alluring and the balance is sublime; all that really identifies this as a second wine is a bit of mid-palate depth. Sweet floral and spice accents extend the effortless, gracious finish.-Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

A huge amount of density and grip, the tannins close in from the first moment and it needs some time to get past the intense cocoa bean, liquorice and cassis fruit, but as it opens up you get a generous serving of peony, iris and violet. The focus is very much on what the Cabernet Franc is giving at this point, and this is a serious Petit Cheval. 12% of overall production because the dry summer was tough on the young vines on gravel (with 71% going to the main estate wine and 17% not bottled under the estate name). 3.7pH.  Drinking Window 2025 - 2038 - Jane Anson, Decanter

This second wine shows so many of the rich, dense qualities of the top wine. Bold black fruits are sustained by serious tannins and a dry core. It will age well. Drink from 2026. — Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast

A blend of 59% Cabernet Franc and 41% Merlot, the 2020 Le Petit Cheval has a pH of 3.6 and a deep garnet-purple color. It swans out of the glass with showy scents of crushed redcurrants, blackberry preserves, and kirsch, followed by suggestions of lavender, cedar chest, menthol, and fallen leaves. The medium to full-bodied palate has a firm backbone of chewy tannins, with seamless freshness to support the tight-knit red and black fruit layers, finishing on a lingering mineral note.-Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Independent

Tasted blind. Black core. Dark-fruited and oaky/charry on the nose. Smells dense and on the palate, it proves to be so. Savoury and charry, the fruit well hidden by the tannins and the oak. A savoury wine with a suggestion of greater elegance to come.-Julia Harding MW, JancisRobinson