Château Cheval Blanc 2015

Château Cheval Blanc

2015 was hot and dry at the beginning of the year and then cool during the ripening season. Due to the exceptional quality of the harvest throughout, there was no Petit Cheval produced in this vintage. The 2015 vintage wines are beautifully balanced and harmonious.

2015 was hot and dry at the beginning of the year and then cool during the ripening season. Due to the exceptional quality of the harvest throughout, there was no Petit Cheval produced in this vintage. The 2015 vintage wines are beautifully balanced and harmonious.

Weather conditions and vine’s growing cycle

Temperatures and rainfall

The temperature and rainfall were fairly normal for the first three months of the year. The remainder of 2015 was particularly dry, with the exception of a rainy spell during the first fortnight of August. Total rainfall for the year was 535 mm, the second lowest recorded in the past twenty years, with lower levels of 501mm recorded in 2005 only. Between April and August, temperatures were well above normal. September and October were dry and mainly cool. Throughout most of the harvest, the weather was dry apart from some quite heavy rainfall on 2 October.

2015 : TEMPERATURES AND RAINFALL COMPARED WITH NORMAL VALUES IN SAINT-EMILION

Water balance

2015 was a very dry year apart from a rainy spell during the first fortnight of August. Nevertheless, the vineyards coped well with the lack of water. The dry conditions settled in slowly during the first part of the season giving the vines time to adapt. At the beginning of August, the lack of water hit hard, particularly in areas with gravelly soils. The measure of the hydric stress by the hydric foliar potential gave daytime stalk measures of -16 bar. Fortunately, the rain during August prevented excessive hydric stress which could have been harmful to the young vines on gravelly soils. From 15 August, a return to dry conditions caused water levels to drop dramatically again and they remained in deficit through to the beginning of October. Using the hydric balance measured on 30 September, if we order the vintages from the driest to the wettest starting in 1952, 2015 ranks second out of 64 vintages in total.

2015 WATER BALANCE

Growing season

In 2015, the bud burst was the latest recorded at Cheval Blanc for 25 years. Thanks to warm and dry weather between April and July, the cycle caught up and flowering was quick and homogenous. The grapes then ripened on time. The unusual water regime in 2015 sped up the maturation process, especially in areas with gravelly soils. The water stress at the beginning of the season stopped the growth of the vines particularly early, as early as the end of June in some plots, resulting in smaller than usual berries. Rain in August set off the process of photosynthesis straight after the ripening period when the berries should have been plumping up. The maturation process was extremely fast in areas with gravel soils thanks to a combination of factors; a halt in the growth of the vines, low berry yields and high sugar levels due to photosynthesis. One plot of Merlot was harvested as early as 3 September, just 31 days after ripening. In plots with different soil structures, the maturation process was as usual and the period between ripening and harvest in keeping with the norm. Taking this into account, together with particularly favourable climatic conditions throughout September (cool and dry), the harvest extended through to 6 October (33 days). This was a record at Cheval Blanc.  Several plots of Merlot on sandy soils were harvested later than those planted with Cabernet Franc on gravel soils. The beginning of the season was marked by an unusual proliferation of black rot. Spots of mildew appeared with the rains at the beginning of August, although they dried up quickly at the end of the month. Thanks to the generally dry conditions, however, the incidence of fungal disease was low throughout the season. There was very little evidence of botrytis during the harvesting period.

Features of the vintage

Ripening and yields

The growth in the vineyards was as it should be and the conditions for flowering were fairly good. Although the berries themselves were of average weight, the yield of both grape varieties was greatly inferior to usual. Water stress early on in the cycle resulted in smaller than usual size berries for the Merlot. The rain in August had an even greater impact on the weight of the Cabernet Franc berries which tend to ripen later in the season. The excellent conditions for maturation were reflected in the composition of the matured grape must. The grapes were rich in sugar and poor in malic acid. As was the case in 2011, the average readings of the Cabernet Franc were slightly above those of the Merlot. Nevertheless, thanks to the cool conditions at the end of the season, the pH levels were much lower than normal upon vatting and the grapes maintained their fresh aromas. The phenolic composition of the grapes was average. The grapes had low levels of nitrogen, particularly the Merlot. This doesn’t affect the quality, but nitrogen had to be added to the vats to ensure the stable fermentation process of the must. 2015 was a dry year punctuated by rain during the ripening period. The start of the year was warm, followed by cooler temperatures during the period of maturation. These climatic conditions helped the process of maturation. The 2015 vintage wines are particularly balanced and harmonious.

Cellar work

In 2015, the wines were vinified along classic lines. Four vats containing grapes from sandy soils were bled by 15%, bringing the overall average percentage of bleeding for the entire harvest to a very low 1.6%.

Blending

2015 CHÂTEAU CHEVAL BLANC BLENDING
PLOTS COMPOSING 2015 CHEVAL BLANC
2015 PROPORTION OF THE DIFFERENT WINES, CHEVAL BLANC, PETIT CHEVAL & THIRD WINE
ALL 2015 CHATEAU CHEVAL BLANC BOTTLE SIZES

Tasting

Deep, shiny, ruby red colour with violet hints. The nose is extraordinarily intense. A medley of fruit, flowers, spices and balsamic notes combines with a marked freshness resulting in a bouquet of rare complexity. The initial aromas are dominated by red fruits, raspberry, blackcurrant crush and subtle floral notes of lily and violet. A powerful, rich attack develops into a dense mid-palate enveloped in precise, clean, elegant, distinguished and persistent tannins. This wine is rich and full-bodied with an extremely long finish. Power, elegance and distinction combine to create a perfectly harmonious wine.
Tastings
01/03/2016

Deep, shiny, ruby red colour with violet hints. The nose is extraordinarily intense. A medley of fruit, flowers, spices and balsamic notes combines with a marked freshness resulting in a bouquet of rare complexity. The initial aromas are dominated by red fruits, raspberry, blackcurrant crush and subtle floral notes of lily and violet. A powerful, rich attack develops into a dense mid-palate enveloped in precise, clean, elegant, distinguished and persistent tannins. This wine is rich and full-bodied with an extremely long finish. Power, elegance and distinction combine to create a perfectly harmonious wine.