92-94 Points | International Wine Cellar , April 2012

(a blend of 52% cabernet franc and 49% merlot):  Bright ruby.  Highly perfumed, knockout nose of strawberry, white pepper and flowers.  Bright and fresh in the mouth yet delineated and firmly structured, with a seamless quality to its red berry, floral and mineral flavors.  This oozes class and grace, finishing long and suave, with very smooth tannins.  Though this 2011 is less structured and powerful than the 2010 version, when Cheval Blanc gets the cabernet franc as it did in 2011, it's simply one of the world's greatest wines.  But chief viticulturalist and winemaker Kees Van Leeuwen told me that 2011 wasn't a walk in the park:  among the estate's many parcels, some had grilled berries and there was huge disparity in the ripening curve between parcels (some were extremely early and others late), leading to a harvest that lasted 23 days, the longest here in memory (normally it lasts 14 to 18 days). 

94-96 Points | Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate