2025 Chateau Cheval Blanc Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classe 750 ml

Château Cheval Blanc is one of Bordeaux’s most revered estates, a Premier Grand Cru Classé “A” that consistently produces some of the most sought-after wines on the planet. The 2025 vintage presented extreme conditions: a historic hydric deficit, record-breaking concentration, and yields so low that it takes two kilograms of fruit to produce a single liter of wine.

Wine Advocate calls the 2025 “one of the great Cheval Blancs of the decade”—and backed that up with a score of 98–100 points, tying it as the highest-scoring wine of the vintage in Bordeaux. Reviewer William Kelley describes striking aromatic complexity—dark berries and cherries, blood orange, iris—full-bodied, layered, and concentrated, with sweet tannins and a long, violet-inflected finish. At just 12.7% alcohol with resolutely classical proportions, it’s the kind of Cheval Blanc that collectors plan their cellars around.

Walking the hallowed terroir of Château Cheval Blanc, witnessing manager Pierre Lurton’s unrelenting commitment to perfection, is awe-inspiring. The winery is lined with graceful custom-made vats, one for each vineyard block. The barrel cellar is not only exquisite, but small, compared to the First Growths of Pauillac and Margaux—Cheval Blanc produces about a third as much as Lafite. Considering the estate’s worldwide reputation, it can come as a surprise to know how little Cheval Blanc there actually is to go around.

Cheval Blanc’s Merlot and Cabernet Franc grapes hail from three main soils on the property: fine-textured clay—similar to Petrus—and both fine and large gravel. There isn’t much gravel in Saint-Émilion, a soil more common in the Left Bank. It is the reason for the higher portion of Cabernet Franc than other Saint-Émilion properties. Gravel retains more heat, allowing Cabernet Franc to ripen reliably every year. Most of the rest of the appellation sits on limestone, clay, or sandy loam.