Château Cheval Blanc: Wines
Starting with the red wine, the fruit is harvested typically at 35 hl/ha, the yields controlled, in part at least, by a green harvest during the summer. There is rigorous selection both in the vineyard and winery, both before and after destemming. The sorting relies on traditional use of hand and eye, over sorting tables in many cases, as there is a belief here that this process is more delicate than newer methods relying on technology. Even so, optical sorting is an option should Pierre Lurton and Pierre-Olivier Clouet (pictured) feel it is likely to be of benefit.
The fruit then undergoes alcoholic fermentation in all or a selection of the 52 concrete vats, with each vineyard plot vinified separately in its own dedicated vessel. The vats thus vary in size, the volumes based on figures across ten vintages before the new cellars were built. Each is labelled according to the plot in question (some examples of these labelling plates can be seen below). There is thus an evolving relationship between vineyard and vat, each plot of vines tending to go into the same vat every year, although this is of course subject to change should the nature of the vintage demand it.
The extraction is gentle, the preservation of the quality of the tannins being the prime aim. The fruit is then pressed, and the free-run and press wine run off into 100% new oak barrels for malolactic fermentation and the first stage of the élevage. An indicator of the attention to detail at modern-day Cheval Blanc comes with barrel selection.
