Château Cheval Blanc

Bordeaux, France

Known throughout the world, Château Cheval Blanc, Premier Grand Cru Classé A, is one of the legendary properties of the Right Bank of the Bordeaux region. Cheval Blanc benefits from a unique and rare terroir, enjoying a special position on the Saint-Emilion plateau. While the Saint-Emilion appellation is known for its limestone formations, Cheval Blanc is located on the Quaternary alluvium of the Isle, a non-calcareous formation with a varied texture, combining gravel and clay soils in roughly equal proportions. This particularity of the soils makes Cheval Blanc benefit from soils similar to those of the greatest Pomerol Grands Crus.

The existence of vines at Château Cheval Blanc is attested to by ancient writings dating from the 15th century. The property entered a new era in 1832 when Jean-Jacques Ducasse, President of the Court of Libourne, acquired the estate and created it by purchasing parcels of land attached to Château Figeac. The union of Henriette Ducasse, Jean-Jacques Ducasse's daughter, with Jean Laussac-Fourcaud, a wine merchant in Libourne, marked the beginning of a major modernization of the estate's structure, building a network of walled and covered drains. He will lead a real revolution in the domain by taking a decision that will define the singularity of the grape variety of Cheval Blanc associating 50% Merlot, the grape variety of the Right Bank par excellence and 50% Cabernet Franc & Cabernet Sauvignon. The "old wine of Figeac" was then marketed under the name of Cheval Blanc in 1852. After a first gold medal obtained at the Universal Exhibition of Paris in 1878, the wine of Château Cheval Blanc will obtain the supreme recognition at the time of the First Classification of the wines of Saint-Emilion in 1954 as First Grand Cru Classé A.