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Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2015 Cheval Blanc is still incredibly primary at this very youthful stage. With coaxing, it unfurls to reveal beguiling notions of ripe black cherries, mulberries, licorice, baking spices and smoked meats with touches of incense and potpourri plus wafts of cast iron pan and crushed rocks. Full-bodied, very rich, very firm/taut and with very ripe, fine-grained tannins, it allows a glimpse at its incredible depth of flavors with a very long multi-layered finish. Wow.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RPMade with 45% Cabernet Franc, this great wine offers a beautiful, rich and perfumed character. It was an exceptional vintage for the estate, which incorporated fruit from parcels of the vineyard that would normally be used for the chateau’s second wine into this blend. It is packed with black-fruit flavors and broad tannins, with a background of juicy acidity and a firm structure. Drink from 2027.Wine Enthusiast | 100 WEPhenomenal aromas of cherries, flowers, blackberries and sandalwood. Pure fruit. Full-bodied, dense and polished with incredible tannin quality like the finest, densest silk ball. In perfect proportions. Compact. Seamless and endless. Gorgeous to taste now but give it six or seven years to understand it better.James Suckling | 99 JSA lovely sanguine hint leads off, followed by racy, elegant juniper, tobacco, red currant and damson plum notes that move in unison. Broadens and deepens, adding notes of currant preserves, warm ganache and smoldering tobacco, with a swath of loamy structure. Yet even as the bass line increases in volume through the finish, this maintains purity and poise. Should deliver some stunning aromatics at peak, which will take awhile to achieve. Best from 2025 through 2045. 8,250 cases made.Wine Spectator | 98 WSI continue to absolutely love the 2015 Chateau Cheval Blanc. It’s one of those powerful, sexy, yet also weightless and elegant wines that’s going to drink well all its life. Checking in as a blend of 55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet Franc brought up in new barrels, it offers a kaleidoscope of aromas and flavors led by beautiful sweet fruits as well as incredible floral, spice, and graphite nuances. It’s full-bodied, with a rich, rounded, opulent texture, sweet tannins, and a blockbuster finish. As with a lot of 2015s, it has the sweetness of fruit and ripe tannin that allows it to drink well today, but it’s going to be very long-lived and have 3-4 decades of prime drinking.Jeb Dunnuck | 98 JDLovely perfumed fruit on the palate, this has well integrated tannins that have a soft gentle mouth coating texture, with excellent juicy appeal straight away. Really quite herbal here, lots of mint and eucalyptus with tons of liquorice and some mint chocolate. Like the 2016, everything is so well balanced, just giving you hints of different elements. Here it is the cool blue fruit, liquorice and mint. So well executed, defined, precise and svelte. It is mouthfulling too though, you know this is a big wine with plenty of power and structure but so supple and agile. Excellent precision. Still super young and a bit shy, it’s not giving away all its secrets right now but you’d never guess this was from a warm, ripe vintage such is the freshness. Such class on show. (Drink between 2027-2050)Decanter | 97 DECTotally seamless in the glass, with no beginning and no end, the 2015 Cheval Blanc is simply extraordinary. It’s hard to describe the 2015, because all of its elements are so perfectly in place. Beautifully delineated aromatics make a strong opening statement. Vibrant and wonderfully nuanced on the palate, the wine exudes energy and vitality through to the persistent, silky finish. Many other 2015s speak with more assertiveness and volume, but Cheval Blanc is more understsated. In 2015, Cheval Blanc created quite a stir in announcing that a whopping 91% of their crop would be bottled as Grand Vin. There will be no Petit Cheval, while the rest of the wine was sold internally. Antonio Galloni | 96+ VM

Showing even better now than on release, the 2015 Château Clos de Sarpe might be one of the greatest wines to ever emerge from this tiny vineyard just outside of Saint Emilion. Dense purple/plum-hued, with an enormous bouquet of blueberries, blackberries, white truffles, violets, and spring flowers, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, an incredible sense of opulence, and silky, polished tannins. It’s absorbed just about every trace of its oak élevage, and while it’s an incredible drink today, it’s going to evolve for 30+ years or more.Jeb Dunnuck | 97+ JDThe 2015 Clos de Sarpe boasts off-the-charts richness. Full-throttle and unapologetically opulent, Clos de Sarpe is probably the most exotic of the more modern, sumptuous Saint-Émilions. Super-ripe black cherry, chocolate, leather, spice and new French oak are all pushed forward. Ripeness and unctuousness are taken to the edge in this exotic beauty.Vinous Media | 95 VMDeep garnet-purple colored, the 2015 Clos de Sarpe gives up gorgeous blackberry, black cherries and warm plums notes with sparks of redcurrants and anise with a potpourri, tilled soil and bay leaves undercurrent. Full-bodied and packed with spicy energy in the mouth, it has a firm yet plush texture and fantastic freshness, finishing on a lingering earthy note.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RPA riper expression with aromas of tea, plum cake and dark spiced raisins. The palate has the same tendency to riper fruit with plum paste. Essence-like. Chewy tannins. Try from 2022.James Suckling | 93 JSThis sports a juicy, enticing feel, with good energy to the mix of raspberry and blackberry compote flavors. Singed cedar, tobacco and ganache notes fill in through the finish. Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2019 through 2024. 900 cases made, 250 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

Super rich baking spices across ripe dark plums in a very suave and attractively styled nose. The palate has incredible depth and succulently seductive, fleshy plum flavors. Wow. Try from 2022.James Suckling | 96 JSThe 2015 Château Fleur Cardinale is beauty in the vintage and checks in as a blend of 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon brought up all in new oak. Offering sensational notes of black cherries and currant fruits, toasty oak, graphite, and licorice, it’s medium to full-bodied, concentrated, and gorgeously pure and elegant on the palate. It has fine tannin emerging on the finish and is made in a straight, structured, classic style. Give bottles a year to two and it should drink beautifully over the following 15+. I was able to taste this wine three separate times and, surprisingly, it showed best from a bottle purchased here in the US. It has the purity of fruit that’s the hallmark of the vintage and is a gem readers should seek out. This wine is an exclusive of American Jeffrey Davies.Jeb Dunnuck | 94 JD