Very perfumy, with lovely red and black fruit that's pure and refined. There's a creamy feel, with hints of bergamot, cassis and toasted spice. Long and very suave through the finish. Well put together.

This has sweet and soft tannins, with a smoky flavor that lingers on the ripe, opulent finish. Its initial richness suggests it could almost be consumed now, until you taste the massively-structured finish.

Medium to deep garnet in color, the 2011 Cheval Blanc features a nose of warm mulberries, preserved plums and figs with suggestions of dried herbs, dusty soil and underbrush plus a touch of Sichuan pepper. Medium to full-bodied, taut and muscular in the mouth, it has a solid frame of chewy tannins supporting the restrained fruit and a long earth and Provence herbs-layered finish.

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).