The 1999 Château Cheval Blanc is a refined and elegant wine, blending 61% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon. It showcases a deep ruby color and complex aromas of ripe black fruits, crème de cassis, chocolate, and subtle oak. The palate is smooth, velvety, and full of flavor, with a fresh finish and a touch of cedar. This vintage is at its peak, offering great length and charm, with tertiary notes of truffle and forest floor. It's a beautifully balanced and pleasurable wine, ideal for drinking now.

The Wine Advocate | RP 93
Published: Apr 30, 2002
Drink: 2006-2022

The complex, explosively fragrant 1999 Cheval Blanc is a blend of 59% Merlot and 41% Cabernet Franc. It is already showing well, which is a good sign for a wine that traditionally is reserved early in life, but puts on weight and richness in the bottle. Stylistically, this wine is probably cut from the same mold as vintages such as 1985, 1966, and 1962. The color is a dense ruby with purple nuances. Once past the blockbuster bouquet of menthol, leather, black fruits, licorice, and mocha, the wine reveals medium body, extraordinary elegance, purity, and sweet, harmonious flavors with no hard edges. This is a seamless beauty of finesse, charm, and concentration. The 1999 is an exciting Cheval Blanc to drink relatively young. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2022.

Jancisrobinson.com | JR 18
Published: Sep 18, 2009
Drink: 2010-2025

Spicy, vegy nose with great, top-quality density and balance. Pretty smart without being too concentrated or sweet. Very fresh and vibrant. Good wine!

Chateau-cheval-blanc.com

Since it won its first medal, still featured on its labels, at the Universal Exhibition of London in 1862, Château Cheval Blanc has maintained its place as one of the world’s greatest wines. Its grace, alchemy and elegance are the incarnation of refined French culture, of unparalleled quality.

Château Cheval Blanc has been situated in the commune of Saint-Emilion for 200 years. It covers 39.5 hectares divided into 55 plots, each of which is different and unique. Each plot has its own characteristics according to its age, size and, in particular, its soil and grape variety. Each plot is vinified separately so that it can express its individuality fully before blending and so that it can contribute to the overall coherence of each vintage.

Château Cheval Blanc has always been managed with longevity in mind: all the particularities of this legendary Bordeaux have been preserved throughout the years – its terroir, grape varieties and style – whilst its qualities continue to become more refined and assertive.  Thanks to the mineral and vegetal heritage and increasingly rigorous know-how, Château Cheval Blanc has made a place for itself on the most prestigious tables across the globe for over a century and a half.

1999 TASTING
This was a warm, but not a dry year, with generous yields. The wines are delicious and opened up quite early although they continue to provide a great deal of pleasure.

This was a warm year, but one without any drought periods. Yields were relatively high and there was a great synergy between merlot and cabernet franc that ended up producing an extremely pleasurable wine. The deep intense colour shows bricking in keeping with its age. The nose is concentrated with very ripe black fruit and crème de cassis aromas, as well as hints of chocolate, orange, violet, and liquorice. The oak is well-integrated with empyreumatic nuances of toasted almonds. Perfectly defined tertiary aromas have appeared over time: truffle, forest floor, and fruit in brandy. 1999 Cheval Blanc has remained very fresh. It starts out very flavoursome and velvety on the palate, with plenty of fruit and a hint of cedar. This smooth, silky Cheval Blanc has great length, although without the concentration of great vintages. This vintage has opened up quickly and is already proving to be charming and delicious. It provides a great deal of pleasure and has reached its peak. 1999 Cheval Blanc epitomises the synergy between concentrated, but well-balanced merlot, and elegant, aromatic cabernet franc.

Weather conditions
The winter of 1999 was mild, with just about average rainfall. This was also a warm year, making for early phenolic maturity. Summer precipitation was close to average, and showers were spread out evenly. September was warm and wet. 
In order to grow well, the vine needs for water stress to set in slowly so the grapes to ripen well and become concentrated. On the whole, rainfall was fairly regular this year. However, the high temperatures caused significant evaporation, despite the lack of any one extremely dry period. Moderately strong water stress set in starting in early September. 

Blending
Merlot  61 % Cabernet Franc  38 % Cabernet Sauvignon  1 %