One of Bordeaux's most complex terroirs, Château Cheval Blanc sits on the site of an ancient river delta, with clay-rich soils in the lower-lying parts where rivulets once flowed and gravel and sand elsewhere. The vineyards themselves combine roughly equal parts of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the region’s most intellectual grape variety. This complexity is reflected, of course, in the resulting wine but also in how it is farmed and made, with thoughtful use of cover crops according to soil type and parcel-by-parcel vinification. Technical director Pierre-Olivier Clouet and his team are making a concerted effort to bring biodiversity back to the vineyard, with hedges of native species to act as wildlife corridors and fruit trees planted among the vines, initiatives that are distilled in the estate’s fascinating 85-page manifesto on agroecology. The same attention to detail that's applied in the vineyards—for example, with regard to developing and testing an in-house massal selection—is brought to the cellar, where cooperage trials are notable for their exigence. All of that shows in the glass, delivering one of contemporary Bordeaux’s most compelling wines, a Saint-Émilion that delivers sensuality and complexity in equal measure.