This being my birthday month was a good enough excuse to do a nice vertical of mature Cheval Blanc, a wine I have tasted a few times in the past but never a range all in one day. I wondered if I could detect a distinct Cheval Blanc signature across the vintages, including many of the ones I expected to perform well.
1996 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Rosé Brut - France, Champagne
Still a bit young, the acids have the upper hand yet the primary fruit has faded slightly. A deeply colored rosé with lots of orange and gold. Lightly aromatic of strawberry and orange peel, lively fruit. Very nice but somewhat awkward. (91 pts.)
1998 Château Cheval Blanc - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Young and tannic as expected but the tannins are ripe in this excellent vintage on the Rive Gauche. Showing a lot of its Cabernet Franc, leafy and meaty. Tight but very promising. Cheval Blanc takes a lot of time to come around. (93 pts.)
1990 Château Cheval Blanc - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Wow, this is a stunner and most surely be one of the most successful wines of the vintage. The floral fragrance is truly sensational. It’s still youthful, perhaps perched on the edge of secondary development. Unusual combination of meaty fruit and peppermint. No hint of any roasted grapes. Excellent length and miles to go. (94 pts.)
1983 Château Cheval Blanc - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
A much different expression of Cheval Blanc than the other wines in the series, the ‘83 was wild and feral. As soon as I took a sniff and sip, I fleetingly thought of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. After a few minutes it settled down to become the mature St. Émilion it is. More minerals than most, more of earth and stems than tree or bush fruit. I wonder if this bottle is representative. (91 pts.)
1982 Château Cheval Blanc - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
To me, disappointing, although not to the owner, who thought it was great. Mature color, less saturated than some of the older vintages on display. There’s a lot of depth here but an absence of energy, sucrosity and ripeness I have found in previous bottles of this wine. Old for an ‘82, well into its secondaries. It’s somewhat enjoyable but this bottle is not what it should be. (89 pts.)
1971 Château Cheval Blanc - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
I like this vintage of Cheval Blanc for its filigree tannins and its remarkable complexity. It’s balanced on the head of a pin, as if just a touch more acidity or tannin would cause it to fall off the cliff. There’s some modestly ripe fruit in there for sure. Catch it now before it expires. (91 pts.)
1966 Château Cheval Blanc - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
This is the best corked wine I have ever tasted. When first opened, it gave off a lovely delicate fragrance so I double decanted it with confidence. At the restaurant it gradually became obvious it was TCA affected although unusually, it improved slightly with oxygen to the point where it was (almost) drinkable. NR (flawed)
1964 Château Cheval Blanc - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
A stunning bottle of ‘64 Cheval Blanc, but since it was recorked in 1996, it’s impossible to tell how much of its amazingly youthful exuberance might be due to topping up with a younger version. Of course it’s possible it was topped off with more ‘64, but impossible to tell. Once I put my skepticism aside, I enjoyed it immensely for its gorgeous plum and black cherry fruit and fabulous natural sweetness. Super fruity yet the structure is there to support it. Whatever they did in 1996, it worked. Still, I’d like to taste a non-recorked version to compare to it. (95 pts.)
1949 Château Cheval Blanc - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
A recent purchase, level mid shoulder. It looks genuine. Upon removing the capsule, it revealed that the cork had fallen into the bottle. The liquid was brown. Powerful aroma of oxidized apple and cognac. I summoned up my courage and took a sip. It’s actually pretty good - for a mild cognac. Surprisingly, almost half the bottle was gone by the end of the night, so my guests were either very curious or just liked it anyway. NR (flawed)
1947 Château Cheval Blanc - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
From a bottle I purchased almost 30 years ago, allegedly from a cold British cellar, very top shoulder level. Expectations for a legend like this are practically impossible to meet, especially with the anticipation building up the last few months I have been planning this Cheval Blanc wine dinner. The cork rose from the bottle easily in one piece due to the magic Durand. The color is shocking, still red, barely orange at the meniscus. Oh, no, could this be a Rudy or Hardy fake? No, by the time we finished the bottle, everyone agreed it was real. Gorgeous bouquet of plum, rose and red licorice. On the palate, the flavors echo the scents with an intriguing hint of mint and prune. It’s still quite sweet, if slightly less so than 20 years ago, and less flamboyant as well, but just as intriguing. To top off this amazing experience is the silky texture and ineffable complexity. Held up fine for a couple of hours until we could resist no more and drained the rest of the bottle. Breathtaking and perfect, a memory of a lifetime. (100 pts.)
1967 Château d'Yquem - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Another splendid Yquem, this ‘67 found the “sweet” spot between the top heavy hyper-luscious and the lighter more delicate styles of some vintages. The pretty orange tint presages the medium full texture. Botrytis notes are subsumed in the tangerine and slightly spicy fruit. Sugar is high and the acids are just adequate for proper balance. It seemed to get richer and sweeter as it sat in the glass. Really, really good but short of sublime as this vintage can sometimes be. (95 pts.)
Obviously, the wines varied tremendously from corked to bad to pretty good to excellent to monumental. If there’s a definite taste unique to Cheval Blanc, it eluded me. Nevertheless, a fun and educational experience for all.
Stu
Last edited by sdr on Sat Feb 23, 2019 8:52 pm, edited 3 times in total.
I'm glad for you, Stu. And I'm glad for us, we get to live vicariously through these amazing notes on these amazing wines. The '47 Cheval Blanc!!! OMG.
It's different/impersonal/abstract when it's some critic writing about a unicorn wine like the '47. We haven't met (most) of those critics and we certainly don't consider them friends and we can't imagine some of the venues where they might be enjoying the wine, so thinking about this wine via your experience brings me as close to drinking it as any note ever could. Thanks.
Thanks for sharing sdr. And happy b day to you. I have my youngest kid, Béatrice, who hits her 6 years old on the 21st. I like the birthday of my kids, also of my friends!
What a range of Cheval! And a genuine 1947, the dream of many Bordeaux lovers. The 1990 looks young but great too.
I did not had Cheval often. A 1982 with JScott in Cincinnati around 2007, was great, but still very young. The 1975 magnum we had in Bordeaux, in 2015, was in a very great place too.
I need to go back to Southern Florida in 2019, maybe for a Cheval ride?
Nic
Last edited by Nicklasss on Sat Feb 23, 2019 3:30 am, edited 2 times in total.
Well done Stu.What an amazing way to celebrate a birthday hopefully with a few friends!! The 47 truly sounds like a lifetime experience but the botoxed 64 didn't seem like a slouch either. How can you go wrong with 67 Yquem? Belated happy birthday to someone enjoying a Bordeaux dream in south Florida.
A 47 Cheval Blanc that was probably the real thing. Good thing you bought it 30 years ago as I'll bet 90% of the current market are fakes.
I think you brought a 1964 Cheval Blanc to my place in SF in 2003, and it was fantastic. I don't remember a discussion of it being recorked at the time, so I think you've had a non-restored one. I been lucky enough to have the 64 CB more than once, and always courtesy of folks on BWE (thanks Tim!)
When I was in London last April, Ian served an 82 Cheval Blanc single-blind against a few other 82s (including a brilliant bottle of the Branaire Ducru). The CB was a towering, powerful, youthful stunner in a total different gear than the other 82s, based on that showing it will easily be a 50+ year wine. I was thoroughly enamored with it as it shows now but there was no doubt it’s best days are still to come.
Very pleased for you Stuart that you hit the jackpot with the 47 Cheval Blanc. There must be so many dodgy bottles floating around so delighted for you that you reaped such rich rewards.
I had the 47 CB once, in the early 80s. Just a sip. I have a fine memory of it as well.
The amazing thing is that the wine is an enological freak with, I believe, volatile acidity.
The ‘82 has been extremely variable in my experience, from mediocre to great, this bottle was near the bottom.
The ‘90 and ‘98 were terrific but I don’t think my scores are influenced by any of the other bottles.
The ‘47 was incredible of course. Maybe my greatest wine purchase regret is not taking the whole lot on offer at the time from Wide World of Wines (Washington DC) - 18 bottles. But if I did, I would have had to take out a new mortgage on the house - and maybe even need to start shopping for a new wife. But, still . . .
