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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 99.3 pts. and median of 99 pts. in 6 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by BradE on 1/21/2015: Last bottle of this (that's happening more and more these days), and its been a pleasure drinking each and every one. This bottle was great - showing its age definitely, but still very enjoyable. (5139 views) | | | Tasted by BradE on 1/3/2008: Consistant with previous tastings. A great bottle of wine, and a pleasure to drink. (9177 views) | | | Tasted by Dave Dalluge on 1/2/2008 & rated 99 points: Wednesdays at Heidi's: This was a Vandermeulen bottling courtesy of Brad England. It was double decanted just prior to leaving for the restaurant and then vacuum sealed. The color was a deep brick/rust red -- stunning for a wine of this age. It was darker than the 62 and almost as dark as the 86. The nose was nuanced and compelling -- featuring ripe red and black fruits, smoke, tobacco and much more. The taste was another step up in intensity delivering an enthralling blend of red fruit, blueberry, raspberry, carmel, brown sugar and more. Mouthcoating. Expansive. Oh so silky smooth. Amazingly youthful. Perfect finish. It's hard not to let the 86 year old label sway your experience, but this was truely a thrilling wine. (9227 views) | | | Tasted by Siggy on 1/2/2008 & rated 99 points: Tasting Group Dinner - Bordeaux at Heidi's (Heidi's, Minneapolis): Breathtaking stuff. Deep, stunningly youthful brilliant maroon. Fantastically expressive nose that unfolds with waves of raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, rhubarb, caramel, brown sugar, leather, graphite, smoke, tea, earth, and a zillion other flavors. Concentrated and intense, yet elegant and ethereally smooth on the mouth. The texture is like silk. Surprisingly, this improved steadily as it saw air, and came across as more youthful than the 62. One of the best wines I have ever had, and easily my WOTN. I would have guessed this was a 15-25 year old wine, not 87 years. This was a Vandermeulen bottle that Brad acquired from Acker, so we were all pretty confident that this was the real deal. (9540 views) | | | Tasted by Jeff Leve on 3/15/2006 & rated 100 points: This incredibly, complex Bordeaux nose offered so many aromas, I’d have an easier time trying to count the holes in Albert Hall before I could name them all. But, the fireworks did not end with an amazing nose. The Port like syrupy texture of the wine gliding over your palate was surreal. The decadent wine continued gaining in the glass for several hours. This was positively riveting. Unfortunately, I will never be able to see what my 90 Cheval Blanc will taste like at 85, but I will never forget tasting this wine! (7992 views) | | | Tasted by Eric on 2/20/2006: The Grand Finale with Leve at the French Laundry (Yountville, Napa Valley, CA): This was a Vandermeulen bottling. When first poured I was worried that this was madeirized, as it mostly smelled of caramel. However, the wine had a miraculous transformation in the glass, getting darker and darker the longer it aired. The nose shows roasted coffee, caramel, balsamic and that ubiquitous 'Asian spice'. On the palate this was initially quite sweet and seemed a little simple. However, after a few minutes in the glass it started to explode with a huge palate, drenched in nut oil, toffee, amazing weight and power, liqueur like in the mid-palate and then finishing out, amazingly, with Port-like intensity. Now I finally know what Parker means when he described the similar character of the 1947 Cheval Blanc. At one point, I noticed a fascinating thing: the candlelight in the restaurant was shining through my glass in just the right way such that you could see the viscosity of the legs illuminated on the tablecloth. This stuff was thick and it made me declare that in its youth this wine MUST have topped 14%. The table laughed at me, but 3 days later I read the Parker review and saw that in fact he had stated the same thing, hah! Anyway, this was really and truly one of the most memorable wines I have ever tasted, and it gave me my first true glimpse into what Bordeaux can really turn into with enough time. (6300 views) |
| Château Cheval Blanc Producer website - Read more about Chateau Cheval Blanc
Their second wine is Le Petit Cheval.
The vineyard on weinlagen-infoRed Bordeaux BlendRed Bordeaux is generally made from a blend of grapes. Permitted grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and rarely Carménère.Today Carménère is rarely used, with Château Clerc Milon, a fifth growth Bordeaux, being one of the few to still retain Carménère vines. As of July 2019, Bordeaux wineries authorized the use of four new red grapes to combat temperature increases in Bordeaux. These newly approved grapes are Marselan, Touriga Nacional, Castets, and Arinarnoa.
Wineries all over the world aspire to making wines in a Bordeaux style. In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to identify wines made in this way. Although most Meritage wines come from California, there are members of the Meritage Association in 18 states and five other countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Israel, and Mexico.France Vins de France (Office National Interprofessionnel des Vins ) | Pages Vins, Directory of French Winegrowers | French Wine (Wikipedia)
Wine Scholar Guild vintage ratings
2018 vintage: "marked by a wet spring, a superb summer and a good harvest"
2019 vintage reports
2021: "From a general standpoint, whether for white, rosé or red wines, 2021 is a year marked by quality in the Rhône Valley Vineyards. Structured, elegant, fresh and fruity will be the main keywords for this new vintage."
2022 harvest: idealwine.info | wine-searcher.comBordeaux Bordeaux Wine Guide
Vins Bordeaux (Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux)
History of Bordeaux
History of 1855 Bordeaux Classification
"2009 is all about ripeness, with wines impressively packed with ripe fruit and high alcohol levels. They are showy, in-your-face, and full of pleasure. The 2010s have the fruit and alcohol levels of the 2009s, but with a compelling freshness on the finish that balances the fruit and provides a perfect sense of structure." - Ben Nelson
"2016 is a landmark vintage in certain spots of Bordeaux and it should be remembered as one of the most inspired campaigns of the last 40-50+ years." -Jon Rimmerman
"The quality of red Bordeaux in 2016 was universally lauded – although the response to the en primeur campaign was muted. Quantity was high too, with the equivalent of 770 million bottles of wine produced. An exceptionally dry summer with cool nights eventually, thanks to mid September rain, resulted in small, thick-skinned, ripe grapes, and the wines are marked by high tannin and acidity, with superb aromatic fragrance." - Jancis Robinson
"2017 was complicated, but there are some excellent wines. Expect plenty of freshness and drinkability from wines that will offer excellent value, and others that will rival 2016 in terms of ripeness and ageability. But they are likely to be the exception not the rule, making careful selection key." - Jane Anson
"In the past, a vintage such as 2022 may have been overripe, raisined and low in acidity but 2022 had a sneaky little reservoir in its back pocket - a near perfect marriage of cool/cold/rain the previous winter and the previous vintage that literally soaked the soils (a key to why 2022 is not 2003...or 1893)." - Jon RimmermanLibournais Libournais (Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux) - Read more about St. Emilion and its wines - Read more about Pomerol and its wines
Saint Emilion Grat Classified Growth, Classified Growths, Grands Crus Classes, GCC
In 1954, while the "Graves" growths had just published their own classification, the wine syndicate of Saint-Emilion, composed by wine growers, brokers and wine traders with the approval of the INAO - Institut National des Appellations d'Origine (A.O.C), decided to work on a classification for the wines of Saint Emilion. Initially, four grades were defined. These were reduced to two - First Great Classified Growth (A and B) and Great Classified Growth - in 1984.
As of Medoc's 1855 historical grading, the Saint-Emilion Great Classified Growth classification is not only based on qualitative criteria by tasting the wines on a ten years period previous to the assessment, but also on commercial considerations such as:
- sales price levels
- national and international commercial distribution
- the estate's reputation on the market
Properties who don't manage to join the club of about sixty Classified Growths are given the denomination of Great Growth ("Grand Cru"), while the remaining wineries of the A.O.C are simply reported as "Saint-Emilion". It is to be noted that the owners must officially apply to appear in the official classification. Thus for example the famous Chateau Tertre-Roteboeuf, whose quality and reputation would easily justify to be listed among the First Great Classified Growths, does not appear here by the will of its owner, François Mitjaville.
The Saint-Emilion Great Growth classification was revised in 1969, 1985, 1996 and 2006. The only two guaranteed vintage (A.O.C) who can apply to the classification are the "Saint-Emilion Grand Cru" and "Saint-Emilion" areas.
By grading 61 properties, the 2006 revision confirmed many growths from the former classification, but also caused a number of surprises and a few inevitable disappointments. Many observers thought that the impressive progression of Perse's Chateau Pavie since 1998 would be rewarded by an upgrade into the First Great Classified Growths (A) category, but finally such was not the case.
Among the estates promoted to the First Great Classified Growths B category are Chateau Troplong-Mondot and Pavie-Macquin, whose efforts made since the Nineties fully justify their new grade. It should be noted that no First Great Classified Growth was relegated to the lower Great Classified Growth class.
Promoted growths from the status of Great Growth ("Grand Cru") to Great Classified Growth ("Grand Cru Classe") are: Chateaux Bellefont-Belcier, Destieux, Fleur Cardinale, Grand Corbin, Grand Corbin-Despagne and Monbousquet.
The demoted growths from the status of Great Classified Growth to Great Growth are: Chateaux Bellevue, Cadet Bon, Faurie de Souchard, Guadet Saint-Julien, La Tour du Pin-Figeac (Belivier), La Tour du Pin-Figeac (Moueix), Lamarzelle, Petite Faurie de Soutard, Tertre Daugay, Villemaurine and Yon-Figeac. If the recent samples of some of the above mentioned properties may justify their current downgrade, there are great chances that estates like Bellevue, Tertre Daugay or Yon-Figeac will be upgraded to their previous rankings by the next revision in 2016 as the progresses noted after 2000, but not entering in the range of vintages (1993 - 2002) appointed for the criteria of selection for the 2006 classification, are noticable.
The two following estates have completely disappeared from the Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classification: Curé-Bon-la-Madeleine (integrated meanwhile to Chateau Canon) and La Clusière (integrated meanwhile to Chateau Pavie).
Finally, no estate considered as "garagiste" has integrated the classification. Valandraud, Mondotte, Le Dome, Bellevue-Mondotte or Magrez-Fombrauge have, for the least, the potential to be ranked as Great Classified Growths. In sight of the very fine quality reached by the above mentioned estates in recent vintages as well as all the innovative wine making methods used by the "garagistes", it remains to be seen whether the authorities will dare to cross the line in 2016..?St. Émilion Grand Cru Les Vins de St. Émilion (Syndicate Vitocole de Saint-Emilion) – Read about St. Emilion
Vins de Bordeaux:
Grape Varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot
Soil: Sandy soils with alluvial gravel deposits
Surface Area: 4,160 ha |
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