Good bottles of this are off the charts now but I believe the one I was served was ever so slightly corked. No one else noticed but I'm highly sensitive. Either way, it didn't live up to previous bottles for me so no rating. Comanderie Edwardian dinner 2/29/24
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This wine has final come into its own. While it has not reached its peak, after 4 hours and 30 minutes open it started powerfully, clearly the best wine of the night. After a while I found the tannins to creep back in but the drinking window has opened and while this wine will improve for 20 years plus it’s a pleasure now
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One of the best showings for the variable ‘90 Cheval Blanc. Interesting complex flavors of dark fruit and minerals. Nice finish. Perhaps additional bottle age will create more nuance, depth and details but fine to drink now.
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Shared by a generous friend. This was magnificent. Perfect depth and fruit with vraiment Cheval Blanc character. Hard to beat. Should be at peak for decades. Give it a few hrs of air for best results.
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Cheval Dinner at Popina Cellar … included were 82,86,88,89,90,98… First bottle of case purchased on release. Decanted @ 3:00 served @ 7:30… this was one of those wines that filled immediately presented itself as soon as I pulled the cork testing the bottle for soundness. Within minutes the room with its fruity bouquet before I bothered to decant it…. Dense, rich layers of fruit brightened by fine tannins and acidity. This improved through the evening sowing more and more complexity and richness. All attending agreed this was the wine of the night, I also thought the bouquet of the 1989 was spectacular.
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ESTG Year-End Tasting (Newcastle, WA): Mmmm coffee. Gorgeously pure red fruit. Graphite. Really fresh and special. Mmm, bloody, juicy, so much fruit, super silky, ripe and long.
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Consistent with prior experiences….it started slow because it was cold, but really blossomed as it warmed. Full on at it’s current state, I don’t think this gets better unless you’re the type that prizes tertiary character. If you have it, enjoy it here and now
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Brought it out for a special occasion with wife and two cousins who are neophytes. No one knew what this was other than “Bordeaux”, and it was fun to watch everyone experience it and love it. It didn’t last long which is the only shame
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Brookie and I drank this bottle from her birth vintage, on her birthday, at V. Mertz, prior to the Matchbox 20 concert. I purchased this bottle many years ago, and have been looking forward to drinking it on a special occasion, which this certainly was. This bottle has been touted as a "wow" experience, a "future legend", and other superlatives. I found it to be nothing of the sort. Very good, enjoyable, but nothing all that remarkable. Very balanced and well-integrated, with a very dominant note of green pepper, which just didn't work for me. The class was undeniable, the finish was above average. There was nothing about it that took it from a very good bottle to the next level. Brookie thought it was exceptionally good, and perhaps the best bottle she has ever had. Ah, Brookie. Happy birthday.
This wine continues to drink beautifully, notes of dense fruit, cassis, game, with soft and well integrated tannins, all nicely balanced. Very long satisfying finish. Paired with grilled lamb chops.
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Insanely good. This is like celebrating life at one of those summer night parties at the mediteranean, with a bunch of unspoiled beautiful souls. In all its abundance and sumptuousness it has a deep, but subtlest core of bloodorange, incredibly rich, smooth and harmonious, feast of summer fruit, a true love fest. Tantalizing. The aftertaste lasts more than a few minutes really, and rolls ashore like waves of sumptuous fruit. If my last moment in life could just be like this.
At its very high and long peak and still lots of life to celebrate here.
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Wow!!! I'm a Cheval Blanc groupie and this surpasses any other vintage I've tried. The nose is probably the most sensuous experience I've encountered with multi-layered aromas of old leather, violet, ripe cherry, and hints of bell pepper. It possesses a silky mouthfeel with incredible depth and complexity, and a finish which is 60+ seconds with perfect balance. In my limited 100 points experience this is up there with the absolute best, and I suspect there is still upside. It still benefits from an hour in the decanter.
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While perfectly pleasant and enjoyable this Cheval doesn’t deliver the fireworks that some vintages do. There is definite rust at the edges. Medium weight, mature and concentrated. The Cabernet Franc shows in the slightly green and leafy flavors. Modest aroma and length. While not roasted the fruit could be fresher.
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1.5 hour decant. Last bottle and the cosmos saved the best for last. The forensic list of smells and tastes are similar to my last encounter: cassis/raspberry compote/blackberry, tobacco leaf, burning peat, roses, leather, grass, and on and on. However this time everything was more sharply delineated and focused - hence more specific notes this time. Tannins are still very strong giving the the wine a formidable backbone. At the same time the wine goes down like liquid silk - an amazing contrast of smoothness and structure I encounter rarely. Finish goes on forever. Balance is just - impeccable.
This is why we drink claret.
Why only 99? Two reasons: 1. I have actually had a better Cheval Blanc (1953). 2. After a lot of time in the glass - oh yes, you want to enjoy this slowly - eventually a slight bitter edge creeps into the finish. But this is fricken quibbling and probably a reflection of my crappy decanting rather than the wine. This bottle was at its peak. This is a seriously outperforming 1990. Wow. Score: 99-100. Relative to expectations: +++
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You could not ask for more in a bottle. The perfume with its blend of spices, espresso, flowers, smoke, cocoa, tobacco, wild cherries, plums, and ash instantly grabs your focus. On the palate, the wine is pure silk and velvet, which caresses you with its layers of vibrant, earthy, pure, red, and black fruits. The concentrated finish is long, deep, intense, and sensuous, gaining in opulence in the glass. Drink from 2023-2040.
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Cork about 30% soaked in but came up clean with the Durand. Wine fill fairly into the neck. Drinking well from the get go but was quiet tight at pop. Brought for dinner and consumed over about 3 hours. It went through phases but at its highest; absolutely mindblowing. Hauntingly beautiful nose of lilac, berries, deep lush forest floor and truffles. The palate full of red berries, leather, tobacco and mocha. Doesn’t have the sweetness that Pomerol gets with age but it’s straddles that left/right bank barrier beautifully. A hint of greeness but nothing overt like you might get in the left bank and such incredible mouthfeel and a finish that goes on for atleast a minute. A monumental statement wine!
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With this wine, like any great well-born Bordeaux, the tasting begins on the nose: sandalwood, light vanilla, cigar box, truffles, still bright black fruit... It is a real delight to plunge your nose into it at each time you have the glass in your hand.
In the mouth, the watchword is refinement. The wine is extremely silky, almost Burgundian as it may seem delicate. But at the table, he asserts himself against matured meats, a lord always finds his place naturally. The touch is magnificent, grainy and velvety, with a breathtaking layered complexity. Tobacco mingles with pure black fruit, and then cinnamon and cedar harmoniously compete for the primacy of tobacco, which dominates in the second half. Magnificent balance, with an underlying acidity that indicates the wine can stand the test of time. Grandiose, elegant and refined finish, feminine but assertive which bursts like a great firework over an interminable length.
Great, nothing more to say!
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Decanted about an hour. Palate complexity was outstanding from the start and continued to evolve for a couple of hours as the wine blossomed, with the nose really showing itself about an hour in.
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Monumental wine. Alas my last bottle. Incredible nose, but it’s the palate that blows you away. Great depth, complexity and a big lingering finish. Cant ask for anything more from a wine. Pity cant afford anymore!
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blind I was lost in detecting the wine. I was in California. Very "sweet fruit", spicy, violet, balanced, but with a great tannin structure, close to his peak, never ending finish. 99-100
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Mature wine with two minute finish. Sweet cherry fruit and elegant silk on the palet. Slight spice to make it interesting. I decanted it for an hour, but I think a pnp is also a good choice. The wine took on a little weight over the course of four hours. I would have preferred more fruit, but it’s maturity took over. It seems as though the fruit will fade more as time progresses so I would suggest drinking this wine over the next few years. The sooner you consume the more fruit.
Side-by-side with Angelus and Clinet. The most regal of the three with serious, intense perfume. Refined, lithe palate has some power but its sneaky and more elegant. I slightly preferred the more masculine Angelus, but this is special to be sure.
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When you think of the best Bordeaux of the last 50 years this has to be on the short list. This is exotic cab franc bringing another level to the wine, it has everything…fresh, exotic, layered. And it kept building over several hours saving its best for last
A fabulous wine and the best Cheval on the table tonight besting the '82/'85/'98. Layered and silky smooth with the great ripeness and sweetness of the '90 vintage on full display. Still fresh and vibrant with excellent depth of dark fruits and wonderful notes of violet spice and smoky truffles. A very satisfying wine and a great Cheval for drinking now. L'Appart Commanderie dinner.
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It is the texture of Cheval Blanc that gets me. There is a sensuality here that no other wine offers and with the 1990, it is there in spades. Earthy, with truffles, tobacco wrapper, mint-leaf, red plums and cherries, flowers and spice, the silky, sexy, velvet-textured wine lingers on your palate for close to 60 seconds in its seamless finish. This is drinking at maturity, but well-stored bottles are going to age and evolve for at least another 20-30 years.
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Great bottle to replace the dead 82 Lafite for my b-day. Bright garnet with some bricking on the rim. Cork was in perfect shape. The nose was enveloping with dark red fruit, and lots of tertiary notes: leather, forest floor, smoke, some white pepper and hints of lavender. Palate had more fruit with some blue berry and tea. Tennis were silky and almost fully resolved. Loved this bottle.
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Super Bowl 2022 (Alpharetta, GA): A lot lighter crimson core with orange brick rim; truffle, raspberry, celery seed, still an oak signature, sexy and aged, graham cracker, sweet leather, liqueured red currant, truffle, still strong acids but a savoriness, a relenting quality showing some age, mushroom, lithe, elegant and nobly refined; '90 Cheval?
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Super Bowl 2022 (Alpharetta, GA): Tasted double blind. The nose is ethereal and mesmerizing. Fat and ripe Bordeaux greatness. The finish goes on and on and on. Outstanding wine. I called it '90 1st growth. Turned out to be my wine.
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M&PD dinner at Vendemmia. Final flight of the night (Bordeaux):
1989 Château Haut-Brion 1990 Château Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse) 1990 Château Cheval Blanc
I was dealing with a little long-haul covid, and felt weirdly intoxicated during this flight. So, I’m not going to rate the wines and just offer my limited notes.
My recollection was that all of these approximated 100-point wines; but I was feeling too weird there to be precise here.
1989 Château Haut-Brion
Very much reminded me of the nirvana of the 1990 H-B (which is one of the greatest wine of all time imho). When this wine is on, there is nothing better. How can something be so sophisticated but, at the same time, so sweaty and sexy. Pure but loaded with so much tar and earth.
1990 Château Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse)
I’ve been lucky enough to have a number of bottles of this wine/vintage in the past. This felt like it was a perfect representation of the vintage. It is very concentrated but still light on the palate. The finish is full of fruit and tar. An amazing wine.
1990 Château Cheval Blanc
I have not had much Cheval Blanc, so I was very excited to try this and it did not disappoint. The fruit, smoke and earth all hit you on the nose and don’t let up. I would call this classic Bordeaux but with a complexity that was impossible for me to parse in my weird state. My goal is to have this bottle on its own to focus on everything that is going on.
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Incredible class, detail, and complexity. Turned everyone’s head when we first drank it and was a wine we kept coming back to and talking about. I’ve had perfect bottles of this and it was right in that zone. Next to a flashy 90 Rayas which might have robbed this of some of its ripe cab franc sexiness, but i slightly preferred this (I think others did too)
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Pale amber, rusty color; minty, mineral, med. bodied, older, dry tannins but structured. Notes are not good, but liked this a lot. This tied for my #3 wine of the night. DD Bordeaux 1989-2000 Lawson's Steakhouse
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Another perfect bottle from the same case as the 04/28/2021 note and again absolutely incredible. So dense and chocolatey, chocolate covered cherries. Aromatic high notes with sweeter red fruit. Has flickers of Franc green bell pepper. This has more aromatic expression and projection than the ‘82 Lafleur alongside, although that wine is denser and more concentrated than even this. Outstanding.
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Medium garnet colored. Beautiful complex nose with nice tertiary notes like leather, dried tobacco, wet forest floor (clay) and soft red fruit notes. Quite similar on the palate - beautiful ripe red cherries, blueberries, some dark coffee and smoky herbal notes - very seductive. Medium bodied with a fine medium intense acidity. Tannins are beautifully integrated, very sexy mouth feeling. Super elegant structure - perfect overall balance. Amazing complexity but fruit is fading quite fast in the glass. The savory finish is very long and tempting. Simply amazing for a 31 year old wine. After uncorking a wine I usually try a first sip and then I decide whether to decant the wine or not. Luckily this time we decided not to decant it - decanting would have killed this wine within minutes. I’ll never understand why so many old wines get decanted - just be gentle with them and try to avoid getting the sediment in the glass. This wasn’t the best bottle I ever had from Cheval Blanc 1990 - but it still was in an amazing shape. Perfect bottles will hold for at least another decade - this bottle was perfect now. In general no need to wait any longer - pop it now, you won’t be disappointed. (IG)
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Cotton candy bogquet Old man/suit. Library. Engine/video game tokens later on. Base Spicy after 1.5 hours. Green pepper. Long lasting heat lasting awhile.
double decanted for 3 hrs; drank over the next 2 hrs. on the nose - slight green pepper, smoky, oaky, tobacco & a touch of spice. on the palette - vanilla & oak dominate. bit lacking in acid & vibrancy. 93 overall.
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A Multi Birthday Celebration (Tocco - Winnetka IL): I expected this to be amongst the top wines of the night, but it was just a little too bretty, with the funk too pronounced even for the great black fruit with great concentration. I had never previously been disappointed with this wine, but tonight it was just good, not great, perhaps 91 points.
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Right from the get go this nose is absolutely booming and is immediately in your face with the Cabernet Franc high notes and showy detail. Super ripe and sweet showing to the red fruit but has excellent spice and green detail. I see the bell pepper quite clearly along with ferns and violets. On the nose this renders a ’90 Petrus in the next glass quiet as this is just so flamboyant and opulent. Lush and ripe palate too. Youthful darker notes with some coffee detail. This is in an amazing place for drinking right now and imagine good bottles of this will continue to blossom for a long while ahead. Out of the few Bordeauxs this trip, this is what I would like to own most (all?) of going forward.
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I haven't consume a bottle since 2017. Continues to drink beautifully: dense fruit, game, with well integrated tannins, all nicely balanced. Paired perfectly with marinated grilled antelope chops with chile spiked cranberry sauce. A very special wine - perfect for holidays!
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The nose was fantastic and expressive. Old bdx in it’s most classic form. Leather, cedar wood, cigar box, pencil led and ground coffee.
On the palate it was extremely fresh. Great acidity, lots of dark fruit, leather, fall leaves. Just an enormous amount of depth. And the balance was just fantastic. Perfection – or sure as hell close to it.
We had it head to head with the infamous Mouton 1982 and Cheval 1990 took the win on every parametre.
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Purity, hedonism, silk and velvet textures produced a wine that is best described as bottled sex. Long, pure, rich and intense, the wine doesn’t know how to quit. And you never want it to. I am sure Calligulus drenched his nights in this nectar. The finish sticks with you in an expanding show of ostentatious characteristics. Yes, I could have written a bunch of adjectives and descriptors here, but you can read those in previous notes I've posted. It is the overall impression you should focus on, as that is what matters most. This bottle was remarkable. Bought on release, stored in a cold, dark cellar and never moved showed provenance counts.
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Decanted after taking out very little sediment. Purchased as a future. Wine was fresh and mature. Took two hours to really come out and as it remained in the glass it surprisingly took on weight until for another two hours. Gone in four hours. Sweet red fruit. Sexy. Just perfect. I gave it 100 because I could ask for no more after two hours. A class act.
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Cork was dry and broke coming out. First impression is how fruit forward the nose is on this bottle of wine. Just a hint of Brett. The color shows some browning around the edge, the nose exhibits plums, leather and a floral character (Rose). Bottle was not decanted. After about 15 minutes the fruit really opened up with plums, currants and blackberries on the palate. Long fruit length of plums and red berries along with notes of chocolate and an herbal savory character. Bright acidity and forward fruit makes this a wine that perhaps could age longer but it is a stunningly great wine right now.
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Bordeaux 1990 horizontal tasting (Fribourg): 1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business or at times closed. Highlights included Figeac, Haut-Brion, Mouton, Calon Ségur – and to my surprise – Marquis de Terme. See tasting story for more take-aways and the complete line-up.
Tasting note Fine, roasted coffee beans, dark fruit, dried tobacco leaves, other herbal notes. Tannic palate, but not in a bad way, just not ready yet. Muscular build. Fresh and fruity otherwise with a medium+ finish. You can feel the complexity slumbering underneath - but just can’t quite reach it yet. Would very much expect to see me penciling in >95 in 5 or 10 years' time. But for now I'd rather (by far) pop a 2015 bottle than 1990.
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Plummy, floral, exuberant aromatics. Loved smelling this. Clean palate that's in a great secondary phase, still retaining fruit and yet to yield to cigar and wood.
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H2H blind with Angelus 1990 and Montrose 1990. The Cheval Blanc was clearly the smoothest but the Angelus overclassed it. The Cheval Blanc 1990 on its own is very sexy, smooth, the sweetest of the 3 and very classy.
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As Johnny G describe, Complex, compelling aromatics: red berries, tar, tobacco, some cedar, savory spices. However, this particular bottle had too much 'bell pepper' which took well over an hour to begin to mellow and integrate. If it were not for the dominance of that expression I would have scored 96+. not sure if it needs more time in bottle or that this bottle was slightly off. It was a gift from my friend for my 70th Bday party and we drank alongside a 2003 DRC RSV which was fantastic in its own right. I do have 2 90 Cheval Blanc in my cellar so I will wait another year or so to try again. GREAT wine in spite of my one sort of negative comment.
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Extraordinary. Drank with friends at a local French restaurant following a splash decant. Exhilarating nose of plum, blackberries and cherry liqueur dusted with spice, this fully mature claret has years of thrilling drinking again. Lovely plush mouthfeel preceding an endless finish. If a date, this was a Harvard PhD who runs a bio-sciences laboratory for GE. Brains, thrilling beauty and pragmatic common sense. Highly recommended if you can find some.
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Beautiful wine. The Wine Library bottle. Sweet, fragrant, composed, silky, elegant. Tastes more like Merlot than Cabernet Franc. Not a lot of grip or intensity but the dark cherry fruit is totally disarming. Just enough structure to let you know you are in Bordeaux. When they try to do this in California or Italy, it usually turns out vulgar.
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A Bordeaux Deep Dive, With Proper Social Distancing; 4/11/2020-4/12/2020 (The Virtual World of Zoom): My third of these beauties, and easily the best. This was evident from the nose alone. Complex, compelling aromatics: red berries, tar, tobacco, some cedar, savory spices. Signature notes of cherry, tobacco and fig, along with more spice, mint, soy sauce and mocha. Just the right acid level, too. Utterly stunning. Served blind to my colleagues, one of whom called the exact producer and vintage.
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Decanted 90 minutes. Initial aromas were heavy on raspberry, leather, clove, raw roast beef, tobacco leaf. A slight touch of VA that blew off. About an hour later (ie 2.5 hours in the decanter) everything merged together beautifully. Fruit mellowed into cherry/raspberry/cassis on the nose, with a lovely rose scent, along with a touch of peat and cigar box. Taste was a mix of cassis, allspice, vanilla, very powerful but well resolved tannins. Fantastic and very noticeable length and finish. Weighty but very silky feel on the palate. This seems at full maturity. I would not try to keep this for another decade, because it may be on the decline by then. However, it is going to be a slow decline. But if you have this you probably should consume within the next few years to see it at its peak. Score: 96. Relative to expectations: + (when you command grand vin prices, expectations are high and you get graded with the big boys)
Needless to say, if I have to vote for the best St Emilion wine, I’ll cast my vote to Cheval Blanc instead of Angelus or Pavie or Ausone. Good vintage, bad vintage, Cheval Blanc performed! 1990 needed no introduction, one of the best vintages for Bordeaux. No exception here, Cheval 90 was simply jaws drop type of wines to die for. The fruits of Cheval Blanc was exceptional, I can almost chew on it! Overweight jam packed generosity of berries with bottomless complexity, totally awesome! more tasting note in finewines.com.sg
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Quiet a deepth of the taste with layer of layers. Linear cassis' density with cedar aroma, elegent however not great since lack of dynamic movement on the palate.
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Classic aged Bordeaux. Pony barn, horse hoof, tobacco, and nose that might put off some. I did not decant the bottle, but let it slow ox over an hour period. It changed in the glass over the next two hours and I will give myself 6 hours next time. The fruit seemed faded at first, but then increased in intensity. This is not a fruit bomb but a highly mature and Royal french Bordeaux with the right stuff to carry on. I think it should be consumed over the next five years before the fruit and tannins totally fade to leave a terrific wine that has had it's day.
WOTN, to me. Opened by good friend Jim Aronson, along with many others but this one just dripped of royalty. Perfectly aged, still plenty of barnyard on the nose but despite it being there, no impact on the wonderful flavor profile. I guessed 89 or 90 but did not get the Ch. correct. Lots of bright red cherry fruit remaining along with surprisingly good acidity and well integrated tannins. Hard to believe this wine is 30 yo and tastes like this! If I'd had perfectly paired a meal with this, it may have garnered a 98-99. What a great experience. Thanks, James!
Every bottle at some point in its aging curve is different, and this bottle, while very good, was not quite at the level of the best examples. Still, the floral dominated nose loaded you up with sweet, fresh cherries, garden herbs, tobacco, plums and cherry blossoms. Medium-bodied, lacking the weight and density of better bottles, the texture was all silkiness. Elegant, delicate and fresh, with lots of lift on the palate, considering that for all intents and purposes the wine is 30 years of age, this is fully ready to go.
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30 Vintages of Cheval Blanc: All tasted blind. 1982 to 2015 (with 1949 in the mix). The wines are fragrant, perfumed, seductive and always soft and without weight. Best performing vintages: the rather hot/ripe vintages 2015, 2009 and 1982 (all complex, seductive, complete and with elevated concentration). Next best: the promising and pure 2010, the still sexy 1990 and the immortal 1949. Notable outperformer: 2011 with many other good off-vintages. Notable underperformer: 2005, 2000, 1998 which all showed rather muted and not yet ready.
TN: Served right after the magical 1982 and it held its grounds well. Together with the 2009, this is most dominated by the burnt sugar, toasted oak, caramel sexiness. As with the others these aromas are perfectly balanced by abundant fruit and minerality. Very expressive and precise nose and palate, Very good structured with full-integrated soft tannins and a good freshness. I expected a bit more tertiary aromas after roughly 30 years but while not seeming young this is not yet fully there. Let’s wait and see but I’m not fully sure that it has enough tension to reach the highs of the 1982 in terms of complexity. Anyway, great wine.
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A Second London Pre-Holiday Celebration (67 Pall Mall): Served double blind, though I was pretty certain this was the Cheval, having contributed it. Decanted for two hours or so, and improved throughout the course of our dinner. I thought this was a stellar performance, easily the best of the 5 or so bottles I've had. signature notes of cherry, tobacco and fig, along with muted spice, mint and coconut, and just the right acid level (unlike some past bottles, where the acid was too prominent).
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Not corked but something not right. Nearly fruitless, no aroma but not moldy. A second bottle from the identical source about the same. Bottles purchased on release, Staccole importer.
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Chateau Cheval Blanc - 30 year vertical (1949-2015) tasted blind: Also here, clear tertiary notes with forest elements intermixed with raspberry, fruit compote. Very good complexity, a grand wine for sure, just a little dry on the finish preventing an even higher score.
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Wow! Simply wonderful! BlackBerry, damson dark plum. Long finish. Spicy vanilla still there. Multi layered. Fruit still good. Tannin and acidity soft and integrated - a joy to drink!
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Two hour decant. Could have done with a 3-5 hour slow ox in addition. Powerful full ripe and dense as hell. Could have been left bank as quite leathery and earthy and classic and still quite strict. Not what I was expecting. A wonderful wine - but a collectors wine that was a bit lost on the company who enjoyed it but no fireworks.
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Tasted this 1990 Cheval Blanc in blind and thought it was a 1986 St Emilion. The nose offers an intense profile of juicy mixed fruits, ripe dark plums, cassis, premium oak spices. Ripe with soft herbaceousness (tomato leaf) from Cabernet Franc? This bottle of Cheval Blanc 1990 appeared to be a bit tired compared to the last bottle I tasted in Zurich. Maturing, some earthy and gamy fruits with good structure. St Emilion? 1986? (91/100)
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I've had a lot of variability with this wine. This bottle was "good", but not what it can be. Too bad, but I've said before, "any day with Cheval Blanc is a good day".
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60-års dag og blinsmaking: Blind. Mye røyk og store doser 'mineraler', solbær, voldsom intensitet og lengde, lagvis kompleksitet -- men det er tydelig at denne egentlig er alt for ung.
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In a lineup with multiple chevals. For me this bottle seemed slightly off/underwhelming. Don’t get me wrong it was good just not great. Being my first time I don’t know if it was an off bottle but certainly wasn’t corked. If anything, I would suggest more time and hope others experience is better. If I had to rate I would give a 94.
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Decanted about 2.5 hours. Nose was great from the start. Palate blossomed with complexity a bit further over the following hour, similar to previous notes, and stayed wonderful for another hour. This bottle was a winner!
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47CB and Friends (3030 Ocean, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida): 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.
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Dinners around the HDH Auction; 12/13/2018-12/15/2018 (Chicago IL): Single blind in 82/85/90 vertical. Wow, what a powerhouse of ripe black plum, cassis, dark chocolate, espresso with crema and sweet spice. Exceptional depth and concentration. Easy to identify as the 1990 based on prior bottles.
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It was love at the first whiff of that gorgeous perfume. And if that did not seal the deal, the sensuous, sexed up, palate presence with a finish that hung in there for more than 60 seconds sealed the deal. This is a future legend!
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Decanted 3 hours. Nose was great from the time it was popped. Palate was nice, but never really caught up relative to previous bottles, even after a couple more hours.
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Acker Auction - June 2018 (Laduree NYC W Broadway): One of my favorite wines of the day. This was special. Black fruits and pepper and young and almost a hint of spicy. It is drinking really well right now, but seems to be going strong with many years left. Very tasty. The best of the Bordeaux.
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Decanted 4 hours. Very nice, but shy of the best bottles. Nose was quite subdued and never really blossomed, even over the following couple hours. Nonetheless, still very enjoyable to drink.
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Opened and given a quick decant, then followed for several hours. I found this more lean than lush. The signature notes of cherry, tobacco and fig were there, along with muted spice, mint and coconut, but quite restrained, and the acid level seemed inappropriately high to me, not something I’ve seen in others’ TNs.
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Genuinely sexy wine. Super complex nose opens with ripe strawberry but quickly develops smoke, Asian spice, and abundant herbaceous notes---slightly green in the best Cheval Blanc style. Palate is incredibly rich and concentrated, with dark fruit, tobacco, and leather, but the opulence is matched by enough acidity to maintain perfect balance. Chocolatey finish goes on and on. Decant for at least 2 hours, preferably longer. This wine will last for decades more.
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Small and simple dinner gathering with some special friends, no formal notes. The bottle (actually all Bdx. we drunk tonight) had been open for approx. 4 hours. Bottomless nose of dark ripe fruits, plums, coffee, smoke, some spicy fine herbal stuff, touch of dill, earth, red flowers, leather and wet soil. Powerful black fruit on the palate, silky and smooth, creamy, yet with allot of power and things going on. Sweet and ripe, cherries and blackberries, earth and spices. A superb Cheval Blanc indeed. I can only imagine how this will turn out 20+ years down the road. Still gives a much younger impression than the almost 30 years of age it has. Great showing tonight, simply extraordinary vintage of Cheval Blanc . (98 – 100)
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Delicate nose at the beginning, but rapidly it asserts itself as something quite unlike anything I've tasted before... Near-perfect, sensational - one of the best and most impressive wines I've ever had. So beautiful, like velvet and silk, thick, sweet and syrupy, like a vintage port, but with firm definition and still a robust tannin after 27 years. Truffles, marzipan, almonds and mince pies. Explosive, amazing, remarkable. Had the '98 and the '01 at the same dinner - this was the stand-out vintage of the three. Unforgettable. Could still taste it in my mouth the following day.
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La première impression que j'ai eu en humant ses arômes c'est wow...ce vin est le Chevalier-Montrachet des grands crus de Bordeaux. L'élégance, la finesse et l'équibre sont absolument renversants! Servi à côté du Palmer j'ai eu un peu de misère à cerner le fruit j'ai plutôt senti un côté plus herbacé, de jolis arômes nobles de cuirs, café, coconut, poussière de roche, herbes, la bouche étant superbe comme de la soie, et il s'est maintenu très longtemps à ce niveau dans le verre ce qui m'a impressionné. J'aurais préféré plus de fruits mais un très grand vin sans aucun doute! 96pts
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From a bottle purchased upon release, this had a vibrant, velvety attack... so, so good! Deep and complex, this has amazing complexity and length despite a tiny bit of dilution towards the end. The other tasters liked it a bit less than I did - Paul at 94 and David at 95 points
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Decanted 2 hours. Improved over the following hour so seems it needs about 3 hours of air, consistent with previous notes. Very good, but nose was weaker than previous top bottles.
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Dried out cork broke on the way out. Decanted 3 hours. Barnyard when first popped, but cleared up. Nice after decant but poor showing relative to previous bottles. Oh well, maybe better next time.
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Stunning juice ! The nose is a firework,displaying decadent intense red fruits,cherry liqueur,strawberry,coconut,flowers,spices ..... Fully resolved palate,a hint of cherry,silky,very polished,incredibly sweet.The finish is so ripe,juicy and complex with that ethereal texture of a great Cheval Blanc.Fully mature now,this is a monumental wine.
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Close to full maturity, but with no hurry to drink it, this is the quintessential, opulent wine. Lush, but not fat. It's elegant and hedonistic at the same time. Floral, smoky, licorice, coconut and plum notes make an impression. But it is the silky, sexy palate presence that seals the deal.
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This one dances across the tongue like a ballerina in toe shoes. Or maybe the entire corps de ballet. Delicate, ethereal and complex at the same time. Truly a delight.
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Decanted 2 hours and tasted. Very good, but needed another hour to really open up and blossom, so pretty consistent with previous bottles needing about 3 hours of air. Amazing nose and palate! Outstanding wine!
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Popped and poured into decanter. Barnyard for a while but cleared up with some air. 3 hours later it was spot on, both nose and palate, and lasted 2 hours until it was gone. Outstanding bottle!
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Post-UGC Bordeaux Dinner (Spiaggia - Chicago IL): Intense spice driven aromatic start with ripe and dense black plum and berries. This is a wine I would want to savor over many hours and watch it unfold, but it was still fantastic for the 15 minutes I was able to keep it in my glass.
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Another good bottle. Drunk under somewhat unusual circumstance -- seafood + hot ambient temperature (we were having dinner outdoor on a tropical island). The wine's lightness and good acidity made this work nonetheless. The fruit is somewhat suppressed while secondaries such as blood and pepper became more prominent. I thoroughly enjoyed it still but crowd is less impressed.
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Very much different from last years bottle, aroma was far more reticent and took an hour and a half to really open up. Palate however was full and sweet, with a beautiful, broad based texture and sweet up front cherry notes. Overall very nice, and certainly at its peak. Definitely give it an hour or two in the decanter for its complete sensuality to emerge.
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Wine was decanted for two hours. Sweet cherry fruit and medium plus bodied. Some bricking on edge, but note had violets and cherry fruit. Tasting showed a balanced wine with sweet cherry, chocolate and cedar. acid and tannin left. I am not sure the wine will get better - seemed as though it was in it stride and is what it will be for 10 years max. I would drink one to two per year if you have a case.
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Old dependable, candy. Relatively light bricking. Floral nose with Cabernet Franc green tinge (mint, fresh) and little tertiary development so far. Round, black fruit and long.
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Decanted 2.5 hours. Nose was good, but not quite as great as previous bottles. Peaked about 30 min later and stayed there for a couple more hours. Very nice!
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This is a consistent stunner. With its, sexy, lush, opulent and exotic textures, the lavender, licorice, sweet plum and cherry, smoke, dark chocolate and earthy nose really grabs you. But at least for me, it is the incredibly sensuous mouth feel from start to finish that makes this a ride worth taking.
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The elegance! Every element in perfect balance. Spellbinding nose of tobacco and blood translates to an energetic and velvety mouthful. Instantly identifiable Cheval Blanc. What a classic. Bravo!
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A beautiful wine at peak drinking. The structure and complexity was spot on and the finish sailed on for quite some time. Of the three vintages we tasted tonight this was top over the 1998 and 1983
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Beautiful wine, elegant showy aromas of expresso, dried black berries, and burnt carmel. Dark dense rich fruit driven flavors with wonderful complexity. Finishes broad with great Asian spices and real length. Still full of life with long way to go. Popped and poured. Amazing stuff. Thanks JW!
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Brick red edge; after a slightly contained vanilla & cinnamon start, exhibited amazing nose variation in glass over 4 hours of air contact, notes of cinnamon, jasmine, oriental spices, herbs, etc.; medium body, silky texture and tannins. This is an impressive wine that evolved best and offered a great journey on a night with 82 Mouton and 89 Haut Brion.
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Light ruby. Amazing blast for jasmine perfume, plum, black tea and caramel leather. Very exotic, ripe but balanced. This is absolutely at its secondary peak where you still have the ripe fruit notes but also the lovely secondary complexity of earth, cardamon spice and leather. Still very glossy and full of glycerin body which just coats the palate. Not massive but so complex and mind boggling. No change in the glass over 2 hours. And second bottle just as good. Thank you to the good Dr H.
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This was not the best bottle I've tasted as it didn't have the depth I remembered. Beautiful sweet nose of coffee, caramel and earth. The sweetness really comes through on the palate and it has a reasonably long finish. This was a little more mature than I remember but I'm likely seeing bottle variation. Clearly a wine that's in it's drinking window.
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Zachys Fine & Rare Wines - Apr 2016 & an evening w/friends (Smith & Wollensky (48th & 3rd Ave)): This was a pour from the very end of the bottle where it was mostly sediment, but wow was this something. The '95 Latour earlier made me wonder if it was possible to try Bordeaux after Napa and still enjoy it, but this was just delicious. Hints of black fruit, great saddle leather, this was really special. I think the Colgin just edged it for me (possibly because it was the later part with hints of sediment), but this was in contention for WOTD.
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Smoky, ripe black fruits. Complex on the finish with notes of charcoal and graphite. Interesting in that Pierre has always thought this vintage was too ripe and the wine wouldn't last so a bit of uncertainty as to where this is going but I loved the smoky notes. Intimate dinner for 8 with Pierre Lurton in the rotunda on the roof at Nomad, NYC.
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Château Cheval Blanc vertical tasting dinner #2 (Vienna Cafe & Wine Bar): Simply a fantastic wine. Exudes elegance. Really ripe fruits at the forefront, but with a lovely earthiness and spiciness. Complex and beautifully balanced. Another wine that put on weight in the glass. While this is likely near its peak, there is still some room for growth and development. Love the mouthfeel and weight. Long finish. Superb.
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Right after I popped the cork I smelled this wave of exceptional high toned fruit, like a viognier (or cote-rotie), after an hour it settled into distinctly cab franc territory, exotic and constantly shifting from herbal to spice to fruit, mature tones of cedar and tobacco and mushroom wove throughout but never dominated. Ageless aroma.
Palate was somewhat lackluster, it had verve and life but lacked any real heft, just a vehicle for the smell really. We didn't decant but tasted over a long evening and the palate didn't open. Aroma was best I've ever smelled however.
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Holiday Dinner - DRCs, 90 and 00 CB, 03 Capo, Krugs and etc. (The Grill Room at Capella Hotel Georgetown): For my palate, the 90, 98 and 00 have to be some of the top Bordeauxs that are incredibly consistent. The strong Cab Franc nose gives very exotic impression, perfume and talcum powder, ripe black fruits, smoke and mineral. Excellent concentration, quite dense and chewy a la ’90 but very polished, perfect amount of acidity and tannins and long seamless finish that ends with an impression of fine dust. Drinking incredibly well but will improve with time. One of the greatest Bordeauxs for my palate.
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Ouvert quelques heures à l’avance mais non épaulé. Un seul mot: wow! Je blague: je vais en dire plus. Le nez est ouvert et il nous parle: cerises noires, mine de crayon, cacao. En bouche, il change de goût à toutes les 2-3 secondes: cerises mûres, puis figues confites, ensuite la réglisse, le cuir, les olives noires, les pruneaux, le poivron vert, le pot-pourri, et puis encore! Le finale est longue. Superbe (quoique voilé par la nourriture) avec le gigot d’agneau 7 heures. On sent qu’il a assez de plumes sur ses ailes pour voler encore longtemps, mais exceptionnel en ce moment.
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This is the perfect blend of purity, elegance, refinement, opulence and complexity and character. It's more than flawless, it's stunning in every sense of the word. There is such a beauty and purity of fruit in this wine, it's hard to believe. Even better, it's pure hedonism as well. With an hour or 2 of decanting, this is drinking right where it needs to be. For the 1%'s, this is a wine they should be buying.
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Fabulous nose with white and black pepper, minty notes, light tar, faint funk and background eucalyptus. Ripe red and black cherry on the palate with herbal and green notes on the back of the palate with air time. Have had better bottles but this was a very good food/wine experience. Paired with lamb cassoulet. 1 hour 45 minute decant. 95+
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This was a very good, but not great bottle of what can often be a 100 Pt wine. Not that I'm complaining. The nose was off the hook with its earthy, floral, tobacco, sweet cherry and fresh herb profile. But on the palate, the wine fell a bit shorter than it can deliver at its best.
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An elegant, pretty, and fairly restrained bottle from a normally exuberant producer. This really shows the Cab Franc with a feminine, green-pepper-dominated nose, along with notes of perfume and cinnamon. Medium-plus body, silky texture, well-disguised tannins that you don't notice until after swallowing. I think I'd've guessed Rougeard for this blind. A very classy claret, and if you'd told me it was a shoulder-vintage CB I'd totally believe it. But I'd've expected a lot more fireworks from the 1990. No perceptible flaws, just bottle variation I suppose.
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One of my favorite wines, this also wasn't quite up to previous bottles, but only by a hair. A very powerful wine that is open for business, this is just so complete and compelling. I'm down to one bottle, damn.
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At a White Horse Tavern in the north country: Fantastic wine, rich and light at the same time. There is cocoa and chocolate here, but it is never too much, and the firmness and majestic sculpture of the wine remains intact. Right up there with the best wines, I have ever tasted.
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Tasted at Spectrum pre-auction tasting in San Diego. Decanted. Clear medium blood-garnet color. Classic bouquet of fresh red fruit, truffles, dried porcini mushrooms, dried roses, and leather seats of an old Porsche. Silky smooth, refined, aristocratic, supremely balanced, power without weight.
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Bordeaux in Bern (Bern, Switzerland): Caramel, brown sugar and shiitake mushroom. This was certainly quite enjoyable, but given prior examples and the overall context of the tasting, this was ultimately a bit disappointing.
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Wine Dinner Extravaganza (North Lincoln Avenue Loft - Chicago IL): Popped and poured. Served alongside Latour and Margaux 1990. Lots of powerful black plum and berry flavors with brown spice follow enticing spice and floral aromatics. Both great depth and length.
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Cheval Blanc and D'Yquem dinner with Pierre Lurton and Bernard Burtschy (Taberna del Alabardero, Washington D.C.): The nose was very 90 in that it displayed mostly ripe slightly dry black fruits like the 90 Margaux or the 90 Leoville Poyferre. It was also very Cheval Blanc with noticeable Cab Franc impression, ash and strong presence of mineral. Expressive hedonistic dark fruit driven nose, dry blackberry, cassis, lavender, lead pencil, exotic spices and mineral. Excellent concentration, unctuous, hedonistic sweet black fruit driven palate impression, noticeable structure with bright acidity and noticeable sweet tannins and lovely long incredibly sweet finish. Really enjoyable wine with very promising future. FWIW, it is very 90 so if very ripe fruit bothers you and you don’t care for the 90 Bordeaux, stay away. I imagine this would be a legend that closely resembling the 47 Cheval Blanc in another twenty years.
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Just great. Fully mature. Dark ruby color with some slight caramel. Nose opened properly after an hour of airtime. Plum with some subtle exotic flowers. That classic old BDx character in the nose that I can never find the right words for: leather or cigar box I suppose. Intense and fully satisfying on the palatte with dark fruits being most prominent. Smooth smooth mouthfeel and long finish. Awesome.
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just an amazing wine that's not losing any steam. On this night it had a chocolate raspberry/cherry core with a hint of pine that was mouth coating and persistent. Still packed with fruit, energetic and light on its feet at 25, not doing the fade that 1982 did
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What's not to like? Although for the price today, I just think 1990 Burgundy and Rhones offer a more complex experience... Yes, this was so smooth... Maybe I didn't open it long enough before we drank it. We did decant it... But I would never pay the price today for this! Thank goodness had the foresight years ago to buy a couple of cases!
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1990 Cheval Blanc is so sexy, it should be illegal. Pure decadence in the glass does not do this justice. Luscious, velvety, pure, fresh and ostentatious, this is a stunning bottle of wine that can leave a talkative taster speechless.
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perfect time to drink this gem with our Colorado rack of lamb. Possessing gobs of cassis and blackberries with some licorice on the side. Only one more bottle left. Sigh!
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Sensational bdx. Dark purple color. Dark fruit and cigar box. Full bodied and replete. Intense flavor with a stinging and slightly lifted finish. Complexity/minerality would merit a higher score, but this wine is killer.
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A stunning wine in every sense. The explosive nose serves up black and blue fruits, truffle, tobacco, blackberries, flowers and forest scents. The texture is silk and velvet. If that does not grab you, the finish lingers and expands. Bottled decadence.
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Bordal chez PG (100% Bordeaux) (Collex-Bossy (Genève)): Exceptionnel! Le 5ème vin de la série et le plus hédoniste. Découvert qu'il s'agissait de Saint-Emilion. Un nez de rêve qui est monté en puissance tout au long de la soirée... à tel point que je m'en suis servi 3 fois! En bouche, le vin montre beaucoup d'opulence tout en restant d'un grand classicisme, sans doute servi par la droiture du cabernet franc à parfaite maturité. A boire et à garder. Mon n°1.
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This is an orgasm in a glass. There is no better way to express how sexy, sensuous, silky and decadent this wine is. Perfect in every way from the start, through to the long, expansive, lingering finish, this is what pure hedonism is all about.
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Cheval Blanc tasting (30 different vintages) at the Rheingau Gourmet Festival 2014: rubin red color; pomme de granate, bread and herbs; medium body; smooth texture; long finish.
Very balanced.
Vintages 1st flight: 1985-1986-1988-1989-1990
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(Blind) Klar dyp rød, med oransje kant. Dyp, mørksvart og kompleks nese med lakris, krydder og mørke røde bær. Tørr, konsentrert og strukturert frukt med hinsides dybde. Tett, fokusert og utrolig elegant. Frisk, saftig syre. Tørr utgang med faste, finkornede og elegante tanniner. Nydelig lengde med dype, forførende toner av mørke bær og krydder. Nydelig, men trenger tid.
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1990 Bordeaux Horizontal: Blind. Structured and subdued on the nose, very elegant on the nose; in the mouth it is very fresh, some bell peppers, pronounced but well integrated tannins. Most balanced and elegant. Extraordinary complex finish. Long life ahead.
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Lazy Sunday group Holiday dinner (The Grill Room at Capella Hotel Georgetown): Initially Cab Franc driven nose, ash, smoke and lead pencil. With air, intense ripe black fruits, flowers, mineral and earth. Excellent concentration, chewy, layered fruits and extremely long finish. This is an exotic and decadent wine that has a big upside potential.
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Drank at our 'Anything 1990' Dinner this was by far the wine of the night. Incredibly complex, open and exotic nose of red and black fruit, spice, violet, earth, mushrooms and slight mocha notes. The palate was deep and rich great fruit and some herbal notes. Plush and velvety in the mouth. Big, but not heavy. The finish stayed with me for days. The texture and completeness are just superb. A real treat.
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HDH '90 vs '00 BDX Comparative Tasting (Chicago, IL - Spiaggia): Maybe the best nose of the night with exotic cab franc notes really stealing the slow. The palate was very ripe almost pushing towards pruney, and was quite soft and round in comparison to the other '90's. Fantastic wine overall, but the softness and ripeness of the palate makes me wonder if it's at peak? I've had few CB's, so keep that in mind. A-
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Licorice, flowers, dark chocolate covered, black raspberries and plums with over ripe black cherry scents is the first thing you notice. What keeps your attention riveted to your glass is the pure silk and polished velvet, opulent and even decadent textures. The finish must last for at least 60 seconds!
Served at one of those marathon tastings with so many great bottles, stunning wines are often lost in the mix. The 1990 Cheval Blanc stood out from the pack, grabbed my interest and never let go. Insanely expensive, but with good reason. This is about as good as a wine gets. I do not have the funds to go out and buy more, but I would never sell my bottles. This wine was so good, just writing up the tasting note brings a smile to face remembering the wine.
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Beautiful wine. At first glance it is a very deep red with the edges having almost a hint of brown. The nose taste after first opening had beautiful fruit notes. I let it decant for about 30 mins before I revisited it. It opened up wonderfully, some of the initial fruit notes mellowed out to a lovely spices in both the nose and palette. The 1990 is head over heals better then the only other Cheval Blanc I've had the 85' though the 85' was delicious also. Usually I like to enjoy my wine instead of analyze it, so this is just what i remember. I absolutely loved it, definitely one of the best wines I've ever had.
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Explosive aromas find their way from the glass with an array of scents ranging from truffle, coconut, spice box, cherry blossom and earth, to tobacco and sweet, plums. Silky tannins give the wine an incredibly sensuous texture, as the wine glides effortlessly across the palate. The wine has depth, concentration and the structure to age and develop for decades.
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Called blind. Bordeaux hinting at a great Burgundy/ Rhone. Clearly different in color (darker), texture (obtuse and silky), and flavor (fruit forward) from the '89 Lynch and '90 Ausone at the same tasting. Texture was polished fruit and licorice melted down. A combination of red and dark fruit clearly overshadowed any secondary notes as I cannot remember those. Obviously fat but the mandarin oranges told me that there was great acidity even though probably greater extraction. Maybe a little residual sugar made this wine so seductive in the midpalate, but who cares. A uniquely amazing bottle of wine. The nobility showed through in spades.
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This gorgeous wine needed a serious decant before showing itself. Then a fabulous nose of sweet black earth and black minerals with hints of dark chocolate and spices. On the palate, it is full-bodied with real depth of flavors that echo the nose. Finishes firm but also very complex as the secondary flavors are just starting to show up with incredible notes of dark spices, plums, black licorice, dark chocolate, etc. A great Cheval Blanc that is another very decadent 1990 but is maturing slowely and I think this will be a close to 100 points in another 10 years. 96+
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Bottle of Pain dinner (Ibiza, New Haven, CT): Jawdroppingly great. A spectacular fragrance that starts with green herbal and forestal notes framing rich fruit, cedar and cigar smoke, and with air it becomes increasingly exotic and spicy. There's tremendous intensity and power on the palate yet there's stunning balance and finesse, a flamboyant spiciness to the flavours and incredible length with the savoury and spicy flavours lingering long after each sip. Thrilling wine.
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Østkantsmaking: Klar, dyp, mørk rød. Aldeles nydelig og sødmefull nese av roser, røde bær, plommer, søt tobakk og kanel. Bløt, fyldig, dyp og mørk frukt. Generøs og intens. Fast struktur og tørr avslutning med svært lang ettersmak. 96/97 P
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Powerful, rich, dense, exotic and sensuous in texture, the wine opens with a compelling blast of licorice, smoke, leather, blackberry, forest floor, earth and black cherry jam. This is about as good as a wine gets. Tasted blind, with only 15-20 minutes to spend with the glass, I image the wine would score even higher if it were allowed to develop in the glass during the night. Drink it now, of age or cellar it for another 10-15 or 20 years, this is a rock start bottle of Cheval Blanc.
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it's infrequent that a wine hits 100 points for me, but the 90 Cheval did just that. It was stunning from start to finish, clearly outperforming a group of very strong Bordeaux and outright shaming the 90 Lafite. Unfortunately I don't have tasting notes and it was a long night of drinking...this Cheval has everything one can want in a wine - concentration, complexity, a weightless quality and length.
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100 Point Wine Dinner: I initially gave this a 93 but it improved significantly over the evening. copper around the edge with a hint of tart but very smooth and light velvet. The finish is not right at the moment - moves to being acidic initially. Just not in perfect balance
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Superb wine - one I will not soon forget. Although I am writing this months after drinking, I remember well the earthy, pepper and vegetable fragrance it had...I could pick it out every time. The taste was just as impressive, and consistent with the nose, heavy soil, green pepper, backed with some flower and ripe fruit...Long finish. Drinking well now, and still good to go probably for some time.
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A delicious drinking experience. The bouquet was extremely floral tonight, which i wasn't expecting at all but found incredibly pleasing. Once i started drinking it the wine shifted gears with the Cab Franc taking over and proving an exotic quality to complement the lush richness of the merlot.
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At the 12/19 Acker BYOB and thanks to Fred! This has to be one of the greatest Bordeaux ever, especially at this stage. It took about an hour and a half to fully open up and just kept getting better and better. Much more expressive than the last time 2 years ago. Why don't more Chateaux use Cabernet Franc? It's really much more elegant and delicious than CS, and even more complex in the right soil. This blew away all the other Bordeaux served last night and might have only been equalled/bested by two mags respectively of Grands Echezeaux, the '71 from Drouhin and the '59 from Remoissenet.
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Best bottle @ Ely (Ely wine bar Dublin): Incredible wine. This sat in the glass with beautiful smell of black tea, rum, plums, red fruit jam, perfectly ripened smell. Then in the palate it went on... powerful, thick and long long long! This is at it's peak and it's going to stay there for a while. Most importantly: I love it. Served blind and I guessed 1990 Ausone while Jim guessed 1989 Ausone. Good stuff!!
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Dinner at Eric's with Roland/Louisa (Eric's home): somewhat reticent to start off with, but came to life after an hour in decanter. plump and silky, with coffee and mocha. very feminine, esp when paired with the 90 montrose.
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Lots of power, dark berries and sweet tobacco (but not overdone), even some cinnamon; in the moth it is very powerful and concentrated, fresh acidity, long and complex. Still development ahead. Rating for now.
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Dark red-violet. Powerhouse nose of cassis, menthol, floral notes, licorice, leather, cigar. Pinpoint balance of the structure, between firm and voluptuous. Overwhelms the palate with ripe cassis liquor, menthol and tobacco. Finishes with the same, in waves. Our last. Bottle #4 of four.
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opened for 2 hours (kept at 55) and then decanted for 2 hours and started to truly show itself at about 4 hours. Probably would have gotten better, but we drank it all. Ripe, with sweet black fruits, multilayered complexity, leather, mint and incredibly rich, silky and utterly delicious. I love this wine, but it has years to go and needs at least a 4 hour decant.
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Deep, dark and filled with fresh plums, flowers, truffles, chocolate and coconut, that reminded me of an almond joy candy bar with hints of black cherries. Luscious, soft, sexy, refined elegance with a sense of purity. This intense, decadent wine coats your palate with plush, ripe, black and red fruits. The long finish is seamless. Along with the perfect 2000, this remains my favorite current of Cheval Blanc.
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Dark ruby. Powerful, complex nose of berries, charred wood, menthol, licorice, leather, roses. Luscious texture and deeply concentrated flavor. An extended finish of mint, herbs, vanilla and fruit that just hangs on and on. Dazzling. The finest Bordeaux I've had in five years, yet it might even get better with more age. Bottle #3 of four.
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With an intoxicating perfume of fresh truffles, tobacco, ripe plums, smoke, coconut and kirsch, this wine grabs your attention. Full bodied and concentrated with exotic, velvety, decadent textures, the wine finishes with a sensuous, kinky black cherry and kirsch component. As good as it is, this will only get better wine more time!
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At the WineWorkshop BYOB Tribeca Grill dinner. One of the greats. Tasted along with the 1989 Haut Brion and the 1982 Cheval Blanc, and several extraordinary grand cru burgs, this showed an intense nose of beautiful rounded coffee, and a melange of sweet berries, with ripe tannins, perfect acidity and great midpalate density. I am sure this wine will last for another 25 years, as it is just entering its' peak of maturity. Compared to the Haut Brion, admittedly a beautiful but somewhat delicate wine, the Cheval Blanc really stood out IMHO. It combines all the qualities of classic Bordeaux: power, finish, complexity, length. Now if we could just get back to another bull market, maybe I could buy some!
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Objects, and Wines, of Vertu (Christie's - New York City): Quite floral (lilacs, roses) on the nose with a minty aroma in the background. A sweet clove spice comes through as well. In the mouth, it's quite rich and full-bodied with beautifully fresh acidity and chewy but smooth tannins. Long finish. A
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Some Musignys with Friends (Chicago IL): Beautiful red plum and berry on the nose with bits of cocoa, espresso, and some wet leaves. Soft as velvet on the palate with ripe fruits, earth, and a touch of leather. Great finish. Showing very well tonight.
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This is one of my favorite wines of all time and every bottle that I've ever had has been just about perfection. This bottle unfortunately was drunk on a night in Philly that was 98 degrees in a restaurant whose AC was on the blink and it was no cooler than 86 degrees in the dining room. We had to keep the bottle in ice just to keep it at a reasonable temperature. Not the optimal way to drink 90 Cheval. Having said that, the wine was still incredible.
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From 375, and a perfect bottle. This is what 90 Cheval is all about. Quintessential Cheval, with the carmel overtones, and an earthiness that is inescapably 90 Cheval. Perfect.
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Wine Guy Weekend Chez Doktas Take 2; 11/7/2008-11/8/2008 (Collingwood, Ontario): Wine Guy Weekend 2 chez Dokta's. Nose of bell peppers and cassis. Palate is pure elegance, suave and velvety. Shows such class and pedigree. Long and complicated. Nothing stand out in the wine but it all comes together so well that it shines. Great bottle. Long long cassis finish. Will age effortlessly for another 5-10 years. Wine of the weekend.
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Wino Guys Weekend (WGW) #2; 11/7/2008-11/8/2008: Dark ruby colour. Aromas of blackberry, black cherry, bramble, and mineral. Nothing really stands out on the medium-full bodied palate, but is a completely seamless wine that shows gorgeous elegance and complexity. Outstanding length on the finish, ~50s, and good fruit and a bit of black olive with time. An absolute stunner; like drinking liquid velvet. What a treat!
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Exotic was the first descriptor that came to mind. The aromatics exploded from the glass in every direction. Spices and herbs blend with exotic, very ripe red fruit notes to produce a perfume demanding to be bottled. The next sensation is the stunning voluptuously and layered palate presence that offers a seamless finish. This is better than the more expensive 82 which seems to fade a little bit every time I taste it.
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Tasting Group Dinner - Cheval Blanc at Heidi's (Heidi's, Minneapolis): From magnum. Enchanting nose of black fruit, soy, and a hint of dill. The palate is ripe and a touch spicy, showing concentrated dark fruit, a touch of caramel, and dark chocolate. Picked up weight and structure in the glass. There was a slightly green, herbal streak to this that someone compared to Pichon Lalande, which sums it up perfectly -- this is definitely showing some serious Cabernet Franc character. Beautifully silky texture. Ripe tannins on the finish, which wasn't quite as long as I was expecting. I don't have a benchmark comparison since this was my first taste of 90 Cheval, but several tasters seemed to think this was a slightly off bottle.
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Cheval at Heidi's: From magnum. Double decanted for about four hours and then fully decanted for about six hours. The color is a dense, dark red. The nose gives a big dose of carmel and vanilla along with red fruit, espresso, and dill (who mixed the Pichon Lalande with my Cheval?). The taste is dominated by red fruit with some chocolate/coffee notes. Extremely concentrated and big yet balanced thanks to formidable structure. Silky smooth. Lacking in complexity at the moment but I'm confident this will fill in with additional time in the cellar. I tasted the 1990 from 375 last fall and it was showing much better than this bottle. Let your bottles and magnums sleep awhile longer.
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A decadent 30th birthday for Justin Wells (Sammamish, WA): Wow, what an exotic nose! Green notes of Cab Franc, coconut, vanilla, so utterly distinct from the 1986 Mouton and 1989 Haut-Brion. This was just so idiosyncratic and with time in the glass this picked up soy, chocolate and gained more and more of a Merlot personality. Wow, wow, wow! Does anything else taste or smell like this? Really picking up weight and gaining a rich, chocolaty, right bank personality.
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Kitchen Tasting Group Does Beaver Creek – Day Two: My third time with this wine, and the best yet. From half bottle. Maybe serving this after all the Burgudy helped me fully appreciate it. Or maybe the half bottle format meant this wine was a bit more developed. Either way, the nose delivered soaring aromas including white chocolate, carmel and red fruit. In the mouth this is concentrated with great texture -- elegant and silky. Perfect balance. Great finish. I felt so fortunate to be sitting among good friends at a perfect setting and sipping such a divine wine. Thanks Brad.
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Good but slightly fading color. Gorgeous nose of black fruits, roasted nuts and this fantastic blanket of perfumed Cheval earth. Wow, what an incredibly smooth texture that's like liquid velvet. This is a classic, middle-aged Cheval Blanc that's medium to full bodied with delicious black fruit flavors and strong mineral notes. Finishes with a second dimension of complex, earthy flavors that are hard to describe but seem to combine roasted nuts, graphite, liquid slate and sweet soil. There's also a bit of crisp acidity on the finish which makes me think this wine needs a bit more time. It absolutely baths itself over a Lobel's sirloin. While I tend to think this wine is a bit overrated, tonight it is singing.
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This was an exceptional bottle. I double decanted the wine an hour before leaving for dinner. By the time we poured this at the restaurant is was ready. Wonderfully balanced with leather, tobacco and medium dark berry flavors.
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Good color, little thinning. Spicy, bell pepper, white pepper, good red fruit retro nasal, perfect balance but stale background (suspect storage), 20 second finish to cocoa and tea.
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Roasted coconut is the first smell greeting your nose followed by a mélange of red and black fruit with herbs. In this flight, the Cheval seemed lighter and slightly more developed than the other wines. Cheval’s opulent, voluptuous, accessible style can be enjoyed now, but based on where this wine’s at, and previous older bottles of Cheval, I’m willing to bet this wine evolves for decades.
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Offline with Jonathan Dinh (Seattle, WA): This was my WOTN featuring a crazy nose that evolved constantly for 5 hours. Gunpowder, Asian spice, caramel, cocoa and tea leaf, incredibly expressive and distinct. Wow, what a palate, explosive, crackling with mineral intensity, downright sexy stuff. This started out so very spicy and was a bit rough initially, but it smoothed out incredibly. Surprisingly perky acidity. OMFG, this is getting so sexy the longer it aerates. Plush, plush wine!
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TWC 3-Year Anniversary Dinner (Chez Splat, Markham, Canada): Dark garnet colour. Aromas of cigar box, blackcurrant, herbs, leather, and toffee. Full-bodied, amazing palate showing cedar box, herbs, and licorice. Really love the texture. Long finish, 50+ seconds, with blackcurrant and leather notes. Fantastic!
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Dinner with He Who Must Not Be Named (Jim Clary's): Full coffee red color. Big briar red fruit, cedar, and pencil lead on the nose (didn't we just LEAVE Paulliac here?!?). Tight black coffee fruit on the palate. Group and my WOTF.
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Dark red in colour, clear and bright. Upon opening straight from the Eurocave, I detected a sweet savoury bouquet which had me searching for an appropriate descriptor until I thought of white chocolate. The nose kept changing with air and as the wine warmed to room temp. Cherry, raspberry........certainly red fruits. The cherry note was repeated on the palate...........sweet cherry. Good balance and length.
I preferred the 90 to the 82. My wife preferred the 82.
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1985 Cheval and 1990 Cheval. Continuing our Cheval theme of last night, tonight we had 90 and 85. The 85 was first. I continue to think that 85 bordeaux is drinking exceptionally well right now. The 85 was simply a pleasure, with the typical Cheval taste, and that something extra that I've enjoyed in recent 1985 Cheval's. The 90 was spectacular. I've had a lot of this wine, and in the late 90's it was my favorite Cheval. But I've had some less than perfect bottles over the years as well. This wine you could call a meal. It was chewy, each sip was a mouthful, and it had that caramel flavor that was so incredible. Its somewhat of a freak, I must say. But yummy.
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Cheval Blanc with Brad England and Scott Manlin: The color is dark red. This is much darker than any of the other Cheval Blanc tasted. The nose shows an overpowering smell of caramel and vanilla. In the mouth this is full bodied. The wine is extremely concentrated. The wine coats the mouth and the finish goes on for a long time. All the necessary elements are there, but they really haven't integrated. The nose is more overpowering than exotic. The taste is big but not nearly as complex as the other wines tasted. We retasted this after dinner, and it had improved. This wine is still on the upside of maturing, and is likely to develop into something spectacular.
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This is so opulent, complex, rich, sensual and seamless. Can wine get any better than this? The fruit glides across your palate and awakens all your senses. This is what elegance in a wine is all about.
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Wine and Dinner with Brad England and Scott Manlin (Brad England's House): Served after dinner (and after five other bottles of wine) with minimal decanting. The color was a brighter red than the preceding wines. The nose was expressive, with flavors of red fruit and white chocolate. In the mouth this was medium bodied, with mild fruit, and a good (not long) finish. Scott thought this bottle was corked. He had had this wine within the last three weeks and indicated that this bottle was very different from what we had. I did not detect any cork, but would have expected more from a 1990 Cheval Blanc. I'll defer to his judgement. Probably an off bottle, but it was a treat to try anyway.
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HDH Pre-Auction Tasting (Chicago Athletic Club): Wine tasting. Black fruit and floral aromatics with some of that alluring Cabernet Franc backward spice. Flavors of ripe fruit - plum, black cherry and kirsch. Huge wine from beginning to end with lots of spice throughout. Everything wonderfully in balance. Exactly as I remember from when tasted last year.
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Kensington Wine Tasting, Before and During Auction (The Pump Room - Chicago IL): Tasting. Superbly concentrated fruit aromatics with great floral support. Ripe plum, black cherry and cocoa on nose, these flavors continue onto the palate. Finish shows a bit cherry liqueur character as well. Acidity and tannins are large but balanced and help provide more length and texture. Kept getting better and better with time.
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Tasted at Bonham's and Butterfields 82 vs. 90. vs. 2000 tasting Mine and the group's WOTN. Elegant and complex aromas of violets, blueberries, another flower I couldn't quite put my finger on, black cherries, a bit of cedar this wine seemed to change every moment in the glass. A wonderful mouthfeel and an elegant finish that lasted for close to sixty seconds. Very well balanced.
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'A Taste for Life' hosted by WineCommune (San Francisco, CA): This had many people gasping, and I can see the charm. The nose was spicy and exotic, very different from every other wine with notes of cream and vanilla wafting amidst a sea of spice. The palate followed the nose with an intriguing combination of spicy and sweet fruit. This really came together very nicely in the glass after an initially slow start.
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Dark red with slight clearing at the rim. Sweet scents of vanilla, ribena juice, and oak. There were also hints of cassis. Very powerful, dense and concentrated with an almost brutally intense flavour impact. Very low in acid and with a warm and embracing character. I had this wine pegged as a Californian cabernet, perhaps Shafer Hillside Select - my favourite American wine - as I did not pick up any classic Bordeaux notes. There was no tobacco, no leather, no lead pencil, and to be frank, I found this wine to be somewhat lacking in structure. But for sheer hedonistic pleasure, this wine is hard to beat. On a previous try with this wine I have found it to be classic, although decadent, St. Emilion and rated it 1 This bottle was different.
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Dark red in the glass. From the glass emerges huge scents of vanilla, caramel, and chocolate truffle. Also rich scents of flowers and jam. Sweet and chocolate-like on the palate. Like liquid Valrhôna. Very dense flavour and a texture that is silk-like and smooth - completely seemsless and caressing, all the while filling out on the palate completely. Formidable concentration combined with finesse, style and class. The finish lasts forever. In fact, I can still taste it.
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Seattle Tasting Group does 1990 Bordeaux (Woodinville, WA, USA): Group average 92.375 and #2 WOTN. Dustiness with not much on the nose at first. With time a certain medicinal element comes out, and this seems to be gaining a great deal in the glass. On the palate this has surprising sweetness with an earthy, smoky element. My notes says I found this to be a bit thin yet still beautiful and balanced. I found the finish to be medium yet pretty. All in all, the wine underwhelmed me with the component parts, yet somehow it held together in a remarkably balanced and elegant way. This is why I love blind tasting--had I known what it was surely I would have rated it higher. A number of other tasters suggested that this improved quite dramatically in the glass after we moved on to other flights.
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Wine Library California bottle. Fabulous this time. Shiny bright color. Huge sexy fragrance of crushed red cherries and assorted red fruits. Fabulous, luscious, sweet. Still primary.
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Cheval Blanc vertical at Palme d’Or Miami. Surprisingly anonymous. Good weight and mouth feel but that special spark of personality is missing. But tonight overwhelmed by not only the ‘47 but also the ‘82.
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Medium ruby, no sediment. Fabulously sexy open fleshy fruity wine. The nose suggests over-ripeness - prunes, black cherries, vanilla. Soft and supple. Viscous. Not a wine of structure, this is Right Bank. Luscious. Concentrated but not powerful. Ready now. But K didn’t like it.
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Tasted in the cellar of Jim Poet. Deep ruby color with red/brick rim. Intense, "brambly" nose with predominant currants and clove. Medium body, low acid, similar flavors as nose. Medium supple tannins. Long finish. Nice, but paled in comparison to the 1990 Latour which was poured alongside.
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Jim’s bottle, from a great tasting of mostly ‘89/‘90 Bordeaux. Very distinctive spice and fruit, very Cheval Blanc. Delicious, even exquisite, fruit, breed and class. Flamboyant. Exciting and sweet. Tied for first for me with ‘82 and ‘90 Latour.
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Great Wine Seminar.Splendid bouquet of spicy new oak and ripe fruit. Nicely rounded tannins. Long. Excellent future. Serena Sutcliffe: “raw wood, opulent.” David Peppercorn: “exceptional bouquet.”
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3/3/2024 - aquacongas wrote: flawed
corked
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3/1/2024 - dream wrote:
Good bottles of this are off the charts now but I believe the one I was served was ever so slightly corked. No one else noticed but I'm highly sensitive. Either way, it didn't live up to previous bottles for me so no rating. Comanderie Edwardian dinner 2/29/24
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3/1/2024 - ricknat1 Likes this wine: 98 Points
This wine has final come into its own. While it has not reached its peak, after 4 hours and 30 minutes open it started powerfully, clearly the best wine of the night. After a while I found the tannins to creep back in but the drinking window has opened and while this wine will improve for 20 years plus it’s a pleasure now
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2/16/2024 - sdr Likes this wine: 93 Points
One of the best showings for the variable ‘90 Cheval Blanc. Interesting complex flavors of dark fruit and minerals. Nice finish. Perhaps additional bottle age will create more nuance, depth and details but fine to drink now.
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1/27/2024 - LW31 Likes this wine:
Shared by a generous friend. This was magnificent. Perfect depth and fruit with vraiment Cheval Blanc character. Hard to beat. Should be at peak for decades. Give it a few hrs of air for best results.
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1/24/2024 - johnh1001 wrote: 98 Points
Another amazing bottle.
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1/19/2024 - paul195 wrote: 97 Points
Cheval Dinner at Popina Cellar … included were 82,86,88,89,90,98… First bottle of case purchased on release. Decanted @ 3:00 served @ 7:30… this was one of those wines that filled immediately presented itself as soon as I pulled the cork testing the bottle for soundness. Within minutes the room with its fruity bouquet before I bothered to decant it…. Dense, rich layers of fruit brightened by fine tannins and acidity. This improved through the evening sowing more and more complexity and richness. All attending agreed this was the wine of the night, I also thought the bouquet of the 1989 was spectacular.
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12/22/2023 - johnh1001 wrote: 97 Points
An amazing example of this wine. Purple fruit and crazy violet. So ripe and fresh. Long decant helps
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12/2/2023 - Eric wrote:
ESTG Year-End Tasting (Newcastle, WA): Mmmm coffee. Gorgeously pure red fruit. Graphite. Really fresh and special. Mmm, bloody, juicy, so much fruit, super silky, ripe and long.
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12/2/2023 - Canon wrote: 98 Points
Absolutely stunning ! The wine of the evening.
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11/16/2023 - hprphf wrote: 97 Points
Premier Cru Table (The Fifth Avenue Hotel): Super. Stunning balance and body, even better than pervious few bottles. 97+
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10/9/2023 - fcxj wrote: 94 Points
Elegant, pure fruit.
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9/22/2023 - hprphf wrote: 95 Points
Not decanted. Pepper, chocolate, cassis, dark whole berries, jungle fruit, chewy and large with decades away before its prime. 95+
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9/22/2023 - kr522 wrote: 98 Points
Consistent with prior experiences….it started slow because it was cold, but really blossomed as it warmed. Full on at it’s current state, I don’t think this gets better unless you’re the type that prizes tertiary character. If you have it, enjoy it here and now
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7/13/2023 - kr522 wrote: 97 Points
Brought it out for a special occasion with wife and two cousins who are neophytes. No one knew what this was other than “Bordeaux”, and it was fun to watch everyone experience it and love it. It didn’t last long which is the only shame
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6/8/2023 - Magnum PI Likes this wine: 95 Points
Brookie and I drank this bottle from her birth vintage, on her birthday, at V. Mertz, prior to the Matchbox 20 concert. I purchased this bottle many years ago, and have been looking forward to drinking it on a special occasion, which this certainly was. This bottle has been touted as a "wow" experience, a "future legend", and other superlatives. I found it to be nothing of the sort. Very good, enjoyable, but nothing all that remarkable. Very balanced and well-integrated, with a very dominant note of green pepper, which just didn't work for me. The class was undeniable, the finish was above average. There was nothing about it that took it from a very good bottle to the next level. Brookie thought it was exceptionally good, and perhaps the best bottle she has ever had. Ah, Brookie. Happy birthday.
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6/3/2023 - spendergast Likes this wine: 99 Points
This wine continues to drink beautifully, notes of dense fruit, cassis, game, with soft and well integrated tannins, all nicely balanced. Very long satisfying finish. Paired with grilled lamb chops.
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5/29/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine: 99 Points
Insanely good. This is like celebrating life at one of those summer night parties at the mediteranean, with a bunch of unspoiled beautiful souls.
In all its abundance and sumptuousness it has a deep, but subtlest core of bloodorange, incredibly rich, smooth and harmonious, feast of summer fruit, a true love fest. Tantalizing. The aftertaste lasts more than a few minutes really, and rolls ashore like waves of sumptuous fruit. If my last moment in life could just be like this.
At its very high and long peak and still lots of life to celebrate here.
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5/27/2023 - djhammond Likes this wine: 100 Points
Wow!!! I'm a Cheval Blanc groupie and this surpasses any other vintage I've tried. The nose is probably the most sensuous experience I've encountered with multi-layered aromas of old leather, violet, ripe cherry, and hints of bell pepper. It possesses a silky mouthfeel with incredible depth and complexity, and a finish which is 60+ seconds with perfect balance. In my limited 100 points experience this is up there with the absolute best, and I suspect there is still upside. It still benefits from an hour in the decanter.
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5/20/2023 - sdr Likes this wine: 91 Points
While perfectly pleasant and enjoyable this Cheval doesn’t deliver the fireworks that some vintages do. There is definite rust at the edges. Medium weight, mature and concentrated. The Cabernet Franc shows in the slightly green and leafy flavors. Modest aroma and length. While not roasted the fruit could be fresher.
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4/3/2023 - burlingtonm Likes this wine: 97 Points
Vertical from 1966 to 2014 at Wine Watch. My WOTN: in a perfect drinking window, rich fruit, lovely balance with a long, long finish.
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2/14/2023 - JJYoyo Likes this wine: 99 Points
1.5 hour decant. Last bottle and the cosmos saved the best for last. The forensic list of smells and tastes are similar to my last encounter: cassis/raspberry compote/blackberry, tobacco leaf, burning peat, roses, leather, grass, and on and on. However this time everything was more sharply delineated and focused - hence more specific notes this time. Tannins are still very strong giving the the wine a formidable backbone. At the same time the wine goes down like liquid silk - an amazing contrast of smoothness and structure I encounter rarely. Finish goes on forever. Balance is just - impeccable.
This is why we drink claret.
Why only 99? Two reasons: 1. I have actually had a better Cheval Blanc (1953). 2. After a lot of time in the glass - oh yes, you want to enjoy this slowly - eventually a slight bitter edge creeps into the finish. But this is fricken quibbling and probably a reflection of my crappy decanting rather than the wine.
This bottle was at its peak. This is a seriously outperforming 1990. Wow.
Score: 99-100. Relative to expectations: +++
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1/20/2023 - Jeff Leve wrote: 100 Points
You could not ask for more in a bottle. The perfume with its blend of spices, espresso, flowers, smoke, cocoa, tobacco, wild cherries, plums, and ash instantly grabs your focus. On the palate, the wine is pure silk and velvet, which caresses you with its layers of vibrant, earthy, pure, red, and black fruits. The concentrated finish is long, deep, intense, and sensuous, gaining in opulence in the glass. Drink from 2023-2040.
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12/31/2022 - Dibbs Likes this wine: 99 Points
Cork about 30% soaked in but came up clean with the Durand. Wine fill fairly into the neck. Drinking well from the get go but was quiet tight at pop. Brought for dinner and consumed over about 3 hours. It went through phases but at its highest; absolutely mindblowing. Hauntingly beautiful nose of lilac, berries, deep lush forest floor and truffles. The palate full of red berries, leather, tobacco and mocha. Doesn’t have the sweetness that Pomerol gets with age but it’s straddles that left/right bank barrier beautifully. A hint of greeness but nothing overt like you might get in the left bank and such incredible mouthfeel and a finish that goes on for atleast a minute. A monumental statement wine!
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10/2/2022 - Benoit Hardy Likes this wine: 98 Points
With this wine, like any great well-born Bordeaux, the tasting begins on the nose: sandalwood, light vanilla, cigar box, truffles, still bright black fruit... It is a real delight to plunge your nose into it at each time you have the glass in your hand.
In the mouth, the watchword is refinement. The wine is extremely silky, almost Burgundian as it may seem delicate. But at the table, he asserts himself against matured meats, a lord always finds his place naturally. The touch is magnificent, grainy and velvety, with a breathtaking layered complexity. Tobacco mingles with pure black fruit, and then cinnamon and cedar harmoniously compete for the primacy of tobacco, which dominates in the second half. Magnificent balance, with an underlying acidity that indicates the wine can stand the test of time. Grandiose, elegant and refined finish, feminine but assertive which bursts like a great firework over an interminable length.
Great, nothing more to say!
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9/4/2022 - King Julien wrote: 98 Points
Decanted about an hour. Palate complexity was outstanding from the start and continued to evolve for a couple of hours as the wine blossomed, with the nose really showing itself about an hour in.
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8/7/2022 - iainlo@gmail.com Likes this wine: 97 Points
Monumental wine. Alas my last bottle. Incredible nose, but it’s the palate that blows you away. Great depth, complexity and a big lingering finish. Cant ask for anything more from a wine. Pity cant afford anymore!
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7/4/2022 - aquacongas Likes this wine: 99 Points
blind
I was lost in detecting the wine. I was in California. Very "sweet fruit", spicy, violet, balanced, but with a great tannin structure, close to his peak, never ending finish. 99-100
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6/19/2022 - Jimaronson Likes this wine: 97 Points
Mature wine with two minute finish. Sweet cherry fruit and elegant silk on the palet. Slight spice to make it interesting. I decanted it for an hour, but I think a pnp is also a good choice. The wine took on a little weight over the course of four hours. I would have preferred more fruit, but it’s maturity took over. It seems as though the fruit will fade more as time progresses so I would suggest drinking this wine over the next few years. The sooner you consume the more fruit.
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6/3/2022 - Nanda wrote: 95 Points
Side-by-side with Angelus and Clinet. The most regal of the three with serious, intense perfume. Refined, lithe palate has some power but its sneaky and more elegant. I slightly preferred the more masculine Angelus, but this is special to be sure.
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5/5/2022 - kr522 wrote: 99 Points
When you think of the best Bordeaux of the last 50 years this has to be on the short list. This is exotic cab franc bringing another level to the wine, it has everything…fresh, exotic, layered. And it kept building over several hours saving its best for last
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4/29/2022 - dream Likes this wine: 96 Points
A fabulous wine and the best Cheval on the table tonight besting the '82/'85/'98. Layered and silky smooth with the great ripeness and sweetness of the '90 vintage on full display. Still fresh and vibrant with excellent depth of dark fruits and wonderful notes of violet spice and smoky truffles. A very satisfying wine and a great Cheval for drinking now. L'Appart Commanderie dinner.
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4/6/2022 - Jeff Leve wrote: 99 Points
It is the texture of Cheval Blanc that gets me. There is a sensuality here that no other wine offers and with the 1990, it is there in spades. Earthy, with truffles, tobacco wrapper, mint-leaf, red plums and cherries, flowers and spice, the silky, sexy, velvet-textured wine lingers on your palate for close to 60 seconds in its seamless finish. This is drinking at maturity, but well-stored bottles are going to age and evolve for at least another 20-30 years.
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3/18/2022 - grub94 Likes this wine: 97 Points
Great bottle to replace the dead 82 Lafite for my b-day. Bright garnet with some bricking on the rim. Cork was in perfect shape. The nose was enveloping with dark red fruit, and lots of tertiary notes: leather, forest floor, smoke, some white pepper and hints of lavender. Palate had more fruit with some blue berry and tea. Tennis were silky and almost fully resolved. Loved this bottle.
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2/13/2022 - Bobby Burgundy Likes this wine: 98 Points
This bottle perfecto! Absolutely beautiful 90’ Cheval
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2/6/2022 - Rezy13 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Super Bowl 2022 (Alpharetta, GA): A lot lighter crimson core with orange brick rim; truffle, raspberry, celery seed, still an oak signature, sexy and aged, graham cracker, sweet leather, liqueured red currant, truffle, still strong acids but a savoriness, a relenting quality showing some age, mushroom, lithe, elegant and nobly refined; '90 Cheval?
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2/6/2022 - Francophile1 Likes this wine:
Super Bowl 2022 (Alpharetta, GA): Tasted double blind. The nose is ethereal and mesmerizing. Fat and ripe Bordeaux greatness. The finish goes on and on and on. Outstanding wine. I called it '90 1st growth. Turned out to be my wine.
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1/27/2022 - Brolawa Likes this wine:
M&PD dinner at Vendemmia. Final flight of the night (Bordeaux):
1989 Château Haut-Brion
1990 Château Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse)
1990 Château Cheval Blanc
I was dealing with a little long-haul covid, and felt weirdly intoxicated during this flight. So, I’m not going to rate the wines and just offer my limited notes.
My recollection was that all of these approximated 100-point wines; but I was feeling too weird there to be precise here.
1989 Château Haut-Brion
Very much reminded me of the nirvana of the 1990 H-B (which is one of the greatest wine of all time imho). When this wine is on, there is nothing better. How can something be so sophisticated but, at the same time, so sweaty and sexy. Pure but loaded with so much tar and earth.
1990 Château Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse)
I’ve been lucky enough to have a number of bottles of this wine/vintage in the past. This felt like it was a perfect representation of the vintage. It is very concentrated but still light on the palate. The finish is full of fruit and tar. An amazing wine.
1990 Château Cheval Blanc
I have not had much Cheval Blanc, so I was very excited to try this and it did not disappoint. The fruit, smoke and earth all hit you on the nose and don’t let up. I would call this classic Bordeaux but with a complexity that was impossible for me to parse in my weird state. My goal is to have this bottle on its own to focus on everything that is going on.
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1/27/2022 - Eric wrote:
M&PD Tasting: France (Seattle, WA, USA): Smoky, sexy, luscious, coffee, kinky, nice spine to this, gaining intensity with air, edgy and complex.
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12/2/2021 - kr522 wrote: 98 Points
Incredible class, detail, and complexity. Turned everyone’s head when we first drank it and was a wine we kept coming back to and talking about. I’ve had perfect bottles of this and it was right in that zone. Next to a flashy 90 Rayas which might have robbed this of some of its ripe cab franc sexiness, but i slightly preferred this (I think others did too)
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11/20/2021 - hprphf Likes this wine: 96 Points
JK's 50th Birthday: Late night PnP, what a great vintage for Cheval, immediately great, lots of substance. 96
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11/8/2021 - peternelson Likes this wine: 93 Points
Pale amber, rusty color; minty, mineral, med. bodied, older, dry tannins but structured. Notes are not good, but liked this a lot. This tied for my #3 wine of the night. DD Bordeaux 1989-2000 Lawson's Steakhouse
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11/3/2021 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 98 Points
Another perfect bottle from the same case as the 04/28/2021 note and again absolutely incredible. So dense and chocolatey, chocolate covered cherries. Aromatic high notes with sweeter red fruit. Has flickers of Franc green bell pepper. This has more aromatic expression and projection than the ‘82 Lafleur alongside, although that wine is denser and more concentrated than even this. Outstanding.
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9/29/2021 - Bobby Burgundy wrote: flawed
Bottle top broke off oh no
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9/22/2021 - DrZett wrote: 96 Points
Medium garnet colored. Beautiful complex nose with nice tertiary notes like leather, dried tobacco, wet forest floor (clay) and soft red fruit notes. Quite similar on the palate - beautiful ripe red cherries, blueberries, some dark coffee and smoky herbal notes - very seductive. Medium bodied with a fine medium intense acidity. Tannins are beautifully integrated, very sexy mouth feeling. Super elegant structure - perfect overall balance. Amazing complexity but fruit is fading quite fast in the glass. The savory finish is very long and tempting. Simply amazing for a 31 year old wine.
After uncorking a wine I usually try a first sip and then I decide whether to decant the wine or not. Luckily this time we decided not to decant it - decanting would have killed this wine within minutes. I’ll never understand why so many old wines get decanted - just be gentle with them and try to avoid getting the sediment in the glass.
This wasn’t the best bottle I ever had from Cheval Blanc 1990 - but it still was in an amazing shape. Perfect bottles will hold for at least another decade - this bottle was perfect now. In general no need to wait any longer - pop it now, you won’t be disappointed. (IG)
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9/3/2021 - johnh1001 wrote: 98 Points
First bottle from another case. Epic nose and palate. Remarkable right bank.
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9/1/2021 - TheDKALife Likes this wine: 99 Points
Cotton candy bogquet
Old man/suit. Library.
Engine/video game tokens later on.
Base
Spicy after 1.5 hours. Green pepper. Long lasting heat lasting awhile.
Exceptional experience.
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8/12/2021 - fcxj wrote: 88 Points
Slightly off bottle for me, better on palate than nose (cinnamon spice, which was odd).
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7/10/2021 - seea wrote: 93 Points
double decanted for 3 hrs; drank over the next 2 hrs. on the nose - slight green pepper, smoky, oaky, tobacco & a touch of spice. on the palette - vanilla & oak dominate. bit lacking in acid & vibrancy. 93 overall.
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6/30/2021 - Burgundy Al wrote:
A Multi Birthday Celebration (Tocco - Winnetka IL): I expected this to be amongst the top wines of the night, but it was just a little too bretty, with the funk too pronounced even for the great black fruit with great concentration. I had never previously been disappointed with this wine, but tonight it was just good, not great, perhaps 91 points.
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5/30/2021 - King Julien wrote: 96 Points
Decanted 3 hours. Subtle nose from the start which never came around but palate was outstanding for a couple hours.
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4/30/2021 - mark2eye wrote: 95 Points
Drank for birthday dinner. Strong notes if tobacco and cigar box on the entry, lots of dark fruit emerged with some time. Lots of life ahead still.
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4/28/2021 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 98 Points
Right from the get go this nose is absolutely booming and is immediately in your face with the Cabernet Franc high notes and showy detail. Super ripe and sweet showing to the red fruit but has excellent spice and green detail. I see the bell pepper quite clearly along with ferns and violets. On the nose this renders a ’90 Petrus in the next glass quiet as this is just so flamboyant and opulent. Lush and ripe palate too. Youthful darker notes with some coffee detail. This is in an amazing place for drinking right now and imagine good bottles of this will continue to blossom for a long while ahead. Out of the few Bordeauxs this trip, this is what I would like to own most (all?) of going forward.
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3/3/2021 - bookert wrote: 92 Points
Spicy. Concentrated, umami and soy on palette. Slight green, from cab franc?
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2/24/2021 - Montesquieu Likes this wine: 98 Points
Wine with friends: cigar tobacco, green, earth, on upswing
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1/6/2021 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 95 Points
Beautiful layers fruit here. Still gaining its full secondary nuance, this will get better yet. 95-96+
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12/24/2020 - spendergast Likes this wine: 99 Points
I haven't consume a bottle since 2017. Continues to drink beautifully: dense fruit, game, with well integrated tannins, all nicely balanced. Paired perfectly with marinated grilled antelope chops with chile spiked cranberry sauce. A very special wine - perfect for holidays!
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11/28/2020 - joshabramson Likes this wine: 98 Points
So rich and opulent, smooth as silk, tons of ripe fruit. Improved over the night, materially better after 2 hours of air. Very special.
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10/31/2020 - mblatino Likes this wine: 99 Points
One of the finest wine experiences I’ve ever had.
Decanted for about 3 hours before consumption.
Garnet red body with a slight brownish hue.
The nose was fantastic and expressive. Old bdx in it’s most classic form. Leather, cedar wood, cigar box, pencil led and ground coffee.
On the palate it was extremely fresh. Great acidity, lots of dark fruit, leather, fall leaves. Just an enormous amount of depth. And the balance was just fantastic. Perfection – or sure as hell close to it.
We had it head to head with the infamous Mouton 1982 and Cheval 1990 took the win on every parametre.
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10/23/2020 - Jeff Leve wrote: 100 Points
Purity, hedonism, silk and velvet textures produced a wine that is best described as bottled sex. Long, pure, rich and intense, the wine doesn’t know how to quit. And you never want it to. I am sure Calligulus drenched his nights in this nectar. The finish sticks with you in an expanding show of ostentatious characteristics. Yes, I could have written a bunch of adjectives and descriptors here, but you can read those in previous notes I've posted. It is the overall impression you should focus on, as that is what matters most. This bottle was remarkable. Bought on release, stored in a cold, dark cellar and never moved showed provenance counts.
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10/12/2020 - Jimaronson Likes this wine: 100 Points
Decanted after taking out very little sediment. Purchased as a future. Wine was fresh and mature. Took two hours to really come out and as it remained in the glass it surprisingly took on weight until for another two hours. Gone in four hours. Sweet red fruit. Sexy. Just perfect. I gave it 100 because I could ask for no more after two hours. A class act.
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10/10/2020 - tinybubbles wrote:
Underwhelming versus other recent experiences. A lot of ripe fruit here, but did not show well versus the LMHB
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9/19/2020 - Cutthroat Trout wrote: 97 Points
Cork was dry and broke coming out. First impression is how fruit forward the nose is on this bottle of wine. Just a hint of Brett. The color shows some browning around the edge, the nose exhibits plums, leather and a floral character (Rose). Bottle was not decanted. After about 15 minutes the fruit really opened up with plums, currants and blackberries on the palate. Long fruit length of plums and red berries along with notes of chocolate and an herbal savory character. Bright acidity and forward fruit makes this a wine that perhaps could age longer but it is a stunningly great wine right now.
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9/12/2020 - johnh1001 wrote: 98 Points
This is every bit as amazing as it was 3 years ago. Fresh fruit, amazing energy. Just a wonderful St Emilion.
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8/24/2020 - sirpat00 wrote: 93 Points
Bordeaux 1990 horizontal tasting (Fribourg): 1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business or at times closed. Highlights included Figeac, Haut-Brion, Mouton, Calon Ségur – and to my surprise – Marquis de Terme. See tasting story for more take-aways and the complete line-up.
Tasting note
Fine, roasted coffee beans, dark fruit, dried tobacco leaves, other herbal notes. Tannic palate, but not in a bad way, just not ready yet. Muscular build. Fresh and fruity otherwise with a medium+ finish. You can feel the complexity slumbering underneath - but just can’t quite reach it yet. Would very much expect to see me penciling in >95 in 5 or 10 years' time. But for now I'd rather (by far) pop a 2015 bottle than 1990.
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8/22/2020 - fcxj wrote: 96 Points
Plummy, floral, exuberant aromatics. Loved smelling this. Clean palate that's in a great secondary phase, still retaining fruit and yet to yield to cigar and wood.
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7/5/2020 - Ltim BE Likes this wine: 96 Points
H2H blind with Angelus 1990 and Montrose 1990. The Cheval Blanc was clearly the smoothest but the Angelus overclassed it. The Cheval Blanc 1990 on its own is very sexy, smooth, the sweetest of the 3 and very classy.
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7/3/2020 - BillyT wrote: 94 Points
As Johnny G describe, Complex, compelling aromatics: red berries, tar, tobacco, some cedar, savory spices. However, this particular bottle had too much 'bell pepper' which took well over an hour to begin to mellow and integrate. If it were not for the dominance of that expression I would have scored 96+. not sure if it needs more time in bottle or that this bottle was slightly off. It was a gift from my friend for my 70th Bday party and we drank alongside a 2003 DRC RSV which was fantastic in its own right. I do have 2 90 Cheval Blanc in my cellar so I will wait another year or so to try again. GREAT wine in spite of my one sort of negative comment.
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6/26/2020 - fcxj wrote: 94 Points
Clean, black fruited aromatics and palate. Serious length.
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6/15/2020 - dharrison93 Likes this wine: 99 Points
Extraordinary. Drank with friends at a local French restaurant following a splash decant.
Exhilarating nose of plum, blackberries and cherry liqueur dusted with spice, this fully mature claret has years of thrilling drinking again.
Lovely plush mouthfeel preceding an endless finish.
If a date, this was a Harvard PhD who runs a bio-sciences laboratory for GE.
Brains, thrilling beauty and pragmatic common sense. Highly recommended if you can find some.
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5/9/2020 - sdr Likes this wine: 93 Points
Beautiful wine. The Wine Library bottle. Sweet, fragrant, composed, silky, elegant. Tastes more like Merlot than Cabernet Franc. Not a lot of grip or intensity but the dark cherry fruit is totally disarming. Just enough structure to let you know you are in Bordeaux. When they try to do this in California or Italy, it usually turns out vulgar.
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4/15/2020 - fcxj wrote: 96 Points
Floral aromatics. Silky, still and sweet palate. Quite Burgundian. Ready to drink.
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4/12/2020 - JonnyG Likes this wine: 98 Points
A Bordeaux Deep Dive, With Proper Social Distancing; 4/11/2020-4/12/2020 (The Virtual World of Zoom): My third of these beauties, and easily the best. This was evident from the nose alone. Complex, compelling aromatics: red berries, tar, tobacco, some cedar, savory spices. Signature notes of cherry, tobacco and fig, along with more spice, mint, soy sauce and mocha. Just the right acid level, too. Utterly stunning. Served blind to my colleagues, one of whom called the exact producer and vintage.
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4/11/2020 - JJYoyo Likes this wine: 96 Points
Decanted 90 minutes. Initial aromas were heavy on raspberry, leather, clove, raw roast beef, tobacco leaf. A slight touch of VA that blew off. About an hour later (ie 2.5 hours in the decanter) everything merged together beautifully. Fruit mellowed into cherry/raspberry/cassis on the nose, with a lovely rose scent, along with a touch of peat and cigar box. Taste was a mix of cassis, allspice, vanilla, very powerful but well resolved tannins. Fantastic and very noticeable length and finish. Weighty but very silky feel on the palate.
This seems at full maturity. I would not try to keep this for another decade, because it may be on the decline by then. However, it is going to be a slow decline. But if you have this you probably should consume within the next few years to see it at its peak.
Score: 96. Relative to expectations: + (when you command grand vin prices, expectations are high and you get graded with the big boys)
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3/8/2020 - Wine by Bok wrote: 97 Points
Needless to say, if I have to vote for the best St Emilion wine, I’ll cast my vote to Cheval Blanc instead of Angelus or Pavie or Ausone. Good vintage, bad vintage, Cheval Blanc performed! 1990 needed no introduction, one of the best vintages for Bordeaux. No exception here, Cheval 90 was simply jaws drop type of wines to die for. The fruits of Cheval Blanc was exceptional, I can almost chew on it! Overweight jam packed generosity of berries with bottomless complexity, totally awesome! more tasting note in finewines.com.sg
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2/22/2020 - Peleus wrote: 96 Points
Quiet a deepth of the taste with layer of layers. Linear cassis' density with cedar aroma, elegent however not great since lack of dynamic movement on the palate.
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1/18/2020 - Jimaronson Likes this wine: 97 Points
Classic aged Bordeaux. Pony barn, horse hoof, tobacco, and nose that might put off some. I did not decant the bottle, but let it slow ox over an hour period. It changed in the glass over the next two hours and I will give myself 6 hours next time. The fruit seemed faded at first, but then increased in intensity. This is not a fruit bomb but a highly mature and Royal french Bordeaux with the right stuff to carry on. I think it should be consumed over the next five years before the fruit and tannins totally fade to leave a terrific wine that has had it's day.
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1/16/2020 - Mark1npt Likes this wine: 97 Points
WOTN, to me. Opened by good friend Jim Aronson, along with many others but this one just dripped of royalty. Perfectly aged, still plenty of barnyard on the nose but despite it being there, no impact on the wonderful flavor profile. I guessed 89 or 90 but did not get the Ch. correct. Lots of bright red cherry fruit remaining along with surprisingly good acidity and well integrated tannins. Hard to believe this wine is 30 yo and tastes like this! If I'd had perfectly paired a meal with this, it may have garnered a 98-99. What a great experience. Thanks, James!
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12/31/2019 - Jeff Leve wrote: 98 Points
Every bottle at some point in its aging curve is different, and this bottle, while very good, was not quite at the level of the best examples. Still, the floral dominated nose loaded you up with sweet, fresh cherries, garden herbs, tobacco, plums and cherry blossoms. Medium-bodied, lacking the weight and density of better bottles, the texture was all silkiness. Elegant, delicate and fresh, with lots of lift on the palate, considering that for all intents and purposes the wine is 30 years of age, this is fully ready to go.
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12/16/2019 - Cailles wrote: 96 Points
30 Vintages of Cheval Blanc: All tasted blind. 1982 to 2015 (with 1949 in the mix). The wines are fragrant, perfumed, seductive and always soft and without weight. Best performing vintages: the rather hot/ripe vintages 2015, 2009 and 1982 (all complex, seductive, complete and with elevated concentration). Next best: the promising and pure 2010, the still sexy 1990 and the immortal 1949. Notable outperformer: 2011 with many other good off-vintages. Notable underperformer: 2005, 2000, 1998 which all showed rather muted and not yet ready.
TN: Served right after the magical 1982 and it held its grounds well. Together with the 2009, this is most dominated by the burnt sugar, toasted oak, caramel sexiness. As with the others these aromas are perfectly balanced by abundant fruit and minerality. Very expressive and precise nose and palate, Very good structured with full-integrated soft tannins and a good freshness. I expected a bit more tertiary aromas after roughly 30 years but while not seeming young this is not yet fully there. Let’s wait and see but I’m not fully sure that it has enough tension to reach the highs of the 1982 in terms of complexity. Anyway, great wine.
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12/15/2019 - JonnyG Likes this wine: 96 Points
A Second London Pre-Holiday Celebration (67 Pall Mall): Served double blind, though I was pretty certain this was the Cheval, having contributed it. Decanted for two hours or so, and improved throughout the course of our dinner. I thought this was a stellar performance, easily the best of the 5 or so bottles I've had. signature notes of cherry, tobacco and fig, along with muted spice, mint and coconut, and just the right acid level (unlike some past bottles, where the acid was too prominent).
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12/10/2019 - hprphf wrote: 95 Points
Acker BYO 2019 (Tribecal Grill): Not giving much, yet superb clarity and spice. 95+
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12/7/2019 - sdr wrote: flawed
Not corked but something not right. Nearly fruitless, no aroma but not moldy. A second bottle from the identical source about the same. Bottles purchased on release, Staccole importer.
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12/7/2019 - fcxj wrote: flawed
Marred by TCA.
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11/29/2019 - Collector1855 wrote: 96 Points
Chateau Cheval Blanc - 30 year vertical (1949-2015) tasted blind: Also here, clear tertiary notes with forest elements intermixed with raspberry, fruit compote. Very good complexity, a grand wine for sure, just a little dry on the finish preventing an even higher score.
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11/16/2019 - King Julien wrote: 96 Points
Decanted about 3 hours.
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11/3/2019 - Philip67 Likes this wine: 100 Points
Wow! Simply wonderful!
BlackBerry, damson dark plum. Long finish. Spicy vanilla still there. Multi layered. Fruit still good. Tannin and acidity soft and integrated - a joy to drink!
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9/3/2019 - jmoon Likes this wine: 94 Points
Two hour decant. Could have done with a 3-5 hour slow ox in addition.
Powerful full ripe and dense as hell. Could have been left bank as quite leathery and earthy and classic and still quite strict. Not what I was expecting. A wonderful wine - but a collectors wine that was a bit lost on the company who enjoyed it but no fireworks.
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8/26/2019 - Jammy Wine wrote: 91 Points
Tasted this 1990 Cheval Blanc in blind and thought it was a 1986 St Emilion. The nose offers an intense profile of juicy mixed fruits, ripe dark plums, cassis, premium oak spices. Ripe with soft herbaceousness (tomato leaf) from Cabernet Franc? This bottle of Cheval Blanc 1990 appeared to be a bit tired compared to the last bottle I tasted in Zurich. Maturing, some earthy and gamy fruits with good structure. St Emilion? 1986? (91/100)
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6/30/2019 - King Julien wrote: 97 Points
Decanted 3 hours. Nose was nice but stayed subtle. Palate continued to evolve over a couple hours being best at the end and on what score is based.
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6/11/2019 - BradE wrote:
I've had a lot of variability with this wine. This bottle was "good", but not what it can be. Too bad, but I've said before, "any day with Cheval Blanc is a good day".
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6/9/2019 - LWI wrote: 97 Points
60-års dag og blinsmaking: Blind. Mye røyk og store doser 'mineraler', solbær, voldsom intensitet og lengde, lagvis kompleksitet -- men det er tydelig at denne egentlig er alt for ung.
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6/7/2019 - SommStags Likes this wine:
In a lineup with multiple chevals. For me this bottle seemed slightly off/underwhelming. Don’t get me wrong it was good just not great. Being my first time I don’t know if it was an off bottle but certainly wasn’t corked. If anything, I would suggest more time and hope others experience is better. If I had to rate I would give a 94.
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4/23/2019 - King Julien wrote: 96 Points
Decanted 3 hours. Nose was nice but stayed subtle, palate complexity continued to evolve over 2 hours until gone, being best at the end.
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4/11/2019 - fcxj wrote: 94 Points
Rodger Arai. Now that has to be right bank. Pure spice box with bit of nut.
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3/17/2019 - King Julien wrote: 98 Points
Decanted about 2.5 hours. Nose was great from the start. Palate blossomed with complexity a bit further over the following hour, similar to previous notes, and stayed wonderful for another hour. This bottle was a winner!
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2/16/2019 - sdr Likes this wine: 94 Points
47CB and Friends (3030 Ocean, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida): 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.
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1/29/2019 - tinybubbles wrote:
Light green notes. Somewhat muted overall. Not the best bottle but unclear what the flaw was. Would have been 91-
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1/3/2019 - King Julien wrote: 95 Points
Decanted 3 hours. Dried out cork broke. Nice but a bit shy of previous bottles.
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12/14/2018 - Burgundy Al wrote: 98 Points
Dinners around the HDH Auction; 12/13/2018-12/15/2018 (Chicago IL): Single blind in 82/85/90 vertical. Wow, what a powerhouse of ripe black plum, cassis, dark chocolate, espresso with crema and sweet spice. Exceptional depth and concentration. Easy to identify as the 1990 based on prior bottles.
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10/10/2018 - Jeff Leve wrote: 100 Points
It was love at the first whiff of that gorgeous perfume. And if that did not seal the deal, the sensuous, sexed up, palate presence with a finish that hung in there for more than 60 seconds sealed the deal. This is a future legend!
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10/6/2018 - King Julien wrote: 96 Points
Decanted 3 hours.
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9/2/2018 - King Julien wrote: 98 Points
Decanted 3 hours. Beautiful nose and palate to match. Outstanding bottle!
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7/8/2018 - King Julien wrote: 95 Points
Decanted 3 hours. Nose was great from the time it was popped. Palate was nice, but never really caught up relative to previous bottles, even after a couple more hours.
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6/22/2018 - Vinomnivore Likes this wine: 95 Points
My favorite of the bdx in the pre-auction tasting--showing vibrant black fruit along leather, tobacco and pepper.
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6/20/2018 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Acker Auction - June 2018 (Laduree NYC W Broadway): One of my favorite wines of the day. This was special. Black fruits and pepper and young and almost a hint of spicy. It is drinking really well right now, but seems to be going strong with many years left. Very tasty. The best of the Bordeaux.
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5/30/2018 - King Julien wrote: 96 Points
Decanted 4 hours. Very nice, but shy of the best bottles. Nose was quite subdued and never really blossomed, even over the following couple hours. Nonetheless, still very enjoyable to drink.
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5/16/2018 - JonnyG Likes this wine: 93 Points
Opened and given a quick decant, then followed for several hours. I found this more lean than lush. The signature notes of cherry, tobacco and fig were there, along with muted spice, mint and coconut, but quite restrained, and the acid level seemed inappropriately high to me, not something I’ve seen in others’ TNs.
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5/11/2018 - MaxSiegel Likes this wine: 99 Points
Genuinely sexy wine. Super complex nose opens with ripe strawberry but quickly develops smoke, Asian spice, and abundant herbaceous notes---slightly green in the best Cheval Blanc style. Palate is incredibly rich and concentrated, with dark fruit, tobacco, and leather, but the opulence is matched by enough acidity to maintain perfect balance. Chocolatey finish goes on and on. Decant for at least 2 hours, preferably longer. This wine will last for decades more.
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5/4/2018 - fcxj wrote: 96 Points
Epure blind. Double decant 3 hours before serving. Crazy expressive, floral and slightly green aromatics. Really bright, super integrated.
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4/11/2018 - Ramberg wrote: 98 Points
Small and simple dinner gathering with some special friends, no formal notes.
The bottle (actually all Bdx. we drunk tonight) had been open for approx. 4 hours.
Bottomless nose of dark ripe fruits, plums, coffee, smoke, some spicy fine herbal stuff, touch of dill, earth, red flowers, leather and wet soil.
Powerful black fruit on the palate, silky and smooth, creamy, yet with allot of power and things going on.
Sweet and ripe, cherries and blackberries, earth and spices.
A superb Cheval Blanc indeed.
I can only imagine how this will turn out 20+ years down the road.
Still gives a much younger impression than the almost 30 years of age it has.
Great showing tonight, simply extraordinary vintage of Cheval Blanc .
(98 – 100)
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1/26/2018 - King Julien wrote: 97 Points
Decanted 3 hours. Cork saturated about 3/4 way up and difficult to remove. Very nice, but a bit shy of top bottles.
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12/27/2017 - King Julien wrote: 98 Points
Decanted about 3 hours. Consistent with previous tasting notes. Another outstanding bottle!
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12/20/2017 - ricard Likes this wine: 98 Points
Delicate nose at the beginning, but rapidly it asserts itself as something quite unlike anything I've tasted before... Near-perfect, sensational - one of the best and most impressive wines I've ever had. So beautiful, like velvet and silk, thick, sweet and syrupy, like a vintage port, but with firm definition and still a robust tannin after 27 years. Truffles, marzipan, almonds and mince pies. Explosive, amazing, remarkable. Had the '98 and the '01 at the same dinner - this was the stand-out vintage of the three. Unforgettable. Could still taste it in my mouth the following day.
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11/5/2017 - King Julien wrote: 98 Points
Decanted 3 hours, consistent with previous tasting notes. Outstanding bottle!
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11/4/2017 - jee27 wrote: 96 Points
La première impression que j'ai eu en humant ses arômes c'est wow...ce vin est le Chevalier-Montrachet des grands crus de Bordeaux. L'élégance, la finesse et l'équibre sont absolument renversants! Servi à côté du Palmer j'ai eu un peu de misère à cerner le fruit j'ai plutôt senti un côté plus herbacé, de jolis arômes nobles de cuirs, café, coconut, poussière de roche, herbes, la bouche étant superbe comme de la soie, et il s'est maintenu très longtemps à ce niveau dans le verre ce qui m'a impressionné. J'aurais préféré plus de fruits mais un très grand vin sans aucun doute! 96pts
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10/1/2017 - burgcamel wrote: 99 Points
Another great bottle! Drinking beautifully. Coffee, medium dark berry and leather dominate the nose. Sweet, rich and soft on the palate.
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9/9/2017 - lepetitchateau wrote: 96 Points
From a bottle purchased upon release, this had a vibrant, velvety attack... so, so good! Deep and complex, this has amazing complexity and length despite a tiny bit of dilution towards the end. The other tasters liked it a bit less than I did - Paul at 94 and David at 95 points
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9/5/2017 - King Julien wrote: 97 Points
Decanted 2 hours. Improved over the following hour so seems it needs about 3 hours of air, consistent with previous notes. Very good, but nose was weaker than previous top bottles.
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8/27/2017 - King Julien wrote: 94 Points
Dried out cork broke on the way out. Decanted 3 hours. Barnyard when first popped, but cleared up. Nice after decant but poor showing relative to previous bottles. Oh well, maybe better next time.
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8/17/2017 - spendergast Likes this wine: 99 Points
A nearly perfect wine with rich complex fruit, perfectly balanced with a long finish. Probably at its prime right now or close to it.
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7/30/2017 - King Julien wrote: 96 Points
Decanted 3 hours. Cork was dry and broke coming out. Very good, but not as great as previous bottles.
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7/25/2017 - valedeniro wrote: 98 Points
Stunning juice ! The nose is a firework,displaying decadent intense red fruits,cherry liqueur,strawberry,coconut,flowers,spices ..... Fully resolved palate,a hint of cherry,silky,very polished,incredibly sweet.The finish is so ripe,juicy and complex with that ethereal texture of a great Cheval Blanc.Fully mature now,this is a monumental wine.
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7/23/2017 - fcxj wrote: 92 Points
This bottle did not show as well as normal. Quite green, herbaceous aromas. Also slight rusticity across palate. Rich, bit medicinal.
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7/23/2017 - hongkongtom Likes this wine: 98 Points
Spectacular showing and WOFT. Smooth, floral and great finish. In a great place right now, not sure it will (can) get any better.
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6/30/2017 - BradE wrote:
Always a good day when it involves 90 Cheval. Caramel, silky, just lovely.
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5/30/2017 - Jeff Leve wrote: 98 Points
Close to full maturity, but with no hurry to drink it, this is the quintessential, opulent wine. Lush, but not fat. It's elegant and hedonistic at the same time. Floral, smoky, licorice, coconut and plum notes make an impression. But it is the silky, sexy palate presence that seals the deal.
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5/29/2017 - King Julien wrote: 98 Points
Decanted 3 hours, consistent with previous tasting notes. Outstanding bottle once again!
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5/25/2017 - DrZett Likes this wine: 96 Points
Great 1982 vs 1990 Vintage Tasting (Rare-Bordeaux-Weine, Wachtberg (Germany)): Awesome, a lot of power left here, this one is in a good drinking window now, but could age for at least 10 years more. Beautiful ripe red fruits and some beginnig aging notes. Just beautiful.
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5/20/2017 - ntanik Likes this wine: 98 Points
From memory an excellent wine, elegant,silky,great depth and still evolving after 3 hours with long aftertaste.
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5/12/2017 - Topper wrote: 98 Points
This one dances across the tongue like a ballerina in toe shoes. Or maybe the entire corps de ballet. Delicate, ethereal and complex at the same time. Truly a delight.
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4/30/2017 - King Julien wrote: 98 Points
Decanted 2 hours and tasted. Very good, but needed another hour to really open up and blossom, so pretty consistent with previous bottles needing about 3 hours of air. Amazing nose and palate! Outstanding wine!
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2/3/2017 - tinybubbles wrote: flawed
Marred by VA. Jammy ripe red fruit and wood notes.
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1/29/2017 - King Julien wrote: 98 Points
Popped and poured into decanter. Barnyard for a while but cleared up with some air. 3 hours later it was spot on, both nose and palate, and lasted 2 hours until it was gone. Outstanding bottle!
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1/25/2017 - Burgundy Al wrote: 97 Points
Post-UGC Bordeaux Dinner (Spiaggia - Chicago IL): Intense spice driven aromatic start with ripe and dense black plum and berries. This is a wine I would want to savor over many hours and watch it unfold, but it was still fantastic for the 15 minutes I was able to keep it in my glass.
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1/2/2017 - convex Likes this wine: 96 Points
Another good bottle. Drunk under somewhat unusual circumstance -- seafood + hot ambient temperature (we were having dinner outdoor on a tropical island). The wine's lightness and good acidity made this work nonetheless. The fruit is somewhat suppressed while secondaries such as blood and pepper became more prominent. I thoroughly enjoyed it still but crowd is less impressed.
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12/28/2016 - King Julien wrote: 97 Points
Decanted 2.5 hours. Consistently great.
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12/21/2016 - ex-sommelier Likes this wine:
Very much different from last years bottle, aroma was far more reticent and took an hour and a half to really open up. Palate however was full and sweet, with a beautiful, broad based texture and sweet up front cherry notes. Overall very nice, and certainly at its peak. Definitely give it an hour or two in the decanter for its complete sensuality to emerge.
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12/4/2016 - King Julien wrote: 97 Points
Decanted 2.5 hours, consistent with previous tasting note.
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11/11/2016 - Jimaronson Likes this wine: 97 Points
Wine was decanted for two hours. Sweet cherry fruit and medium plus bodied. Some bricking on edge, but note had violets and cherry fruit. Tasting showed a balanced wine with sweet cherry, chocolate and cedar. acid and tannin left. I am not sure the wine will get better - seemed as though it was in it stride and is what it will be for 10 years max. I would drink one to two per year if you have a case.
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11/5/2016 - King Julien wrote: 97 Points
Decanted 2.5 hours, consistent with previous tasting note.
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10/13/2016 - fcxj wrote: 96 Points
Old dependable, candy. Relatively light bricking. Floral nose with Cabernet Franc green tinge (mint, fresh) and little tertiary development so far. Round, black fruit and long.
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10/1/2016 - King Julien wrote: 97 Points
Decanted 2.5 hours. Nose was good, but not quite as great as previous bottles. Peaked about 30 min later and stayed there for a couple more hours. Very nice!
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9/4/2016 - King Julien wrote: 97 Points
Decanted 3 hours.
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9/1/2016 - Jeff Leve wrote: 98 Points
This is a consistent stunner. With its, sexy, lush, opulent and exotic textures, the lavender, licorice, sweet plum and cherry, smoke, dark chocolate and earthy nose really grabs you. But at least for me, it is the incredibly sensuous mouth feel from start to finish that makes this a ride worth taking.
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8/14/2016 - King Julien wrote: 98 Points
Decanted 2 hours. Excellent, but even better an hour later. Nose, palate, everything , simply outstanding!
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8/11/2016 - convex Likes this wine: 98 Points
The elegance! Every element in perfect balance. Spellbinding nose of tobacco and blood translates to an energetic and velvety mouthful. Instantly identifiable Cheval Blanc. What a classic. Bravo!
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7/23/2016 - King Julien wrote: 97 Points
Decanted 2 hours, outstanding complexity and secondary flavors!
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7/6/2016 - hiker_guy Likes this wine:
A beautiful wine at peak drinking. The structure and complexity was spot on and the finish sailed on for quite some time.
Of the three vintages we tasted tonight this was top over the 1998 and 1983
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7/5/2016 - KenK Likes this wine: 98 Points
Beautiful wine, elegant showy aromas of expresso, dried black berries, and burnt carmel. Dark dense rich fruit driven flavors with wonderful complexity. Finishes broad with great Asian spices and real length. Still full of life with long way to go. Popped and poured. Amazing stuff. Thanks JW!
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5/29/2016 - johnh1001 wrote: 97 Points
Boom! Excellent again
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5/21/2016 - King Julien wrote: 97 Points
Cork was stuck and came out in a couple pieces, strained and decanted. Outstanding after about 2 hours of air.
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5/7/2016 - zding Likes this wine: 97 Points
Brick red edge; after a slightly contained vanilla & cinnamon start, exhibited amazing nose variation in glass over 4 hours of air contact, notes of cinnamon, jasmine, oriental spices, herbs, etc.; medium body, silky texture and tannins. This is an impressive wine that evolved best and offered a great journey on a night with 82 Mouton and 89 Haut Brion.
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5/4/2016 - dchain Likes this wine: 98 Points
Light ruby. Amazing blast for jasmine perfume, plum, black tea and caramel leather. Very exotic, ripe but balanced. This is absolutely at its secondary peak where you still have the ripe fruit notes but also the lovely secondary complexity of earth, cardamon spice and leather. Still very glossy and full of glycerin body which just coats the palate. Not massive but so complex and mind boggling. No change in the glass over 2 hours. And second bottle just as good. Thank you to the good Dr H.
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4/30/2016 - burgcamel wrote: 95 Points
This was not the best bottle I've tasted as it didn't have the depth I remembered. Beautiful sweet nose of coffee, caramel and earth. The sweetness really comes through on the palate and it has a reasonably long finish. This was a little more mature than I remember but I'm likely seeing bottle variation. Clearly a wine that's in it's drinking window.
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4/16/2016 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Zachys Fine & Rare Wines - Apr 2016 & an evening w/friends (Smith & Wollensky (48th & 3rd Ave)): This was a pour from the very end of the bottle where it was mostly sediment, but wow was this something. The '95 Latour earlier made me wonder if it was possible to try Bordeaux after Napa and still enjoy it, but this was just delicious. Hints of black fruit, great saddle leather, this was really special. I think the Colgin just edged it for me (possibly because it was the later part with hints of sediment), but this was in contention for WOTD.
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3/24/2016 - dream Likes this wine: 94 Points
Smoky, ripe black fruits. Complex on the finish with notes of charcoal and graphite. Interesting in that Pierre has always thought this vintage was too ripe and the wine wouldn't last so a bit of uncertainty as to where this is going but I loved the smoky notes. Intimate dinner for 8 with Pierre Lurton in the rotunda on the roof at Nomad, NYC.
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3/2/2016 - fcxj wrote: 98 Points
Another pristine bottle... great aromatics. Super round, balanced and long... good fruit.
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2/26/2016 - DrinkBordeaux wrote: 96 Points
Château Cheval Blanc vertical tasting dinner #2 (Vienna Cafe & Wine Bar): Simply a fantastic wine. Exudes elegance. Really ripe fruits at the forefront, but with a lovely earthiness and spiciness. Complex and beautifully balanced. Another wine that put on weight in the glass. While this is likely near its peak, there is still some room for growth and development. Love the mouthfeel and weight. Long finish. Superb.
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1/29/2016 - johnh1001 wrote: 97 Points
another fantastic bottle. The nose on this wine is just stunning.
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12/27/2015 - ex-sommelier Likes this wine: 96 Points
Right after I popped the cork I smelled this wave of exceptional high toned fruit, like a viognier (or cote-rotie), after an hour it settled into distinctly cab franc territory, exotic and constantly shifting from herbal to spice to fruit, mature tones of cedar and tobacco and mushroom wove throughout but never dominated. Ageless aroma.
Palate was somewhat lackluster, it had verve and life but lacked any real heft, just a vehicle for the smell really. We didn't decant but tasted over a long evening and the palate didn't open. Aroma was best I've ever smelled however.
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12/24/2015 - lord_byron Likes this wine: 96 Points
Perfect though slight acidity overpowering a great balance especially after a couple hours. Opened 30mn prior.
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12/17/2015 - dcwino wrote: 98 Points
Holiday Dinner - DRCs, 90 and 00 CB, 03 Capo, Krugs and etc. (The Grill Room at Capella Hotel Georgetown): For my palate, the 90, 98 and 00 have to be some of the top Bordeauxs that are incredibly consistent. The strong Cab Franc nose gives very exotic impression, perfume and talcum powder, ripe black fruits, smoke and mineral. Excellent concentration, quite dense and chewy a la ’90 but very polished, perfect amount of acidity and tannins and long seamless finish that ends with an impression of fine dust. Drinking incredibly well but will improve with time. One of the greatest Bordeauxs for my palate.
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12/15/2015 - steinersing wrote: 97 Points
Spectacular 1990 - in its drinking window. Royal.
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11/13/2015 - Mazy Likes this wine: 97 Points
Ouvert quelques heures à l’avance mais non épaulé.
Un seul mot: wow!
Je blague: je vais en dire plus. Le nez est ouvert et il nous parle: cerises noires, mine de crayon, cacao. En bouche, il change de goût à toutes les 2-3 secondes: cerises mûres, puis figues confites, ensuite la réglisse, le cuir, les olives noires, les pruneaux, le poivron vert, le pot-pourri, et puis encore! Le finale est longue. Superbe (quoique voilé par la nourriture) avec le gigot d’agneau 7 heures. On sent qu’il a assez de plumes sur ses ailes pour voler encore longtemps, mais exceptionnel en ce moment.
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11/9/2015 - Jeff Leve wrote: 100 Points
This is the perfect blend of purity, elegance, refinement, opulence and complexity and character. It's more than flawless, it's stunning in every sense of the word. There is such a beauty and purity of fruit in this wine, it's hard to believe. Even better, it's pure hedonism as well. With an hour or 2 of decanting, this is drinking right where it needs to be. For the 1%'s, this is a wine they should be buying.
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10/10/2015 - fcxj wrote: 96 Points
Red fruit, flowers and leather on the nose. Long and round.
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10/8/2015 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 95 Points
Fabulous nose with white and black pepper, minty notes, light tar, faint funk and background eucalyptus. Ripe red and black cherry on the palate with herbal and green notes on the back of the palate with air time. Have had better bottles but this was a very good food/wine experience. Paired with lamb cassoulet. 1 hour 45 minute decant. 95+
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9/11/2015 - Ophelia Dick wrote: 97 Points
fine
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9/6/2015 - Sennma wrote: 98 Points
Drank at RPM Steak...Everything you could hope for in an old Bordeaux. Easily a top ten lifetime wine for me.
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8/25/2015 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
This was a very good, but not great bottle of what can often be a 100 Pt wine. Not that I'm complaining. The nose was off the hook with its earthy, floral, tobacco, sweet cherry and fresh herb profile. But on the palate, the wine fell a bit shorter than it can deliver at its best.
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8/18/2015 - cooberp wrote: 90 Points
An elegant, pretty, and fairly restrained bottle from a normally exuberant producer. This really shows the Cab Franc with a feminine, green-pepper-dominated nose, along with notes of perfume and cinnamon. Medium-plus body, silky texture, well-disguised tannins that you don't notice until after swallowing. I think I'd've guessed Rougeard for this blind. A very classy claret, and if you'd told me it was a shoulder-vintage CB I'd totally believe it. But I'd've expected a lot more fireworks from the 1990. No perceptible flaws, just bottle variation I suppose.
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7/25/2015 - johnh1001 wrote: 98 Points
Won't repeat all the descriptors and will simply say this wine is so good that I can barely stand it!!
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7/13/2015 - jclary Likes this wine: 98 Points
One of my favorite wines, this also wasn't quite up to previous bottles, but only by a hair. A very powerful wine that is open for business, this is just so complete and compelling. I'm down to one bottle, damn.
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7/8/2015 - beatles Likes this wine: 98 Points
At a White Horse Tavern in the north country: Fantastic wine, rich and light at the same time. There is cocoa and chocolate here, but it is never too much, and the firmness and majestic sculpture of the wine remains intact. Right up there with the best wines, I have ever tasted.
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4/28/2015 - Javachip wrote: 97 Points
Tasted at Spectrum pre-auction tasting in San Diego. Decanted. Clear medium blood-garnet color. Classic bouquet of fresh red fruit, truffles, dried porcini mushrooms, dried roses, and leather seats of an old Porsche. Silky smooth, refined, aristocratic, supremely balanced, power without weight.
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4/25/2015 - Eric wrote:
Bordeaux in Bern (Bern, Switzerland): Caramel, brown sugar and shiitake mushroom. This was certainly quite enjoyable, but given prior examples and the overall context of the tasting, this was ultimately a bit disappointing.
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4/24/2015 - Burgundy Al wrote: 97 Points
Wine Dinner Extravaganza (North Lincoln Avenue Loft - Chicago IL): Popped and poured. Served alongside Latour and Margaux 1990. Lots of powerful black plum and berry flavors with brown spice follow enticing spice and floral aromatics. Both great depth and length.
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4/22/2015 - dcwino wrote: 99 Points
Cheval Blanc and D'Yquem dinner with Pierre Lurton and Bernard Burtschy (Taberna del Alabardero, Washington D.C.): The nose was very 90 in that it displayed mostly ripe slightly dry black fruits like the 90 Margaux or the 90 Leoville Poyferre. It was also very Cheval Blanc with noticeable Cab Franc impression, ash and strong presence of mineral. Expressive hedonistic dark fruit driven nose, dry blackberry, cassis, lavender, lead pencil, exotic spices and mineral. Excellent concentration, unctuous, hedonistic sweet black fruit driven palate impression, noticeable structure with bright acidity and noticeable sweet tannins and lovely long incredibly sweet finish. Really enjoyable wine with very promising future. FWIW, it is very 90 so if very ripe fruit bothers you and you don’t care for the 90 Bordeaux, stay away. I imagine this would be a legend that closely resembling the 47 Cheval Blanc in another twenty years.
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4/19/2015 - Peliot wrote: 97 Points
Just great. Fully mature. Dark ruby color with some slight caramel. Nose opened properly after an hour of airtime. Plum with some subtle exotic flowers. That classic old BDx character in the nose that I can never find the right words for: leather or cigar box I suppose. Intense and fully satisfying on the palatte with dark fruits being most prominent. Smooth smooth mouthfeel and long finish. Awesome.
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3/27/2015 - burgcamel Likes this wine: 99 Points
Drinking great right now. An exceptional St. Emilon.
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2/10/2015 - willthethrill wrote: 95 Points
Incredible elegant and sophisticated for a wine that is not my thing. Thanks to SF.
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2/7/2015 - kr522 wrote: 99 Points
just an amazing wine that's not losing any steam. On this night it had a chocolate raspberry/cherry core with a hint of pine that was mouth coating and persistent. Still packed with fruit, energetic and light on its feet at 25, not doing the fade that 1982 did
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1/21/2015 - Herb K wrote:
What's not to like? Although for the price today, I just think 1990 Burgundy and Rhones offer a more complex experience... Yes, this was so smooth... Maybe I didn't open it long enough before we drank it. We did decant it... But I would never pay the price today for this! Thank goodness had the foresight years ago to buy a couple of cases!
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1/21/2015 - Jeff Leve wrote: 100 Points
1990 Cheval Blanc is so sexy, it should be illegal. Pure decadence in the glass does not do this justice. Luscious, velvety, pure, fresh and ostentatious, this is a stunning bottle of wine that can leave a talkative taster speechless.
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1/18/2015 - BradE wrote:
375ml. A miss (this case has been hit or miss).
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1/13/2015 - burgboy Likes this wine: 97 Points
perfect time to drink this gem with our Colorado rack of lamb. Possessing gobs of cassis and blackberries with some licorice on the side. Only one more bottle left. Sigh!
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12/31/2014 - Peliot Likes this wine: 97 Points
Sensational bdx. Dark purple color. Dark fruit and cigar box. Full bodied and replete. Intense flavor with a stinging and slightly lifted finish. Complexity/minerality would merit a higher score, but this wine is killer.
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12/19/2014 - 83AJ Likes this wine: 98 Points
sweet fruit with toasted wood, precision....perfection. drink now, why wait?
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11/24/2014 - Jeff Leve wrote: 100 Points
A stunning wine in every sense. The explosive nose serves up black and blue fruits, truffle, tobacco, blackberries, flowers and forest scents. The texture is silk and velvet. If that does not grab you, the finish lingers and expands. Bottled decadence.
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10/24/2014 - Ericsson Likes this wine: 97 Points
Bordal chez PG (100% Bordeaux) (Collex-Bossy (Genève)): Exceptionnel! Le 5ème vin de la série et le plus hédoniste. Découvert qu'il s'agissait de Saint-Emilion.
Un nez de rêve qui est monté en puissance tout au long de la soirée... à tel point que je m'en suis servi 3 fois!
En bouche, le vin montre beaucoup d'opulence tout en restant d'un grand classicisme, sans doute servi par la droiture du cabernet franc à parfaite maturité. A boire et à garder.
Mon n°1.
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9/20/2014 - fcxj wrote: 96 Points
Always delivers, with Kopec
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8/1/2014 - BradE wrote:
From 375ml. Absolutely gorgeous, and such a pleasure to drink.
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4/15/2014 - spendergast Likes this wine: 99 Points
Decanted one hour. Wonderful nose with notes of crushed red fruit, roasted meat. Great balance - a nearly perfect wine.
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3/20/2014 - Jeff Leve wrote: 100 Points
This is an orgasm in a glass. There is no better way to express how sexy, sensuous, silky and decadent this wine is. Perfect in every way from the start, through to the long, expansive, lingering finish, this is what pure hedonism is all about.
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3/8/2014 - Fatty Cat wrote: 95 Points
Cheval Blanc tasting (30 different vintages) at the Rheingau Gourmet Festival 2014: rubin red color; pomme de granate, bread and herbs; medium body; smooth texture; long finish.
Very balanced.
Vintages 1st flight: 1985-1986-1988-1989-1990
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3/6/2014 - -E- wrote: 97 Points
(Blind) Klar dyp rød, med oransje kant. Dyp, mørksvart og kompleks nese med lakris, krydder og mørke røde bær.
Tørr, konsentrert og strukturert frukt med hinsides dybde. Tett, fokusert og utrolig elegant. Frisk, saftig syre. Tørr utgang med faste, finkornede og elegante tanniner. Nydelig lengde med dype, forførende toner av mørke bær og krydder. Nydelig, men trenger tid.
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3/6/2014 - LWI wrote: 97 Points
1990 Bordeaux Horizontal: Blind. Structured and subdued on the nose, very elegant on the nose; in the mouth it is very fresh, some bell peppers, pronounced but well integrated tannins. Most balanced and elegant. Extraordinary complex finish. Long life ahead.
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12/22/2013 - dcwino wrote: 98 Points
Lazy Sunday group Holiday dinner (The Grill Room at Capella Hotel Georgetown): Initially Cab Franc driven nose, ash, smoke and lead pencil. With air, intense ripe black fruits, flowers, mineral and earth. Excellent concentration, chewy, layered fruits and extremely long finish. This is an exotic and decadent wine that has a big upside potential.
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12/8/2013 - Lord Rayas wrote: 96 Points
Juliano's MNSC (China Tang): opened for 2 hours but decanted for 30 minutes prior to serving. smoky and plummy. plenty of finesse.
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11/18/2013 - johnh1001 wrote: 98 Points
Drank at our 'Anything 1990' Dinner this was by far the wine of the night. Incredibly complex, open and exotic nose of red and black fruit, spice, violet, earth, mushrooms and slight mocha notes. The palate was deep and rich great fruit and some herbal notes. Plush and velvety in the mouth. Big, but not heavy. The finish stayed with me for days. The texture and completeness are just superb. A real treat.
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9/20/2013 - Nutty08 wrote:
HDH '90 vs '00 BDX Comparative Tasting (Chicago, IL - Spiaggia): Maybe the best nose of the night with exotic cab franc notes really stealing the slow. The palate was very ripe almost pushing towards pruney, and was quite soft and round in comparison to the other '90's. Fantastic wine overall, but the softness and ripeness of the palate makes me wonder if it's at peak? I've had few CB's, so keep that in mind. A-
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8/19/2013 - Jeff Leve wrote: 100 Points
Licorice, flowers, dark chocolate covered, black raspberries and plums with over ripe black cherry scents is the first thing you notice. What keeps your attention riveted to your glass is the pure silk and polished velvet, opulent and even decadent textures. The finish must last for at least 60 seconds!
Served at one of those marathon tastings with so many great bottles, stunning wines are often lost in the mix. The 1990 Cheval Blanc stood out from the pack, grabbed my interest and never let go. Insanely expensive, but with good reason. This is about as good as a wine gets. I do not have the funds to go out and buy more, but I would never sell my bottles. This wine was so good, just writing up the tasting note brings a smile to face remembering the wine.
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4/25/2013 - mohr_tyler Likes this wine:
Beautiful wine. At first glance it is a very deep red with the edges having almost a hint of brown. The nose taste after first opening had beautiful fruit notes. I let it decant for about 30 mins before I revisited it. It opened up wonderfully, some of the initial fruit notes mellowed out to a lovely spices in both the nose and palette. The 1990 is head over heals better then the only other Cheval Blanc I've had the 85' though the 85' was delicious also. Usually I like to enjoy my wine instead of analyze it, so this is just what i remember. I absolutely loved it, definitely one of the best wines I've ever had.
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12/12/2012 - Jeff Leve wrote: 98 Points
Explosive aromas find their way from the glass with an array of scents ranging from truffle, coconut, spice box, cherry blossom and earth, to tobacco and sweet, plums. Silky tannins give the wine an incredibly sensuous texture, as the wine glides effortlessly across the palate. The wine has depth, concentration and the structure to age and develop for decades.
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11/25/2012 - Rezy13 wrote: 97 Points
Called blind. Bordeaux hinting at a great Burgundy/ Rhone. Clearly different in color (darker), texture (obtuse and silky), and flavor (fruit forward) from the '89 Lynch and '90 Ausone at the same tasting. Texture was polished fruit and licorice melted down. A combination of red and dark fruit clearly overshadowed any secondary notes as I cannot remember those. Obviously fat but the mandarin oranges told me that there was great acidity even though probably greater extraction. Maybe a little residual sugar made this wine so seductive in the midpalate, but who cares. A uniquely amazing bottle of wine. The nobility showed through in spades.
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10/17/2012 - dream wrote: 96 Points
This gorgeous wine needed a serious decant before showing itself. Then a fabulous nose of sweet black earth and black minerals with hints of dark chocolate and spices. On the palate, it is full-bodied with real depth of flavors that echo the nose. Finishes firm but also very complex as the secondary flavors are just starting to show up with incredible notes of dark spices, plums, black licorice, dark chocolate, etc. A great Cheval Blanc that is another very decadent 1990 but is maturing slowely and I think this will be a close to 100 points in another 10 years. 96+
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10/11/2012 - salil wrote: 97 Points
Bottle of Pain dinner (Ibiza, New Haven, CT): Jawdroppingly great. A spectacular fragrance that starts with green herbal and forestal notes framing rich fruit, cedar and cigar smoke, and with air it becomes increasingly exotic and spicy. There's tremendous intensity and power on the palate yet there's stunning balance and finesse, a flamboyant spiciness to the flavours and incredible length with the savoury and spicy flavours lingering long after each sip. Thrilling wine.
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9/7/2012 - -E- wrote: 96 Points
Østkantsmaking: Klar, dyp, mørk rød. Aldeles nydelig og sødmefull nese av roser, røde bær, plommer, søt tobakk og kanel. Bløt, fyldig, dyp og mørk frukt. Generøs og intens. Fast struktur og tørr avslutning med svært lang ettersmak. 96/97 P
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9/7/2012 - LWI wrote: 96 Points
Seven Decades of Right Bank Wines (Trondheim, Norway (my house)): Serious wine. Clean and long. Structured and complex. The Cabernet Franc is subdued, but very structured. Too young. A tad weaker than a previous bottle. 96++p
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9/4/2012 - Jeff Leve wrote: 98 Points
Powerful, rich, dense, exotic and sensuous in texture, the wine opens with a compelling blast of licorice, smoke, leather, blackberry, forest floor, earth and black cherry jam. This is about as good as a wine gets. Tasted blind, with only 15-20 minutes to spend with the glass, I image the wine would score even higher if it were allowed to develop in the glass during the night. Drink it now, of age or cellar it for another 10-15 or 20 years, this is a rock start bottle of Cheval Blanc.
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9/2/2012 - gross wrote:
drank on Matt's graduation May 2012; lived up to its reputation
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7/17/2012 - kr522 wrote: 100 Points
it's infrequent that a wine hits 100 points for me, but the 90 Cheval did just that. It was stunning from start to finish, clearly outperforming a group of very strong Bordeaux and outright shaming the 90 Lafite. Unfortunately I don't have tasting notes and it was a long night of drinking...this Cheval has everything one can want in a wine - concentration, complexity, a weightless quality and length.
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6/2/2012 - cab blends wrote: 96 Points
100 Point Wine Dinner: I initially gave this a 93 but it improved significantly over the evening. copper around the edge with a hint of tart but very smooth and light velvet. The finish is not right at the moment - moves to being acidic initially. Just not in perfect balance
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5/1/2012 - SonnyChiba Likes this wine: 97 Points
Superb wine - one I will not soon forget. Although I am writing this months after drinking, I remember well the earthy, pepper and vegetable fragrance it had...I could pick it out every time. The taste was just as impressive, and consistent with the nose, heavy soil, green pepper, backed with some flower and ripe fruit...Long finish. Drinking well now, and still good to go probably for some time.
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3/28/2012 - kr522 wrote: 96 Points
A delicious drinking experience. The bouquet was extremely floral tonight, which i wasn't expecting at all but found incredibly pleasing. Once i started drinking it the wine shifted gears with the Cab Franc taking over and proving an exotic quality to complement the lush richness of the merlot.
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1/10/2012 - dezynersteve wrote:
- Medium forming legs. It's in total harmony with a medium/full body. Smooth texture with a long finish.
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12/25/2011 - dezynersteve wrote:
- It's in total harmony with a medium/full body. Smooth texture with a long finish.
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12/20/2011 - essconsults wrote: 99 Points
At the 12/19 Acker BYOB and thanks to Fred! This has to be one of the greatest Bordeaux ever, especially at this stage. It took about an hour and a half to fully open up and just kept getting better and better. Much more expressive than the last time 2 years ago. Why don't more Chateaux use Cabernet Franc? It's really much more elegant and delicious than CS, and even more complex in the right soil. This blew away all the other Bordeaux served last night and might have only been equalled/bested by two mags respectively of Grands Echezeaux, the '71 from Drouhin and the '59 from Remoissenet.
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11/9/2011 - JulianSkeels wrote: 99 Points
Robert Parker - up close & personal dinner (Petrus, Hong Kong): This is not at maturity, but approachable wih sweet plums and hedonistic layers. 97pts now, but should add at least 2 more pts with time (10yrs+ before peak)
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11/2/2011 - G_H Likes this wine: 96 Points
Best bottle @ Ely (Ely wine bar Dublin): Incredible wine. This sat in the glass with beautiful smell of black tea, rum, plums, red fruit jam, perfectly ripened smell. Then in the palate it went on... powerful, thick and long long long!
This is at it's peak and it's going to stay there for a while. Most importantly: I love it. Served blind and I guessed 1990 Ausone while Jim guessed 1989 Ausone. Good stuff!!
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10/1/2011 - Lord Rayas wrote: 97 Points
Dinner at Eric's with Roland/Louisa (Eric's home): somewhat reticent to start off with, but came to life after an hour in decanter. plump and silky, with coffee and mocha. very feminine, esp when paired with the 90 montrose.
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9/26/2011 - LWI wrote: 96 Points
Lots of power, dark berries and sweet tobacco (but not overdone), even some cinnamon; in the moth it is very powerful and concentrated, fresh acidity, long and complex. Still development ahead. Rating for now.
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8/24/2011 - Hodby wrote: 98 Points
Dark red-violet. Powerhouse nose of cassis, menthol, floral notes, licorice, leather, cigar. Pinpoint balance of the structure, between firm and voluptuous. Overwhelms the palate with ripe cassis liquor, menthol and tobacco. Finishes with the same, in waves. Our last. Bottle #4 of four.
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8/5/2011 - ricknat1 Likes this wine: 98 Points
opened for 2 hours (kept at 55) and then decanted for 2 hours and started to truly show itself at about 4 hours. Probably would have gotten better, but we drank it all. Ripe, with sweet black fruits, multilayered complexity, leather, mint and incredibly rich, silky and utterly delicious. I love this wine, but it has years to go and needs at least a 4 hour decant.
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5/26/2011 - Jeff Leve wrote: 99 Points
Deep, dark and filled with fresh plums, flowers, truffles, chocolate and coconut, that reminded me of an almond joy candy bar with hints of black cherries. Luscious, soft, sexy, refined elegance with a sense of purity. This intense, decadent wine coats your palate with plush, ripe, black and red fruits. The long finish is seamless. Along with the perfect 2000, this remains my favorite current of Cheval Blanc.
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4/28/2011 - ricknat1 wrote: 99 Points
Dinner at Collichio and Sons with Mike and Stuart et al (Collichio and Sons): Ripe, with sweet black fruits, multilayered complexity, leather, mint and incredibly rich, silky and utterly delicious.
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7/6/2010 - Hodby wrote: 99 Points
Dark ruby. Powerful, complex nose of berries, charred wood, menthol, licorice, leather, roses. Luscious texture and deeply concentrated flavor. An extended finish of mint, herbs, vanilla and fruit that just hangs on and on. Dazzling. The finest Bordeaux I've had in five years, yet it might even get better with more age. Bottle #3 of four.
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6/28/2010 - Jeff Leve wrote: 98 Points
With an intoxicating perfume of fresh truffles, tobacco, ripe plums, smoke, coconut and kirsch, this wine grabs your attention. Full bodied and concentrated with exotic, velvety, decadent textures, the wine finishes with a sensuous, kinky black cherry and kirsch component. As good as it is, this will only get better wine more time!
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5/20/2010 - WildeMeeuw wrote: 90 Points
1990 Château Cheval Blanc (Frankrijk, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion) Kleur: Robijnrood met oranjebruine rand Aroma / bouquet: Prachtig bouquet. Kersenbonbons, gebrande aroma's als koffie en chocola, praline, chique hout, potgrond. Smaak / Afdronk: Krachtige aanzet, veel kracht en structuur, krachtige en iets bittere tannines, veel lengte. Algemeen / potentieel: 50 + Kleur: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 12 + Smaak / Afdronk: 15 + Algemeen / potentieel: 8 = 90/100
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4/7/2010 - BradE wrote:
From 375. Great, lots of caramel, slightly reserved.
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2/9/2010 - BradE wrote:
From 375. Great bottle, and a great wine when on. This was on. Lovely.
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12/15/2009 - essconsults wrote: 98 Points
At the WineWorkshop BYOB Tribeca Grill dinner. One of the greats. Tasted along with the 1989 Haut Brion and the 1982 Cheval Blanc, and several extraordinary grand cru burgs, this showed an intense nose of beautiful rounded coffee, and a melange of sweet berries, with ripe tannins, perfect acidity and great midpalate density. I am sure this wine will last for another 25 years, as it is just entering its' peak of maturity. Compared to the Haut Brion, admittedly a beautiful but somewhat delicate wine, the Cheval Blanc really stood out IMHO. It combines all the qualities of classic Bordeaux: power, finish, complexity, length. Now if we could just get back to another bull market, maybe I could buy some!
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10/20/2009 - JorgeH wrote:
Objects, and Wines, of Vertu (Christie's - New York City): Quite floral (lilacs, roses) on the nose with a minty aroma in the background. A sweet clove spice comes through as well. In the mouth, it's quite rich and full-bodied with beautifully fresh acidity and chewy but smooth tannins. Long finish. A
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9/9/2009 - MatthewF wrote:
Some Musignys with Friends (Chicago IL): Beautiful red plum and berry on the nose with bits of cocoa, espresso, and some wet leaves. Soft as velvet on the palate with ripe fruits, earth, and a touch of leather. Great finish. Showing very well tonight.
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8/24/2009 - BradE wrote:
From a case of 375's from the Lloyd-Weber auction in the late 90's. They have been hit or miss - this was a hit. Right on target with good 90 Cheval.
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8/21/2009 - Johann Von Mastiff wrote: 97 Points
This is one of my favorite wines of all time and every bottle that I've ever had has been just about perfection. This bottle unfortunately was drunk on a night in Philly that was 98 degrees in a restaurant whose AC was on the blink and it was no cooler than 86 degrees in the dining room. We had to keep the bottle in ice just to keep it at a reasonable temperature. Not the optimal way to drink 90 Cheval. Having said that, the wine was still incredible.
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5/23/2009 - BradE wrote:
From 375, and a perfect bottle. This is what 90 Cheval is all about. Quintessential Cheval, with the carmel overtones, and an earthiness that is inescapably 90 Cheval. Perfect.
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11/8/2008 - mimik wrote: 97 Points
Wine Guy Weekend Chez Doktas Take 2; 11/7/2008-11/8/2008 (Collingwood, Ontario): Wine Guy Weekend 2 chez Dokta's. Nose of bell peppers and cassis. Palate is pure elegance, suave and velvety. Shows such class and pedigree. Long and complicated. Nothing stand out in the wine but it all comes together so well that it shines. Great bottle. Long long cassis finish. Will age effortlessly for another 5-10 years. Wine of the weekend.
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11/7/2008 - futronic wrote: 97 Points
Wino Guys Weekend (WGW) #2; 11/7/2008-11/8/2008: Dark ruby colour. Aromas of blackberry, black cherry, bramble, and mineral. Nothing really stands out on the medium-full bodied palate, but is a completely seamless wine that shows gorgeous elegance and complexity. Outstanding length on the finish, ~50s, and good fruit and a bit of black olive with time. An absolute stunner; like drinking liquid velvet. What a treat!
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6/6/2008 - Jeff Leve wrote: 99 Points
Exotic was the first descriptor that came to mind. The aromatics exploded from the glass in every direction. Spices and herbs blend with exotic, very ripe red fruit notes to produce a perfume demanding to be bottled. The next sensation is the stunning voluptuously and layered palate presence that offers a seamless finish. This is better than the more expensive 82 which seems to fade a little bit every time I taste it.
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2/14/2008 - BradE wrote:
From magnum. Decent showing, but not a pristine bottle. Great nose, a bit green and short on the finish.
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2/13/2008 - Siggy wrote: 94 Points
Tasting Group Dinner - Cheval Blanc at Heidi's (Heidi's, Minneapolis): From magnum. Enchanting nose of black fruit, soy, and a hint of dill. The palate is ripe and a touch spicy, showing concentrated dark fruit, a touch of caramel, and dark chocolate. Picked up weight and structure in the glass. There was a slightly green, herbal streak to this that someone compared to Pichon Lalande, which sums it up perfectly -- this is definitely showing some serious Cabernet Franc character. Beautifully silky texture. Ripe tannins on the finish, which wasn't quite as long as I was expecting. I don't have a benchmark comparison since this was my first taste of 90 Cheval, but several tasters seemed to think this was a slightly off bottle.
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2/13/2008 - Dave Dalluge wrote: 94 Points
Cheval at Heidi's: From magnum. Double decanted for about four hours and then fully decanted for about six hours. The color is a dense, dark red. The nose gives a big dose of carmel and vanilla along with red fruit, espresso, and dill (who mixed the Pichon Lalande with my Cheval?). The taste is dominated by red fruit with some chocolate/coffee notes. Extremely concentrated and big yet balanced thanks to formidable structure. Silky smooth. Lacking in complexity at the moment but I'm confident this will fill in with additional time in the cellar. I tasted the 1990 from 375 last fall and it was showing much better than this bottle. Let your bottles and magnums sleep awhile longer.
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11/21/2007 - Eric wrote:
A decadent 30th birthday for Justin Wells (Sammamish, WA): Wow, what an exotic nose! Green notes of Cab Franc, coconut, vanilla, so utterly distinct from the 1986 Mouton and 1989 Haut-Brion. This was just so idiosyncratic and with time in the glass this picked up soy, chocolate and gained more and more of a Merlot personality. Wow, wow, wow! Does anything else taste or smell like this? Really picking up weight and gaining a rich, chocolaty, right bank personality.
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9/22/2007 - Dave Dalluge wrote: 99 Points
Kitchen Tasting Group Does Beaver Creek – Day Two: My third time with this wine, and the best yet. From half bottle. Maybe serving this after all the Burgudy helped me fully appreciate it. Or maybe the half bottle format meant this wine was a bit more developed. Either way, the nose delivered soaring aromas including white chocolate, carmel and red fruit. In the mouth this is concentrated with great texture -- elegant and silky. Perfect balance. Great finish. I felt so fortunate to be sitting among good friends at a perfect setting and sipping such a divine wine. Thanks Brad.
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8/26/2007 - dream wrote: 94 Points
Good but slightly fading color. Gorgeous nose of black fruits, roasted nuts and this fantastic blanket of perfumed Cheval earth. Wow, what an incredibly smooth texture that's like liquid velvet. This is a classic, middle-aged Cheval Blanc that's medium to full bodied with delicious black fruit flavors and strong mineral notes. Finishes with a second dimension of complex, earthy flavors that are hard to describe but seem to combine roasted nuts, graphite, liquid slate and sweet soil. There's also a bit of crisp acidity on the finish which makes me think this wine needs a bit more time. It absolutely baths itself over a Lobel's sirloin. While I tend to think this wine is a bit overrated, tonight it is singing.
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7/3/2007 - burgcamel wrote: 99 Points
This was an exceptional bottle. I double decanted the wine an hour before leaving for dinner. By the time we poured this at the restaurant is was ready. Wonderfully balanced with leather, tobacco and medium dark berry flavors.
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6/22/2007 - dwandrus wrote: 93 Points
Good color, little thinning. Spicy, bell pepper, white pepper, good red fruit retro nasal, perfect balance but stale background (suspect storage), 20 second finish to cocoa and tea.
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6/15/2007 - Jeff Leve wrote: 98 Points
Roasted coconut is the first smell greeting your nose followed by a mélange of red and black fruit with herbs. In this flight, the Cheval seemed lighter and slightly more developed than the other wines. Cheval’s opulent, voluptuous, accessible style can be enjoyed now, but based on where this wine’s at, and previous older bottles of Cheval, I’m willing to bet this wine evolves for decades.
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4/10/2007 - Eric wrote: 98 Points
Offline with Jonathan Dinh (Seattle, WA): This was my WOTN featuring a crazy nose that evolved constantly for 5 hours. Gunpowder, Asian spice, caramel, cocoa and tea leaf, incredibly expressive and distinct. Wow, what a palate, explosive, crackling with mineral intensity, downright sexy stuff. This started out so very spicy and was a bit rough initially, but it smoothed out incredibly. Surprisingly perky acidity. OMFG, this is getting so sexy the longer it aerates. Plush, plush wine!
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2/1/2007 - winefool wrote: 93 Points
HDH Comparative Bordeaux Tasting 1989 & 1990 (Casino Club): Pale red color. Bright sweet nose of redcurrant fruit. Sweet round red spicy fruit. Very nice, but less depth than the 89.
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1/20/2007 - futronic wrote: 98 Points
TWC 3-Year Anniversary Dinner (Chez Splat, Markham, Canada): Dark garnet colour. Aromas of cigar box, blackcurrant, herbs, leather, and toffee. Full-bodied, amazing palate showing cedar box, herbs, and licorice. Really love the texture. Long finish, 50+ seconds, with blackcurrant and leather notes. Fantastic!
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11/3/2006 - winefool wrote: 93 Points
Dinner with He Who Must Not Be Named (Jim Clary's): Full coffee red color. Big briar red fruit, cedar, and pencil lead on the nose (didn't we just LEAVE Paulliac here?!?). Tight black coffee fruit on the palate. Group and my WOTF.
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8/7/2006 - 128 wrote:
Pre-dinner drink at home with the wife.
Dark red in colour, clear and bright. Upon opening straight from the Eurocave, I detected a sweet savoury bouquet which had me searching for an appropriate descriptor until I thought of white chocolate. The nose kept changing with air and as the wine warmed to room temp. Cherry, raspberry........certainly red fruits. The cherry note was repeated on the palate...........sweet cherry. Good balance and length.
I preferred the 90 to the 82. My wife preferred the 82.
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7/30/2006 - BradE wrote:
1985 Cheval and 1990 Cheval. Continuing our Cheval theme of last night, tonight we had 90 and 85. The 85 was first. I continue to think that 85 bordeaux is drinking exceptionally well right now. The 85 was simply a pleasure, with the typical Cheval taste, and that something extra that I've enjoyed in recent 1985 Cheval's. The 90 was spectacular. I've had a lot of this wine, and in the late 90's it was my favorite Cheval. But I've had some less than perfect bottles over the years as well. This wine you could call a meal. It was chewy, each sip was a mouthful, and it had that caramel flavor that was so incredible. Its somewhat of a freak, I must say. But yummy.
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2/27/2006 - Dave Dalluge wrote: 92 Points
Cheval Blanc with Brad England and Scott Manlin: The color is dark red. This is much darker than any of the other Cheval Blanc tasted. The nose shows an overpowering smell of caramel and vanilla. In the mouth this is full bodied. The wine is extremely concentrated. The wine coats the mouth and the finish goes on for a long time. All the necessary elements are there, but they really haven't integrated. The nose is more overpowering than exotic. The taste is big but not nearly as complex as the other wines tasted. We retasted this after dinner, and it had improved. This wine is still on the upside of maturing, and is likely to develop into something spectacular.
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2/10/2006 - dbkitc wrote:
Full, explosive and exotic. Wonderful – drinking well now. (19)
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1/13/2006 - Serge Birbrair wrote:
Very Good! I am impressed.
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11/2/2005 - Jeff Leve wrote: 99 Points
This is so opulent, complex, rich, sensual and seamless. Can wine get any better than this? The fruit glides across your palate and awakens all your senses. This is what elegance in a wine is all about.
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9/28/2005 - Dave Dalluge wrote:
Wine and Dinner with Brad England and Scott Manlin (Brad England's House): Served after dinner (and after five other bottles of wine) with minimal decanting. The color was a brighter red than the preceding wines. The nose was expressive, with flavors of red fruit and white chocolate. In the mouth this was medium bodied, with mild fruit, and a good (not long) finish. Scott thought this bottle was corked. He had had this wine within the last three weeks and indicated that this bottle was very different from what we had. I did not detect any cork, but would have expected more from a 1990 Cheval Blanc. I'll defer to his judgement. Probably an off bottle, but it was a treat to try anyway.
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9/17/2005 - Burgundy Al wrote: 97 Points
HDH Pre-Auction Tasting (Chicago Athletic Club): Wine tasting. Black fruit and floral aromatics with some of that alluring Cabernet Franc backward spice. Flavors of ripe fruit - plum, black cherry and kirsch. Huge wine from beginning to end with lots of spice throughout. Everything wonderfully in balance. Exactly as I remember from when tasted last year.
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9/17/2005 - winefool wrote: 93 Points
HDH Pre-auction tasting (Chicago Athletic Club): Pink red color. Huge aroma of green pepper and black fruit. Really rich lovely red fruit. Unusual but nice. 93-94 pts.
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2/11/2005 - Eric wrote: 95 Points
Pre-Parker warmup dinner at Citronelle (Washington DC): The nose shows crazy vanilla, caramel and a spicy/leafy edge from the copious Cab Franc. The palate is gorgeous and right on the money though, well done!
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12/11/2004 - Burgundy Al wrote: 98 Points
Kensington Wine Tasting, Before and During Auction (The Pump Room - Chicago IL): Tasting. Superbly concentrated fruit aromatics with great floral support. Ripe plum, black cherry and cocoa on nose, these flavors continue onto the palate. Finish shows a bit cherry liqueur character as well. Acidity and tannins are large but balanced and help provide more length and texture. Kept getting better and better with time.
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11/1/2004 - brian a wrote: 98 Points
Tasted at Bonham's and Butterfields 82 vs. 90. vs. 2000 tasting
Mine and the group's WOTN. Elegant and complex aromas of violets, blueberries, another flower I couldn't quite put my finger on, black cherries, a bit of cedar this wine seemed to change every moment in the glass. A wonderful mouthfeel and an elegant finish that lasted for close to sixty seconds. Very well balanced.
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10/16/2004 - Eric wrote: 96 Points
'A Taste for Life' hosted by WineCommune (San Francisco, CA): This had many people gasping, and I can see the charm. The nose was spicy and exotic, very different from every other wine with notes of cream and vanilla wafting amidst a sea of spice. The palate followed the nose with an intriguing combination of spicy and sweet fruit. This really came together very nicely in the glass after an initially slow start.
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5/20/2004 - Joe Belmaati wrote: 96 Points
Dark red with slight clearing at the rim. Sweet scents of vanilla, ribena juice, and oak. There were also hints of cassis. Very powerful, dense and concentrated with an almost brutally intense flavour impact. Very low in acid and with a warm and embracing character. I had this wine pegged as a Californian cabernet, perhaps Shafer Hillside Select - my favourite American wine - as I did not pick up any classic Bordeaux notes. There was no tobacco, no leather, no lead pencil, and to be frank, I found this wine to be somewhat lacking in structure. But for sheer hedonistic pleasure, this wine is hard to beat. On a previous try with this wine I have found it to be classic, although decadent, St. Emilion and rated it 1 This bottle was different.
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10/3/2003 - Joe Belmaati wrote: 100 Points
Dark red in the glass. From the glass emerges huge scents of vanilla, caramel, and chocolate truffle. Also rich scents of flowers and jam. Sweet and chocolate-like on the palate. Like liquid Valrhôna. Very dense flavour and a texture that is silk-like and smooth - completely seemsless and caressing, all the while filling out on the palate completely. Formidable concentration combined with finesse, style and class. The finish lasts forever. In fact, I can still taste it.
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6/22/2003 - Eric wrote: 92 Points
Seattle Tasting Group does 1990 Bordeaux (Woodinville, WA, USA): Group average 92.375 and #2 WOTN. Dustiness with not much on the nose at first. With time a certain medicinal element comes out, and this seems to be gaining a great deal in the glass. On the palate this has surprising sweetness with an earthy, smoky element. My notes says I found this to be a bit thin yet still beautiful and balanced. I found the finish to be medium yet pretty. All in all, the wine underwhelmed me with the component parts, yet somehow it held together in a remarkably balanced and elegant way. This is why I love blind tasting--had I known what it was surely I would have rated it higher. A number of other tasters suggested that this improved quite dramatically in the glass after we moved on to other flights.
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1/1/2003 - sdr Likes this wine: 97 Points
Wine Library California bottle. Fabulous this time. Shiny bright color. Huge sexy fragrance of crushed red cherries and assorted red fruits. Fabulous, luscious, sweet. Still primary.
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3/1/2002 - sdr Likes this wine: 88 Points
Cheval Blanc vertical at Palme d’Or Miami. Surprisingly anonymous. Good weight and mouth feel but that special spark of personality is missing. But tonight overwhelmed by not only the ‘47 but also the ‘82.
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5/1/2001 - sdr Likes this wine: 96 Points
Medium ruby, no sediment. Fabulously sexy open fleshy fruity wine. The nose suggests over-ripeness - prunes, black cherries, vanilla. Soft and supple. Viscous. Not a wine of structure, this is Right Bank. Luscious. Concentrated but not powerful. Ready now. But K didn’t like it.
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5/20/2000 - La Cave d'Argent wrote: 92 Points
Tasted in the cellar of Jim Poet. Deep ruby color with red/brick rim. Intense, "brambly" nose with predominant currants and clove. Medium body, low acid, similar flavors as nose. Medium supple tannins. Long finish. Nice, but paled in comparison to the 1990 Latour which was poured alongside.
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5/1/1997 - sdr Likes this wine: 98 Points
Jim’s bottle, from a great tasting of mostly ‘89/‘90 Bordeaux. Very distinctive spice and fruit, very Cheval Blanc. Delicious, even exquisite, fruit, breed and class. Flamboyant. Exciting and sweet. Tied for first for me with ‘82 and ‘90 Latour.
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3/1/1994 - sdr Likes this wine: 92 Points
Great Wine Seminar.Splendid bouquet of spicy new oak and ripe fruit. Nicely rounded tannins. Long. Excellent future.
Serena Sutcliffe: “raw wood, opulent.”
David Peppercorn: “exceptional bouquet.”
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