January 1, 2024 - Bordeaux + Napa pirates (Tøyen, Oslo): Slow oxed 5 hours
The nose featured increasingly bright red fruits, going towards juicy cherries, raspberry, a cool streak of premium vanilla, slight VA, sweet soil and green pepper. So classical, fantastic complexity without being a show off.
Dark palate, at first a bit pointy, lacks perhaps some mid palate volume. Here I found blueberry, coffee, leather and a touch of VA as well with a very long finish.
High class stuff
96+
November 16, 2023 - Opened at Octavium in HK. Slow-oxed for several hours before being served as the fourth in a flight.
This was fantastic! WOTN for me, just slightly edging the '00 Cheval served before it. A bit more intensity on the nose, hints more red fruit, but also more tannic at this stage and slightly more grippy, as befitting the age and vintage. Still, going down velvety smooth as you'd expect from CB. Absolute class.
I think there's upside here, with potential to climb an extra point. Leave it for another 3+ years and see where it's at, but there's enough stuffing here to last another decade at least and still retain most primary notes. A real treat to drink.
October 13, 2023 - The Papies join the 13,000 Tasting Notes Club (Paris, France): Decanted and really needs it at this stage.
This wine is like you are in 1801 and u just met 5yr old Mozart. Mind blown , but also you are like wait , what happens in 5,10, 20 years . And that’s exactly it , as exceptional as this wine is now in its youth , perfect rich fruit, still mostly primary it is a case of where this goes and could well be a perfect wine in 10years . For now a 96-97 and what a joy! Pointless to discuss more.
August 19, 2023 - Good, if not a wow.
April 3, 2023 - Vertical from 1966 to 2014 at Wine Watch: slightly medicinal, high-toned nose. Huge concentration, rich, ripe fruit though still tannic. This was a favourite of many at the tasting though for me, it lacked some freshness & elegance but has great potential to improve and be something special in the future.
December 24, 2022 - A very good wine overall, but I wasn't blown away and it suffered the comparison with both the more mature glorious 2000 Margaux an the much younger 2016 Haut-Brion. Acidity is a bit high, and the wine already shows signs of evolution. Nice structure, silky tanins, but not quite the same combination of extraordinary tension and freshness that Cheval can deliver. To be fair I think I would have given it 1 or 2 more points if it had not been drunk next to the outstanding 2000 Margaux.
November 4, 2022 - My first CB in about 25 years. 14% abv. Dark ruby, very aromatic. On the palate, black cherry, iron, tobacco, black pepper and floral overtones. Very suave and energetic. Excellent depth and length. Tannic structure indicates its best days msy still be ahead.
October 17, 2022 - Tasting: My fourth vintage of Cheval Blanc, and this is very good, but I think the 2009 was better.
This is light on its feet and quite elegant, for being a Bordeaux.
October 12, 2022 - 2005 Cheval Blanc continues getting better and better with every tasting. Straddling the fence between hedonistic and classic, with air, the wine displays an intriguing perfume of potpourri, mint, truffle, cherry blossom, and plums. The perfect blend of vibrance and sensuality, while still in its infancy, it is impossible not to be enthralled by its concentration, balance, energy, and layers of sweet, ripe, very ripe, and slightly under-ripe red and black fruits. Drink from 2025-2060.
September 16, 2022 - A thrilling wine, the 2005 Cheval Blanc needs quite a long time to open up. On day one after a few hours it was tight and tannic, showing potential but not really revealing much aromatically. I drank a glass and left the remainder in a cool dark place, and revisited it 24 hours later. At that point the wine was transformed, with a sexy, complex nose showing cassis fruit but with overlays of walnut oil, toffee, canuba wax, hints of spice cake, and a cascade of constantly changing aromas that intrigue yet elude description. On the palate, saturated and rich but not at all sweet, with a long, complex mineral-salt finish that somehow hints at mysteries still to be revealed. Easy to image great wines different from this, but for this wine, perfection.