2009 Château Cheval Blanc
Community Tasting Note
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Sunday, December 31, 2023 - It’s time for another New Year’s eve review. This year we had a slate of heavy hitters – cabs, cab blends and even a merlot based right bank – of vintages ranging from 2009 to 2016. The only common feature was that all of the wines had received at least two 100 point scores from some reputable critic and in some cases three or four (to be fair, we could only find one 100 point score for the Wraith, but one of our party swore they had seen another 100 point review so we let it in). I am posting the same review for all 5 wines but scoring each wine separately. And to be frank, these were all stunning wines – to think that our little group of hodunk wine sippers could really distinguish among greatness like this would be a bit arrogant – this is just for fun and none of us really know what we are doing, which is probably evident based on the quality of this review. With all of those caveats, here we go. Oh, for those who care about things like this, all wines were decanted 2 hours in advance and served at about 60 degrees F in zalto crystal.
1. Colgin IX Estate (2016) – 100pts - this was the wine of the night by a 3-1 vote. It was drinking perfectly, super well-balanced with the fruit not too strong and an incredible finish. Now we also drank it after the other 4 were gone. Could that have something to do with it? Hmm, regardless, this wine was gorgeous and we all truly enjoyed the experience of perfection in a glass.
2. Hundred Acre Wraith (2013) – 100pts – one of the very best napa cabs we have ever had. It was really tossing a coin between this and the Colgin. This wine was so well-structured yet smooth, smooth, smooth. And layer upon layer of flavors and textures. Cherry fruits, fine tannins,, super complex – this one has it all. What an achievement (if you can’t tell by now, I was the one who chose this over the Colgin for wine of the night).
3. Cheval Blanc (2009) – 99pts – the only merlot based wine of the night, the group was a little split on whether this or the PC should be #3. More dark berry than red with silky smooth tannins and a very complex long lasting finish with the cab franc giving it a hint of spice – this wine is drinking really well right now – not too early to drink but you can tell it has a lot of future potential as well. Wonderful, wonderful wine.
4. Pontet-Canet (2009) – 99pts – really a tie for third with the CB. What else can be said about this fantastic wine that has not already been stated? So supple, precise and pure. This wine truly punches above its weight and is neck and neck with wines costing 2-4x more than it. Its so sophisticated but also so approachable always making it a crowd favorite. Drinking well right now so no reason to wait if you have a bottle.
5. Kapcsandy Grand Vin (2016) – 97pts – probably by itself this would have been 99 pts, but when having to compete against the above it was just a tiny bit lacking. It probably could use another 2-3 years, and perhaps the 2013 would have been a fairer pick for this competition but we drank our last one a year ago. With that said, this is still a stupendous wine we all truly loved and had perhaps the best nose of the night with a ton of complexity and spice.
Until next NYE! Cheers!
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