30 Bordeauxs in 27 days of December.. Happy Bordecembre!
Plum notes on the nose, such purity. Oak dominated the palate though. Even after 3 hours b/breathe, Acid M and Tannins grippy M+.
A third of our lunch party said.. its a NW! I stuck to my guns, perhaps a Right Bank Bdx.. 2015? Turns out is a 2013, but never would I have guessed its the mighty CB!
A very interesting blend indeed.. 🍇 Merlot 49%, Cab Franc 48% and Cab Sauv 3%. I always thought Cheval was simply a blend of CF and Merlot, looks like there is some minutiae of Cab Sauv too.
The wine then underwent no saignée (bleeding from fermentation vats), and was not chaptalised. It contains no press wine and was entirely aged in new oak barrels for 15 months.
🔫 Amazing end to the year.. When asked why I scored this so far down for a 1st Growth? This vintage of 2013 would be (and is!) full of hits and misses, so it was kind of expected. But who knows how this vintage may evolve in another perhaps 5 to 10 years?
Thanks birthday brother Hann Sze for this kind treat, yet another Cheval Blanc. 2nd for the month, and joins the 1989, 2001, and 2011 this year.
27th Dec 2023 Tang Room, Malaysia
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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: Not overly expressive, cool, fresh in style, fairly round and balance, some terroir expression and red fruit perfume but overall lean, subpar concentration and hardly any complexity. Not that it would be bad to drink, not that it is not likely one of the better 2013s but this is just not interesting enough.
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Chateau Cheval Blanc - 30 year vertical (1949-2015) tasted blind: Nose of red berries, cherry, roses. Lovely aromatics, light palate. It did not find many friends at the table, I thought it was actually quite pleasant to drink. Of course from a QPR perspective you can go elsewhere for this.
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Joanne Bordeaux Trip 2018 (Bordeaux): The nose was beautiful and lifted with floral-infused raspberry, lavender, violets, sweet dusty minerals and spice box. On the palate, I found soft textures with zesty red and blue fruits, savory herbs, minerals and a mix of grippy tannin and zesty acidity. It finished on dark berries and sweet minty herbs, still showing a bit of tannic heft, yet already quite easy to like.
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IMW Bordeaux Tasting - 2013 Vintage (Hyatt, San Francisco): Medium ruby with red at the rim. Aromatic with vanilla/cinnamon (new oak), faint blackberry, light stewed bell peppers (pyrazines). The nose is a bit oak-dominated at the moment. In the mouth it's tarter and more astringent than the Evangile, Lafleur, or Angelus - more cab franc dominant perhaps. Feels floral but at the same time quite austere.
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Super tight. Tasted very manipulated, assuredly to overcome a difficult year. Should resolve in 10. This was a disappointment of the Masters of Wine SF Bordeaux 2013 Grand Cru tasting where 56 bottles were degusted. This Cheval Blanc was my first wine tasted for the night to insure the freshest palate. On the nose it was so closed down that there was barely an aroma of astringent berries. In the mouth it tasted of a chemical cocktail of berry-like cleaning solutions. The science of wine crafting tasted in full force. It will be interesting to revisit in 10. 5/10
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Vertical tasting of six recent vintages. Quite pale red. Leafy with a touch of black liquorice. Overall the aromatics are not that expressive. Black cherry flavours that are slightly tart. Pleasant texture and well balanced. The best 2013 Bordeaux I have tried.
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Very tight and somewhat lean. opens in the glass, but never great. A dad vintage, the winemaker says, I probably agree, although the domaine have preserved some ripe fruit, that keeps insisting at the end. If you have the choice, grab another vintage... #Angleterre
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Light, fresh, bright, elegant, soft, forward and user friendly style of wine with sweet, cherries, licorice, flowers and plums in its core that carry though to the fresh, red berry, polished, soft textured, finish.
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Ruby in color with flowers, licorice and sweet, fresh red and black plums, the wine is the essence of silky elegance with its soft, polished textures. Lacking the density found in the best vintages, the fruit is pure, clean, sweet and fresh, leaving you with an impression of ripe, clean red fruits. Blending 53% Cabernet Franc and 47% Merlot, the yields were 19 hectoliters per hectare. The wine reached 12.85% alcohol with 3.7 pH. 60% of the harvest was placed into the Grand Vin. 92-95 Pts
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12/27/2023 - Juliansi Likes this wine: 88 Points
30 Bordeauxs in 27 days of December.. Happy Bordecembre!
Plum notes on the nose, such purity. Oak dominated the palate though.
Even after 3 hours b/breathe, Acid M and Tannins grippy M+.
A third of our lunch party said.. its a NW! I stuck to my guns, perhaps a Right Bank Bdx.. 2015? Turns out is a 2013, but never would I have guessed its the mighty CB!
A very interesting blend indeed.. 🍇 Merlot 49%, Cab Franc 48% and Cab Sauv 3%. I always thought Cheval was simply a blend of CF and Merlot, looks like there is some minutiae of Cab Sauv too.
The wine then underwent no saignée (bleeding from fermentation vats), and was not chaptalised. It contains no press wine and was entirely aged in new oak barrels for 15 months.
🔫 Amazing end to the year..
When asked why I scored this so far down for a 1st Growth?
This vintage of 2013 would be (and is!) full of hits and misses, so it was kind of expected. But who knows how this vintage may evolve in another perhaps 5 to 10 years?
Thanks birthday brother Hann Sze for this kind treat, yet another Cheval Blanc. 2nd for the month, and joins the 1989, 2001, and 2011 this year.
27th Dec 2023
Tang Room, Malaysia
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12/16/2019 - Cailles wrote: 91 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: Not overly expressive, cool, fresh in style, fairly round and balance, some terroir expression and red fruit perfume but overall lean, subpar concentration and hardly any complexity. Not that it would be bad to drink, not that it is not likely one of the better 2013s but this is just not interesting enough.
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11/29/2019 - Collector1855 wrote: 93 Points
Chateau Cheval Blanc - 30 year vertical (1949-2015) tasted blind: Nose of red berries, cherry, roses. Lovely aromatics, light palate. It did not find many friends at the table, I thought it was actually quite pleasant to drink. Of course from a QPR perspective you can go elsewhere for this.
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6/20/2018 - Eric Guido Likes this wine: 92 Points
Joanne Bordeaux Trip 2018 (Bordeaux): The nose was beautiful and lifted with floral-infused raspberry, lavender, violets, sweet dusty minerals and spice box. On the palate, I found soft textures with zesty red and blue fruits, savory herbs, minerals and a mix of grippy tannin and zesty acidity. It finished on dark berries and sweet minty herbs, still showing a bit of tannic heft, yet already quite easy to like.
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1/30/2018 - RajivAyyangar wrote: 87 Points
IMW Bordeaux Tasting - 2013 Vintage (Hyatt, San Francisco): Medium ruby with red at the rim. Aromatic with vanilla/cinnamon (new oak), faint blackberry, light stewed bell peppers (pyrazines). The nose is a bit oak-dominated at the moment. In the mouth it's tarter and more astringent than the Evangile, Lafleur, or Angelus - more cab franc dominant perhaps. Feels floral but at the same time quite austere.
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1/30/2018 - Fractalage Does not like this wine: 86 Points
Super tight. Tasted very manipulated, assuredly to overcome a difficult year. Should resolve in 10.
This was a disappointment of the Masters of Wine SF Bordeaux 2013 Grand Cru tasting where 56 bottles were degusted.
This Cheval Blanc was my first wine tasted for the night to insure the freshest palate. On the nose it was so closed down that there was barely an aroma of astringent berries. In the mouth it tasted of a chemical cocktail of berry-like cleaning solutions. The science of wine crafting tasted in full force. It will be interesting to revisit in 10.
5/10
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1/26/2017 - RaggaMat wrote: 88 Points
Vertical tasting of six recent vintages. Quite pale red. Leafy with a touch of black liquorice. Overall the aromatics are not that expressive. Black cherry flavours that are slightly tart. Pleasant texture and well balanced. The best 2013 Bordeaux I have tried.
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11/24/2016 - beatles wrote:
Very tight and somewhat lean. opens in the glass, but never great. A dad vintage, the winemaker says, I probably agree, although the domaine have preserved some ripe fruit, that keeps insisting at the end. If you have the choice, grab another vintage...
#Angleterre
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11/5/2016 - dcwino wrote: 89 Points
2016 Villa d’Este Wine Symposium - Kelly, Alan and Kevin's excellent adventure; 11/3/2016-11/12/2016 (Villa D’este, Lake Como, Piedmont, Milan and Frankfurt): Fresh medium expressive nose, delicate sweet red fruit, cherry and strawberry, a hint of green, light caramel and mineral. Light concentration, hollow middle, austere and a bitter short finish. For my palate, the 13 is the worst vintage since at least the 97.
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5/25/2016 - Jeff Leve wrote: 91 Points
Light, fresh, bright, elegant, soft, forward and user friendly style of wine with sweet, cherries, licorice, flowers and plums in its core that carry though to the fresh, red berry, polished, soft textured, finish.
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4/28/2014 - Jeff Leve wrote: 92 Points
Ruby in color with flowers, licorice and sweet, fresh red and black plums, the wine is the essence of silky elegance with its soft, polished textures. Lacking the density found in the best vintages, the fruit is pure, clean, sweet and fresh, leaving you with an impression of ripe, clean red fruits. Blending 53% Cabernet Franc and 47% Merlot, the yields were 19 hectoliters per hectare. The wine reached 12.85% alcohol with 3.7 pH. 60% of the harvest was placed into the Grand Vin. 92-95 Pts
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