1939 Château Cheval Blanc

Community Tasting Notes (2) Avg Score: 95 points

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  2/4/2024 - hprphf Likes this wine: 95 Points

  Pristine bottle recently recorked at the negocient, decanted. Insanely fresh with even some traces of primary notes still. Cranberries, pepper, meaty, vanilla, cassis, jungle fruit, quite concentrated but with a lifted sensation, best of both worlds with old wine grace and freshness. Not the most powerful vintage, just nice to drink. 95

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  10/13/2020 - Goldstone Likes this wine: 95 Points

  1939 Cheval Blanc Dinner....despite a typhoon. (L'Envol Restaurant, St. Regis Hotel, Wan Chai, Hong Kong): First-time recent release from the negociant who has held the total release since 1939-41. According to Pierre-Olivier Clouet, Cheval Blanc’s technical director, the challenging 1939 growing season provided only a minute yield, and since there was little market for fine wine, not to mention an immediate shortage of glass to produce bottles, the société civile that owned the estate decided to sell 14 barrels to Mähler-Besse. The Bordeaux négociant found a client in New York and duly sold 90% of their stock across the Atlantic. However, when it came to shipping the wines in 1941, the vessel was forced to return to France due to the threat of German U-boats. Consequently, the bottles languished at Mähler-Besse until recently, when one of the team notified Pierre Lurton and brought a bottle to Cheval Blanc for their inspection. The château does not own a single bottle of 1939, so Mähler-Besse’s stock represents all that exists. Bottles varied in ullage, and they decided to re-cork the best, electing to do so at the négociant rather than the château so there can be no claim that this is ex-château stock. A few of these re-corked bottles have been released onto the market.
  
  Ridiculously fresh-looking: transparent, brightly jeweled ruby. Nose is high-toned: very precise, perfumed red strawberry and similar fruits but with delicate bell pepper structure surrounding it. Palate is tart, alive, light, floral and incredibly fresh red fruits.....cranberries. Dilute but pure and feminine and really elegant. Moderate length and reverberance but deeper if you think of it in a feminine perspective. No particulates.....seems recently filtered? Feels like a totally modernised reconditioned classic car, like what Singer does with 1960s Porsches, whereas the 1953 Leoville Las Cases drank alongside it had the greater authenticity of an unconditioned classic. Wow....I have scored this for total experience. Thank you, Watson's Wines! 95+

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