I never would have anticipated drinking my birth year of Cheval Blanc out of a Solo cup yet, here we are. The ‘81 is ruddy still; deep garnet color with some browning towards the rim and loads of sediment. The nose shows some of the telltale green-ness of vintage but everything has found harmony: the fruit has blossomed and structure has integrated. Dark fruited with tobacco, dried purple flowers, mushrooms, herbs and soft eastern spices. Charming! No particular rush to drink these but lovely now. — 7 days ago
Opened several hours prior and decanted off sediment and a portion of the cork that had broke and crumbled before returning to the bottle. The 2007 “Howell Mountain” pours a deep garnet color with a near opaque core and very slight rim variation. On the nose, the wine is developing with gorgeous notes of dark fruit: black currants, blackberries, tobacco, leather, earth and gentle spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannins and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and savory. This is firing on all cylinders right now and the structure suggests the power of the 2007 vintage is not slowing down anytime soon. Drink now with a decant and through 2037 with ease. — 6 days ago
Added at Bell’s. — a month ago
Medium Ruby with quite wide garnet rim. More truffle , tobacco , violet , cassis and earthy notes. Takes a bit of time to get going and certainly shows a bit more age than the 2009. On the palate, more austere with dryer tannin than the 2009 , but very well balanced and classic in style . Cassis, blackcurrant , tobacco graphite notes . Some dry spices too . Quite fresh acidity , and slightly gritty tannin. Long , saline, graphite tinged finish. This is showing some development , but will improve further over the next 5 possibly 10 years and hold well a further 5-10 — 9 days ago
Tasted blind. Everyone was at least 5-10 years off. Hard to believe a 1986 could taste so fresh. Library release. — 6 months ago
Okay. Again the same dilemma. If a wine does not meet expectation is it basically bad (for me)? 🤔 because in life everything is relative, right? Any thoughts on puzzling matter??The wine was well balanced, dark red fruit flavors, polished, smooth tannins, good intensity and concentration, but limited length and lacking any meaningful complexity… Eight year old left bank Bordeaux. A fourth or fifth growth winery, maybe not, can’t remember for sure. Do remember what I paid though, $120. Definitely too much for what we experienced this evening…. as to our expectations. — 20 days ago
Vino Joe
Fantastic and seemed even more mature than 13 years. Dark dark but smooth and developed. It’s a focused wine in great balance. No complaints but you can tell it was a bit below the heights for Latour. Double decanted and enjoyed over 4+ hours. — 6 days ago