'67 Cheval Blanc. Drink or hold?

WINE TALK
1

I have a '67 Cheval Blanc. Should I drink this now or later?

2

43 year old bottle from an iffy vintage…sell it to Rico through Wine Commune!

3

No reason to hold this any longer. This was never a really good Cheval, but if it was well-cared for/stored it could be above-average to good.

4

Bottoms up on this one. Let us know what you think.

5

I was tempted to pull the trigger on 67 VCC I saw sometime ago but passed. Weak vintage overall?

6

Can’t speak to the '67, but I have had the '48, '52, '64, '71 and '75, and all were pretty excellent wines. I would imagine that a well-stored bottle of this wine, even in an off-vintage could surprise. There is a high percentage of Cabernet in VCC so the wines tend to show best with long term aging.

7

It depends. Are we talking about 1867 or 1967?

I’m kidding, of course.

It really depends on the storage/provenance. I’ve had some cru boureois from the '20s, '40s and '50s that were ex-château and were ok-great and some from top growths (Cheval Blanc included) from retail shops in comparatively recent vintages that were not just a bit worse for wear.

N

8

Sooner rather than later.

1967 was a nice vintage but the wines have been mature for a while now. I have more experience with this vintage than many others because a local restaurant was selling out its cellar and had lots of these. They were showing nicely almost 20 years ago.

9

haven´t had 67 Cheval blanc, but several others. The best by far was Latour, but even THIS needs consumtion …
(not that 1-2 years longer will matter much … but no sense to cellar it further … certainly not until 2017 neener )

10

This is like asking whether to bury the corpse before there’s been a viewing. I guess it depends on your religion.

11

A friend of mine gave this to me. He told me it was laying in his folks cellar for years. He paid <$20. Looks like this will be a go sooner rather than later. Thanks.

12

If you’re going out, bring a back up. [swoon.gif]

13

dead horse, however white.

Latour 67 was quite good 20 years ago, which was more than we could’ve hoped for most any other wine from that vintage. Not potentially as nice as 66 or even 64—although no way a disaster like 65, 68, or 69. That is the upside of modern Bordeaux, that we shall never again experience 65, 68, or 69.

14

This is a good candidate for the “slow oxygenation” routine favored by Monsieur Francois Audouze. I.e. stand the bottle up for a week or so, so the sediment can settle, and then just pull the cork about 5 hours before serving (without decanting). Keep the wine very gently cool. Avoiding a decant preserves what vitality may be left, and the slow-O allows the wine to develop depth in the best possible way.

15

Dan:

I have a 1975. You want to make a White Plains White Horse Old Geezer verticle? Remember we had the '67 Carruades at my house 2 summers ago.

16

Jay,

The person that gave this to me wants to taste it next time he’s in town. Not sure when this will be, so will file this idea away for now.

17

Dan- I have not had '67 Cheval, but Lafite and Lafleur-Petrus have been quite nice in recent years. Pomerol/St. Emilion definitely favored that vintage- so I think you are in for a pleasant experience if it was stored properly. Sooner is better, but there is no huge rush at this point.

It is a very high acid vintage. My tasting experiences referenced above were after dinner with cheeses. Best way to deal with the 67s at this point IMHO. Definitely decant and serve immediately, but 20-30 minutes of airing and examination should bring some upside.

No it is not a “great” vintage by any measure, but one that has a very specific and useful purpose- i.e. with cheeses after dinner. In time, old 1991s and 1984s should also fill this role.