Cheval Blanc 1995:
Brought this wine to dinner at MF Sushi in Buckhead on June 19th. Drank with my wife and friend after a very nice bottle of '00 Dom. I am beginning to think that Bordeaux, specifically Pomerol and St. Emilion, are magical partners for Japenese food, in this case Sushi and grilled fish and meat from a robata grill. This is only the second time I have this wine in the last few years- the last time was at HDH’s '95/'96 Bordeaux face off. I didn’t think it showed its best then. This time it was outstanding. The nose was a marvel- mentholated candy, freshly laid road tar and ripe blackberries were the primary components. The meat of the wine was plush and vibrant, densely packed with flavors ranging from espresso, tart cherries, black plums, anise, vanilla, blackcurrant and cocoa. The acidity was perfect and helped zip right through some of the spicier dishes we had. Overall the wine was a medium-bodied wine trying desperately to stretch itself into a full-bodied wine. In doing this this (or attempting to anyway) the wine has not lost any of its refinement or elegance. It is simply more charming and, in fact, a flat out better wine than the one I had last year. Moving into rock star territory here- but then I expect a lot of '95s to begin that climb in the next five years! 96 points
What’s with all the plonk lately Liotta?
This is why you refuse to hang with us?
I get it now ![[tease.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/c/c5b32b76bebaa359b0452ae247b61189ffe5fa7e.gif "tease"){kind=small}
Plonk good . . .
Last '95 Cheval Blanc I opened was a magnum at my wife’s and her cousin’s joint dinner (6 January 2008). My notes from that evening:
1995 Château Cheval Blanc (Magnum) > - My bottle, kept upright 12 hours before, opened at 5pm just to check as the cork was protruding ever so slightly. It smelled fine so I just re-corked it for later. I had mentioned the slight protrusion to the Stockbroker the day before and he assured me it should be fine since magnums are generally sturdier.
This was an elegant wine. Neither flambuoyant nor overly showy, this was not a “blockbuster” by any means…but that is a good thing for me. It is more of a contemplative wine, one I had to pay attention to to unravel its virtues.
Silken, seamless black cherry, cassis, violets and a bit of raspberry, discreetly underpinned by rounded dark plum and merest whispers of clove, espresso and sweet cedar. Lovely.
A far cry from, say '90 and '98, but very nice in its own right.