1921 Cheval Blanc
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Tasting notes
The 1921 Cheval Blanc is a wine that I dreamed about tasting for many years since it is a vintage that put not just the château but you could even say, the Right Bank on the map. This is a tale of two wines. Upon pouring, it is pale in hue with noticeable but not extreme volatility on the nose, which features tobacco and remnants of red fruit notes. The 1921 is quasi-Burgundian in style. The palate is refined with just a touch of volatility and feistiness toward the highly acidic and slightly blunt finish. This is clearly in its dotage and past its peak... at least, that is what I initially concluded. Returning to my glass after two hours, it had undergone a Lazarus-like resurrection. The bouquet is far more precocious and slightly medicinal, with hints of camphor, while the palate has attained more richness and viscosity, hinting at exotic tangerine and candied flavors. We had been prudent in pouring this 102-year-old wine straight from bottle, but in hindsight, I may have decanted this because it certainly benefited from aeration. Tasted at the "Twenties Latour and Its Peers" dinner at Epure in Hong Kong.
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Amazing wine and amazing summer and weather. Picked 17 September to 5 October. 19 hl/ha. First time Pierre Lurton has tasted the 1921 Recorked in 1985. Christian Navarro of Wally’s who was head sommelier at this event had his doubts about this 1921 but François Audouze inspected the cork and pronounced it genuine. Citrus nose and very vibrant but a bit lean on the palate – a relic or antique rather than a current wine. Not really together and concentrated. High volatile acidity. (JR)
The wine that has always enjoyed the greatest reputation of the vintage is Cheval Blanc's 1921. I had tasted this wine twice before and had been disappointed with both bottles. At this tasting, the wine was unreal. It offered an opaque color with considerable amber at the edge, followed by remarkably fresh, sweet, jammy aromas of black fruits, Asian spices, coffee, herbs, and chocolate. Thick, unctuously-textured, with oodles of fruit, this huge, massive, full-bodied wine must have possessed 14% alcohol. It could easily have been mistaken for the 1947 or 1949. One of the unmistakable impressions left by the entire Rodenstock tasting (every series was served blind) was how frequently the less-renowned Pomerols and, to a lesser extent, St.-Emilions triumphed over their more renowned and aristocratic brethren from the Medoc and Graves. In the flight of 1921s, the right bank wines were examples of profoundly concentrated, extraordinary Bordeaux. Other than a handful of 1921s that ranged from several surprisingly strong examples of Montrose, to old, decrepit bottles of Cheval Blanc, this great vintage has largely escaped my palate. But to paraphrase the late A.J. Liebling, "if you can't afford them, then it's nice to know someone who can." 1921 was one of those extremely hot Bordeaux growing seasons (more recently 1947, 1949, 1959, 1982, 1989, and 1990 have enjoyed similar summers and harvests). Because of high alcohol, low acidity, and a certain fragility to the wines, the vintage has always been considered to be very great, but short-lived.. This flight represented an extraordinary, once in a lifetime opportunity to look at some of that vintage's greatest wines - all purchased from private cellars in Europe in pristine condition. Only the Gruaud Larose had been recorked. The notes for this wine are taken from the description of Series V - Flight B of the 1995 tasting conducted in Munich by Helga and Hardy Rodenstock. Many years after the tasting from which this note derives allegations were made concerning the authenticity of old and rare bottles of wine sold by Hardy Rodenstock to collectors around the world. The matter has been the subject of numerous articles, litigation and at least one book. Mr. Parker believes that the wines served to him at this tasting were authentic so this note and the others from that specific tasting continue to be posted on eRobertParker.com.
About the producer
Ch. Cheval Blanc is one the finest producers in Bordeaux. The Saint-Emilion estate’s Cabernet Franc-dominant wines are consistently among the top wines of the vintage.