1939 Cheval Blanc

A wine with a history! And another wine reconditioned by Mähler-Besse (see Palmer 1975), in this case in 2018. This Bordeaux négociant bought all 14 barrels made of this wine, bottled it in their Bordeaux cellars and had a customer for the wine in the US. But in wartime it was thought too unsafe to ship wine across the Atlantic with its U-boats, so the wine has remained in the Mähler-Besse cellars. Very few people will have tasted it, I assume. To be honest, it was not as much of a pleasure to drink as the three other red bordeaux served at this dinner at Oswald’s, but it was truly liquid history, an example of the firm wines made in the 1930s showing quite a bit of acid now but still with a deep colour. The core was very dark with a pale blackish-brown rim. High-toned, as Michael Broadbent would have said, and clearly old – but not dead! A fellow diner loved this wine and found a certain sweetness in it. I tasted another bottle which was indeed a bit richer but not what I would call a rich wine in view of all that acidity. My score reflects its historical rather than intrinsic value. Rather put in the shade by the glory of the Haut-Brion 1955 served alongside with the guinea fowl, dark Muscat grapes and chestnuts. (JR)