12 bottles per lot
Details
Château Cheval-Blanc--Vintage 1989
Saint-Emilion, 1er grand cru classé (A)
Tradition would have it that the great vintages are generally the fruit of hot, dry years, and 1989 is the perfect illustration of this. Total rainfall in Saint-Emilion that year came to 450 mm, or barely over half the average amount in the region. The summer was hot, although without ever becoming excessively so, and the maximum temperature recorded between veraison and harvesting was just 32.5C. The vine cycle was exceptionally early, with budburst at the end of March, flowering in the last week of May and veraison at the very start of August. Harvesting started on 7th September and came to a close on the 27th. Since the start of the century, picking had never started so early at Cheval Blanc, and the volume of the harvest was also larger than usual. The grapes coming into the vat-house had reached perfect ripeness levels, and were rich and remarkably concentrated. Pressure from cryptogamic diseases was low all year long. The average natural alcoholic degree for the harvest as a whole was 13.
Tasting note:
The earliest harvest since the early 20th century and a big crop. Fairly quick and even development, a wine of distinctive charm and elegance. . Two recent notes. Still very deep yet with mature rim; bouquet curiously reluctant at first, complex, smoky, bricky, a whiff of mint and liquorice; sweet, full fruit, lovely flavour - liquorice noted again, silky tannins. Needs time. Last tasted Jan 2006 ****(*) 2008 - 2020. MB
12 bottles per lot
Saint-Emilion, 1er grand cru classé (A)
Tradition would have it that the great vintages are generally the fruit of hot, dry years, and 1989 is the perfect illustration of this. Total rainfall in Saint-Emilion that year came to 450 mm, or barely over half the average amount in the region. The summer was hot, although without ever becoming excessively so, and the maximum temperature recorded between veraison and harvesting was just 32.5C. The vine cycle was exceptionally early, with budburst at the end of March, flowering in the last week of May and veraison at the very start of August. Harvesting started on 7th September and came to a close on the 27th. Since the start of the century, picking had never started so early at Cheval Blanc, and the volume of the harvest was also larger than usual. The grapes coming into the vat-house had reached perfect ripeness levels, and were rich and remarkably concentrated. Pressure from cryptogamic diseases was low all year long. The average natural alcoholic degree for the harvest as a whole was 13.
Tasting note:
The earliest harvest since the early 20th century and a big crop. Fairly quick and even development, a wine of distinctive charm and elegance. . Two recent notes. Still very deep yet with mature rim; bouquet curiously reluctant at first, complex, smoky, bricky, a whiff of mint and liquorice; sweet, full fruit, lovely flavour - liquorice noted again, silky tannins. Needs time. Last tasted Jan 2006 ****(*) 2008 - 2020. MB
12 bottles per lot