Château Cheval-Blanc - St.-Emilion 1998 (750ml)
Price: $1400.00
| Producer | Château Cheval-Blanc |
| Country | France |
| Region | Bordeaux |
| Subregion | St Emilion |
| Varietal | Bordeaux Blend White |
| Vintage | 1998 |
| Sku | 10570 |
| Size | 750ml |
Decanter: 100 Points
The reference chateau of the vintage this wine is showing its class here and then some. It was the first year with Bernard Arnault and Albert Frère as owners with Pierre Lurton coming onboard from his former role at Clos Fourtet. 10% press wine was used whereas today they use no press wine in the grand vin. It was aged in 100% new oak. The 36ha of vines yielded 32hl/ha closer to their average than the relatively abundant 1989). The holdings have since expanded to 39ha with the addition of 3ha from Tour du Pin Figeac. 67% of production went in to the grand vin the rest into Petit Cheval. This is seductive and rich but with a purity and precision. There's more Merlot in the blend than is typical because the clay soils produced the best quality grapes and you can see its impact in the textural density - the proximity to Pomerol comes through.
Wine Advocate: 100 Points
The 1998 Cheval Blanc a blend of 65% Merlot and 35% Cabernet Franc is deep garnet-brick in color and absolutely explodes with scents of exotic spices incense dried roses cigar box and licorice with a core of crème de cassis and dried cherries plus touches of black tea and dusty earth. Medium to full-bodied it fills the mouth with rich plushly textured fruit and then POW?it hits the mid-palate with an explosion of Chinese five spice and floral perfume sparks leading to an epically long finish. This cannot fail to impress and can easily cellar for another 30 years or more.
Vinous: 95 Points
The 1998 Cheval Blanc has been a lauded wine ever since release. I have often quite controversially felt that it never quite matched its startling performances in its first ten years though it remains and excellent wine. Now at 20-years old it offers opulent high-toned scents of maraschino cherry iodine crème de cassis dried blood and a subtle almost Provençal herb-like scent courtesy of the Cabernet Franc. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grip showy compared to other vintages of Cheval Blanc with sappy red fruit and a fine structured that lends this 1998 focus. Perhaps this bottle did not quite deliver the intensity on the finish that I was expecting "jogging" instead of "sprinting" over the finish line. That said it is a very impressive wine even if personally I would not put it amongst the very best wines that Pierre Lurton has overseen. Tasted at Cheval Blanc. - By Neal Martin on April 2018
