Château Cheval Brun Château Cheval Brun

10 January 2026 Wayne’s lunch (Wellington, NZ) : Served double blind by Wayne, with the Latour. Merlot 56% and cabernet franc 44%. Deep ruby, darker than the Latour. Even a more exquisite bouquet than the Latour. More dark florals, black currants, cassis, dark cherries, black liquorice, dusty earth and spices. Plusher and richer on palate than the Latour, with more substance to uncoil. Serious mid palate weight. Broader and deeper than the Lafite. However, lacking a little of the superb …

1998 vintage

Exquisite bouquet

1998 vintage

Boyz Dinner at Home...followed by Jazz (John's Place, Mid-Levels, Hong Kong) : Decanted for a couple of hours before serving. Wow, what a nose! So Merlot! Palate is so succulent and almost chewy because of the still prevalent tannin. It mounts into resonance inside the head on the very long finish. This is close to 'silence-creating'. Gosh, so lovely if still rather young or just will never quite get there? A real treat. 94-95

1998 vintage

Just perfect, full of body and more balanced than any Cheval I've had before

1998 vintage

Not quite as impressive as my last bottle, but still very good. Perhaps closing just a little.

1998 vintage

Exactly 26 years and 1 month after tasting this wine at the Château and from the barrel:) This was a gorgeous old school Bordeaux, definitely at its peak (it will remain at this level for a while if you ask me) and showcasing tons of wonderful aromas: sweet tobacco, cedar, touch of pyrazines, leather from a horse saddle and stewed strawberries. In fact, it reminds me of a 1971 Mas La Plana I had a few years ago, with more …

1998 vintage

Blind. Expressive nose of blueberry, baking spices, earthy elements. Palate is a bit lighter on this bottle than the ones I had before. Still very good.

1998 vintage

- tasted blind - what an intense and interesting nose, packed with a lot of spices reminding first of a Cab. Sauv. driven Bordeaux, but with more and more time it was showing green pepper, paprika, leavy hints. All very elegant combinded with an dark, sweetish fruit profile which was so airy and creamy at the same time. One could note that the cleanliness and precision of aromas are not setting it up for 100p. All embedded in a perfect …

1998 vintage

This is my first tasting since 2021 and this wine continues to drink beautifully. Decanted 2.5 hours. Notes are similar to my last tasting: black raspberry, plum, cassis, graphite, along with glycerin and damp earth. An exquisite wine with perfect balance and acidity. Tannins are soft and well integrated with very long finish. Paired with grilled Wagyu strip steaks and lobster mac and cheese - tough to beat!

1998 vintage

Tasted at 1oz pour at the local wine shop. Browning a fair amount. Red cherry on the nose. Taste still has pronounced tannins and acid. Graphite in the finish. Can get the slight barnyard notes that others have mentioned, very light but still there. Lots happening in a small amount of liquid.

1998 vintage

To celebrate Burgundy Week (Noize) : Served double-blind. Bonfire and tobacco on the nose, rather lean and green when drunk. The bottle's contributor declares this flawed, and sure enough with a little more air there's a swimming pool note. Dammit!

1998 vintage

Unanimous consensus that this was good, but also a little weird. Opens with aromas so verdant it smells like strolling through a garden store with all the plants and mulch. It's dark and black-fruited but with cut and acuity coming from the cabernet franc on the entry, then quite clenched in the middle, then turns evanescent on the back end with a gentle fade like a receding tide. It was not easy to wrap our heads around this one but …

1998 vintage

2024-12 Vinorules End of Year Distinguished Wines at Scopri (Scopri) : Tasted blind. Dense, darkish fruited. Very fruity. I don't get it. 91.

1998 vintage

A notably Merlot dominant year that shines through with its generosity, chocolate covered cherries and graphite.

1998 vintage

HDH annual Bordeaux tasting: Château Cheval Blanc (Chicago, IL) : The first bottle I tried of this was probably decanted a little too vigorously.

1998 vintage

HDH annual Bordeaux tasting: Château Cheval Blanc (Chicago, IL) : The second bottle was something to behold though. Dark fruit and leather, this is exactly what you would expect of a 1998 right bank, with its opulent fruit coupled with a resolving structure. The perfume doesn't come across as pyrazine-heavy (unlike the more modern incarnations, or the incredible 1996 alongside), and it's more of a fruit-driven, slightly barnyardy, rustically leathery profile of ripe Bordeaux of that era. Impressive for its …

1998 vintage

Sadly one of the most disappointing wines I've had in a long time. Provenance was good, cork was shockingly pristine, but the wine tasted 20 years or more older, with little to no fruit, all tertiary notes of cedar, tobacco, earth. Decanted about 2 hours before serving. No true flaws to speak of.

1998 vintage

Completely agree with the notes written by VINHSLEE and PETERNELSON. Not nearly as optimistic as STEINERSING and G SQUARED. Time will tell.

1998 vintage

Three Decades First Growth Wine Dinner at Les Nomades, Chicago, IL (Les Nomades, Chicago IL) : My first time experiencing Cheval Blanc, this poured the most purplish red of all the First Growths, and also struck my nose with a discrete herbal note which no other wines featured on this amazing evening. I actually found the first taste of this a bit muddled, with nondescript plum, red and black currant, herbs and slate. However, over the next 90 minutes this …

1998 vintage

Accessed by Coravin, served in Zalto Universal glass and Conterno Sensory glasses over 5 nights. Fill level is well into neck. The wine does show mineral, pencil lead, gravel, dried cassis, sweet tobacco, mildly floral, slightly iodine/metallic/medicinal notes. It does good level of acidity, mostly resolved tannins, but it is far from harmonised now. It often tastes more floral and gains sweetness after leaving it in wine glasses overnight. It certainly has the stuffing for improvement. This should be cellared …

1998 vintage

Mineral/metalic nose, pencil lead, gravel, dried cassis, elegant, dry finish, excellent stuff, beautifully poised with perfect age, at its peak in the first stage of its life. Tied for 6th place. TOC DD Yarom group at H&H Brazilian Steak Beverly Hills.

1998 vintage

Two hour decant needed. Still a baby. Incredible.

1998 vintage

This wine is really as good as everyone tells you. A lot going on here with decades to go.

1998 vintage

Decanted 2 hours. Dark & intense, showing a little light paling to rim. Super nose with fresh dark cherry, violets and plenty of herbes de Provence. Palate is ripe, intense, deep - again, dark black cherries, a little spice (nutmeg) with floral notes (rose?) - good freshness with a zip of acid, in perfect balance with light-medium tannins (a good grip though). Long, long persistence. Soft, supple, balanced - excellent. I’ve had several bottles of this wine - it’s always …

1998 vintage

A few more years of age and this could hit 100 Pts. It is a thrill-a-sip wine. The nose is packed with leafy mint, smoke, cherries, licorice, flowers, cocoa, tobacco, and truffles. The wine is intense. full-bodied, opulent, flamboyant and sensuous. This is Cheval Blanc at its sexiest best. The layers and leaves of fruit on the mid-palate and in the seamless finish should stop any winelover in their tracks. Drink from 2024-2060.

1998 vintage

decanted 2 hrs nose-minty mouth - serious body here. red-fruited licorice and red cherries. there's a very round smooth red wine classicism here that to me indicates a bordeaux of pedigree. But i think it might need another ten years (or more) to really develop complexity and shine. Worth trying if you are lucky enough to have multiple bottles.

1998 vintage

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