1945 Chateau Cheval Blanc (Rebouche 1986)

"The 1945 vintage suffered a certain heterogeneity. Some bottles have never lost their volatile acidity that is far too high for the wine to be pleasant on the palate. However, other bottles, well preserved for seventy years, offer a wine remarkably rich, opulent, silky and uniquely Cheval-Blanc. Exceptionally concentrated and yet carried by an always upright tension, Cheval Blanc 1945 is perfectly balanced, a sign of a great wine which has unfortunately suffered in part from very delicate vinification during years of great technical and material precariousness. Still deeply dark in color, it exudes a very smooth nose accompanied by complex notes of red fruit jam and tobacco, and more surprising notes of anise and straw. On the palate, it is a full wine, silky and powerful which opens with an impression of impassive serenity." - Chateau Cheval Blanc