1976 Château Cheval Blanc
Coming from one of the mediocre years from the decade that was unkind to straight up disastrous in Bordeaux in general, I didn’t get my hopes up too much from this wine, even if it was a first growth.The color clearly reflected it’s age : very brownish with just the slightest tad of red left.
The first aroma’s to reach us were very atypical : brawny, salty,seaweed mixed with soy-sauce. After a couple of minutes being exposed to the air it opened up with a smoky and spicy smell,lots of herbs and some grilled peppers and dark olives, also a hint of leather and just a fleeting touch of cherry brandy and overripe plums being the only fruity component left here.
The taste is more than ok, but the mouth feel is surprisingly light for a wine with this pedigree, probably due to the severe rains during the harvest. Beyond that it’s a bit askew and incoherent with a harsh and even tannic finish that will probably outlive the small amount of fruitiness still lingering. So in short : it’s a very good effort given nature didn’t provide too much to produce a great wine, but if you still want to enjoy this, drink up because it’s probably at least 5 to 12 for 1976 Cheval Blanc.
