Cheval Blanc Dinner at Crustacean in Beverly Hills
Twelve of us at Crustacean, including the wine critic Jeff Leve (Wine Cellar Insider). Epic night of 11 vintages of Cheval Blanc, 3 vintages of Dom Perignon P2, plus mag of 2010 DP, and 4 white Burgundies.
The vertical of P2’s (2000, 2002, 2004) were amazing, with the 2002 showing the best with its laser precision and acidity.
We had the Cheval Blanc’s in 3 flights. All were amazing, but the 1982 was little off and the 1990 had some volatile acidity that impacted the quality. The 1985 was my wine of the night, with the 1989, 1995 and 2001 showing exceptionally well. The 1998, 2000, 2005 and 2009 were all amazing, but babies and will live for decades.
Flight #1 - 1982, 1983, 1985, 1989, 1990
Flight #2 - 1995, 1998, 2000
Flight #3 - 2001, 2005, 2009
Full Notes - Bold means wine of the flight
Dom P2:
2000 - creamy and little sweet. Classic DP, but a little flabby
2002 - precision, crisp and power. Oh so good!!!
2004 - more Chablis like with sea shells and salinity
2010 Regular DP - Not as good as the P2’s but a vintage of DP.
White Burgundy's:
2017 Lafon Meursault Bucheres - Best of the 5. Laser precision
2017 Olivier Leflaive Montrachet - Grand Cru presence. So easy to drink. Beautiful
2018 Ramonet Chassagne - Very good, but a bit underwhelming in this flight
2013 Chateau Maltroy Batard Montrachet - advanced, but not premox. Very nutted and interesting, but did not love it.
2017 Le Petit Cheval white - should not have been in this flight. 2nd label Bordeaux blanc hard to compare to great white burgs.
Cheval Blanc:
First Flight
1982 - sweet and pure, but shallow. Should have been better #3
1983 - good, but in this line up #4
1985 - best, virtually perfect #1
1989 - shockingly good #2
1990 - great, but young and holding back - Jeff Levy said VA. Agreed #5
2nd flight
1995 - so easy to drink #1
1998 - tight, but amazing #2
2000 - behemoth #3
3rd flight
2001 - amazing for the price. A perfect drinking Cheval #1
2005 - perfect. Young, but the texture!
2009 - monster. Needs so much time
