Cheval Blanc St-Emilion 1989

98 points Jane Anson: "A legendary year where Cheval was among wines of the vintage Still full of life even if the tertiary notes are domiant, with truffled spice, tobacco, cocoa and cinammon, touches of saffron and raspberry puree but with an incredible freshness on the finish for a wine that is now 32 years old. The tannins are so finely spun at this point that you barely get any resistance from them, and yet a gentle power and sense of confidence is still unmissable. Generous and so moreish. Overall it was a great Pomerol year and Cheval is famously located right next door to this appellation and on similar soils - you can look to Trotanoy and Petrus for other wines from this vintage that are knocking it out of the park right now. Rainfall was 25% below average for the region, but the yield was up at an extremely generous 50hl/h. (6/28/21)"

98 points Jane Anson (Decanter): "Cheval Blanc saw 25% less rainfall than average in this vintage. Summer was hot but not a heatwave – the grapes were brought in from 7 September to 5 October, the earliest harvest date in the 20th century, and there are clear hints of prune and fig, but with menthol and eucalyptus touches that give it a fresh lift and suggest that blockages of maturity just might have been the key to its longevity. Concentrated, sexy, opulent, lifted through the finish, just smoky enough. The blend, by the way, is not exact because Cabernet Sauvignon was counted with the Cabernet Franc right up until 2014. However, plantings were recorded as 54% Merlot and 46% Cabernet Franc, with a high yield of 50hl/ha (the average between 1946 and 2014 is 33hl/ha, so this is significant). Still in the fullest grip of life. Drinking Window: 2018-2030. (Oct 2018)"

95 points Neal Martin (Vinous): "The 1989 Cheval Blanc is a vintage that I have not encountered since 2010. One bottle opened was rustic and fatigued, and Pierre-Olivier Clouet opened a second that was much better. It has a gorgeous bouquet of ample red fruit, morels, black truffle, cigar box and hints of brown sugar, all very well defined and charming. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannin and approaching full maturity; brown spices, bay leaf and clove infuse the red berry fruit. At 30 years of age, I suspect this 1989 will not improve further, but its robustness suggests that any decline will be graceful. Tasted from an ex-cellar bottle at the château. Drink: 2019-2045. (Sep 2019)"

94+ points John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "The 1989 Cheval Blanc is a beautiful example of the vintage, offering a deep, complex and utterly classic nose of dark berries, black cherries, menthol, cigar ash, gravelly soil tones, woodsmoke and a base of toasty new wood. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very pure on the attack, with a rock solid core of sappy fruit, outstanding soil inflection, superb complexity and a very, very long, youthful and ripely tannic finish. While this wine is not particularly far away from fully blossoming and will be quite drinkable with another four or five years of cellaring, I would be very strongly inclined to not touch a bottle for at least another decade, as I would love to see this wine in the same magical spot as the 1983 Cheval is today. 2016-2050. (Mar/Apr 2019)"