Great wine, great writing: the 1947 Cheval Blanc and Mike Steinberger
First time here? Check out the "site highlights," send in a question, subscribe to the latest posts by RSS, daily email, or free monthly updates by email (right sidebar). Thanks for visiting!
Mike Steinberger, who is one of the greatest wine writers on the planet, has a piece on Slate about his quest for 1947 Cheval Blanc (find this wine), which he calls “The Greatest Wine on the Planet.” Consider it essential reading: savor the story since the wine itself is much more elusive.
And if you didn’t catch it, last year Mike went on a quest for a $700 bottle of 1996 Coche-Dury Corton-Charlemagne.
Image: Michael Steinberger
Feb
14
2008
One of the "seven best wine blogs." 
One of the three best wine blogs
On February 14th, 2008 at 2:18 pm ,Fred McTaggart wrote:
I’ve tasted the 1947 Cheval Blanc and don’t agree that it’s the greatest wine on the planet–although it certainly comes very close.
I tasted the Cheval Blanc at a large pre-auction tasting in the early 1990s and it didn’t even come in No. 1 (to me) at that tasting. As good as it was, the 1928 Palmer was even better.
I doubt if there are many bottles of either around today. And if there were, I couldn’t afford them.
On February 14th, 2008 at 2:42 pm ,1WineDude wrote:
Killer article, just killer. I’m not sure how I’d recover from having my palate that recalibrated…
On February 14th, 2008 at 3:35 pm ,Dr. Vino wrote:
Interesting, Fred.
And, 1winedude, you know what they say: once you’ve had Blanc, everything else is plonk.
On February 18th, 2008 at 8:50 am ,Marco wrote:
Thanks for the link to the Slate article. I was born the same year and haven’t aged as well in some ways.
On February 19th, 2008 at 12:46 am ,Tom Stephenson wrote:
For a recent comparison of 1947 v. 1921 from more of a “seasoned taster’s” perspective as far as old Cheval goes, check out this “Parker Board” thread: http://dat.erobertparker.com/bboard/showthread.php?t=155932
published a few days before the Slate article.
Mr. Rosania always has an interesting take on things, and has one of the more experienced consumer palates out there.
On March 10th, 2008 at 12:36 am ,WinePress wrote:
Found this excerpt here and had to give my two cents. I happen to live in a very affluent town (they call it a city here) and there are many wine lovers. Being a writer with a publication, i am asked to go to certain events. One that i will never experience again is tasting 24 vintages of Cheval Blanc. I say “never” not because i don’t want to, but because it truly was a once in a lifetime experience. My scribble of notes is on my website which will be redesigned, hopefully soon. Regardless, if anyone wants to hear about the vintages, it’s there. And yes, this was from the host’s cellar.
http://nashvillewinepress.com/blog/index.php
On June 9th, 2008 at 10:53 am ,Croft Port - 1945, 1960, 2003 | Dr Vino's wine blog wrote:
[...] last week of vintage ports from the producer Croft. Their 1945 is something of a legend — no ‘47 Cheval Blanc but you get the idea. So when I heard it was being poured at a press event in Manhattan, I was [...]