1981 Cheval Blanc, St-Emilion (high-mid shoulder fill, lightly bin-soiled & wrinkled label, oxidized capsule)

In my days as a wine merchant, I drank an awful lot of bottles of the 1981 Cheval Blanc, as I always found this to be one of the top wines of the vintage and its price back in the day (and I know I am really dating myself here) was often around forty dollars a bottle! It was pretty easy at that price to reach for this wine off of the shelf to take home and elevate a midweek dinner with its beauty and elegance! At age thirty-five, the wine continues to drink with great vibrancy and complexity, wafting from the glass in a constellation of red and black cherries, menthol, a beautifully complex base of gravelly soil tones, cigar ash and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and wide open, with a lovely core, fine balance and grip, melting tannins and a long, refined perfectly poised finish. A beautiful example of the vintage. Drink between 2016-2040.