Experienced tasters often maintain that this is not only the finest Cheval Blanc of the 20th century but one of the finest clarets of that century. Yet it’s a wine that doesn’t conform to the model of fine Bordeaux: it is rich and Porty, high in alcohol and volatile acidity.
This weight and opulence may have been atypical of Cheval Blanc, but few tasters have been able to resist its lush texture and voluptuous flavours. Yet its success was in a sense freakish, as no modern winemaker would set out to live so dangerously as to produce a wine in this style.
It was also made against the odds. France was still recovering from the Second World War, the Nazis having plundered the country over four years of occupation. Cellars were bare, barrels were old and scarce, even finding fresh hoops to replace rusty ones was a challenge and even basics such as bottles, corks and labels were in short supply.
Grapes were still sent to the winery in baskets on ox-drawn wagons. And yet, despite this, as French wine writer Michel Dovaz remarked: ‘1947 Cheval Blanc defies the laws of modern oenology.’
