The 1985 Cheval Blanc has long been one of my favorite wines of the decade for the estate. It has a fragrant, heady bouquet that can floor you at several paces, an intoxicating brew of meaty dried red fruit, clove, leather and wild heather, the intensity just slightly down from the 1982. There is a sensuality on the nose that continues through to the palate. It is a beautifully balanced wine, one not quite as fleshy as a decade ago with a gaminess that has become more accentuated by time. There is so much dimension to this Cheval Blanc, although like the 1982, I suspect that it will be surpassed by the 1990 in years to come. Tasted February 2014.
Neal Martin, Wine Journal, eRobert Parker
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