Château Cheval Blanc
1959 was an excellent year, with loads of class thanks to moderately warm weather throughout the growing season. A good bottle of 1959 Cheval Blanc is truly immense, showing fine balance, incomparable richness, and a rare, elegant complexity.
1959 was an excellent year, with loads of class thanks to moderately warm weather throughout the growing season. A good bottle of 1959 Cheval Blanc is truly immense, showing fine balance, incomparable richness, and a rare, elegant complexity.
Weather conditions and vine’s growing cycle
Temperatures and rainfall
1959 was exceptionally warm, with above-average temperatures every month. However, there was also considerable precipitation since only July had less rain than usual.
Water balance
In order to grow well, the vine needs for water stress to set in slowly so the grapes to ripen well and become concentrated. The warm weather was accompanied by showers. Therefore, water stress was weak to average.
Growing season
After an extremely warm summer, the harvest began on the 28th of September and ended on the 10th of October. The warm weather and yield of just 21 hectolitres per hectare were conducive to good ripening and concentration. This low yield was due, in part, to the results of the devastating frost of February 1956 that killed 10 hectares of vines. The absence of blending prior to bottling accounts for the irregularity in bottles from this vintage.
Alcoholic degree: 13°.
| Begin | End | |
| 1959 harvest dates | September, 28th | October, 10th |
| Average harvest dates: 1946-2014 | September, 24th | October, 8th |
Features of the vintage
Ripening and yields
| 1959 yield (hl/ha) | Average yield: 1946 to 2014 | |
| 20.9 | 33.9 | |
Tasting
Good bottles of 1959 Cheval Blanc are monumental and deserve their reputation for incredible elegance.
The very deep, dark colour shows normal signs of age.
The intense, generous nose displays hints of truffle and black pepper.
This mythical Cheval Blanc is rich and full-bodied on the palate. It is also well-structured, with coffee, leather, and blackcurrant flavours – altogether unbelievably delicious, succulent, and long.
Huge and incomparably rich, 1959 Cheval Blanc is complex, well-focused, and concentrated. A benchmark for the estate!Good bottles of 1959 Cheval Blanc are monumental and deserve their reputation for incredible elegance.
The very deep, dark colour shows normal signs of age.
The intense, generous nose displays hints of truffle and black pepper.
This mythical Cheval Blanc is rich and full-bodied on the palate. It is also well-structured, with coffee, leather, and blackcurrant flavours – altogether unbelievably delicious, succulent, and long.
Huge and incomparably rich, 1959 Cheval Blanc is complex, well-focused, and concentrated. A benchmark for the estate!