Despite the name, Cheval Blanc is a red wine, and it is the least typical of the great Bordeaux estates. Its vineyard sits on the Pomerol border, on gravel over clay that suits Cabernet Franc — planted here at roughly half the blend, a proportion no other first-rank château comes near. That grape gives the wine its violet and tobacco-leaf perfume, and its reputation for charm long before a Médoc first growth wakes up.
1968 was a wet, difficult year across Bordeaux and nobody has ever pretended otherwise. What justifies a bottle like this is not the vintage but the name and the date beneath it. Cheval Blanc bottled a wine that autumn, very little of it left the region, and almost none has reached fifty-eight years with a legible label and a high fill.
Bought for a 1968 birthday, it is a serious object with a serious estate behind it.
-
Producer: Château Cheval Blanc
-
Vintage: 1968
-
Appellation: Saint-Émilion AOC
-
Format: 75cl
-
Region: Bordeaux, France
-
Style: Red
Where it is likely to be now. A weak year even at this address, so expect a light, tertiary wine held up by the estate's structure rather than a great Cheval Blanc.
Who it suits. For a 58th birthday in 2026 where the recipient will recognise the name instantly and understand what it usually costs.
Condition. The label is graded good, and the wine sits at very top shoulder — a high fill for a fifty-eight-year-old Bordeaux, and the clearest sign that the cork has done its job.
Provenance. Bought to order from a professional European merchant. We check fill, label and capsule when the bottle reaches us and photograph it before it ships.
Delivered in 7 to 10 working days, tracked. Transit cover can be added at checkout.
Sold as a collectible item, as seen. No guarantee is given on drinkability.
