register no. 154 · volume iii · leaf 34 · the register kept since mmxvii
château cheval blanc
placed1950 · saint-émilion
placed privately. this report is closed.
41mmfill, below the base of the cork
90days at 13.0 °C
31 948alveolus · corridor 03 · face f
154mark no., pressed 24 december 2023
01acquisition14 september 2023hand iipassed
02verification15 september 2023hands i and ivpassed
03rest17 sep – 16 december 2023hand iiipassed
04placement4 january 2026hand iipassed
ithe ninety days
into the rack17 september 2023
out of the ninety days16 december 2023
readings25 920 at five-minute intervals
outside the band7 readings, in 1 excursion
excursion i13 november 2023 · 31 minutes · 7 readings · a door was held during a delivery
humidity65%, held to ±3
air+20 Pa, HEPA and carbon filtered
lightdark at rest. lamps on event only: 6 minutes. dark time 89 d 23 h 54 min.
positionresting, label up. not turned. no lift inside the ninety days.
probeone, in the alveolus · calibrated 15 july 2023 · drift 0.03 °C over the ninety days
logged byhand iii
iithe reading
readingas recordedtakenby
filltop shoulder · 41 mm below the base of the cork15 september 2023i
fill, second reading42 mm15 september 2023iv
fill, as catalogued"top shoulder" — the seller's words14 september 2023ii
methodshoulder—i
capsuleone crease 4 mm at the crown15 september 2023i
corkread through the neck glass. the capsule was not cut and the cork was not drawn; that is the whole of what can be said.15 september 2023i
labelone nick 4 mm at the lower edge, no loss of print15 september 2023i
glass4 bubbles in the wall, largest 2 mm15 september 2023iv
weight1 402 g gross15 september 2023i
colour at the shouldernot assessed. the bottle was not held to the light through the wine.——
seepagenone found at the capsule or the neck15 september 2023i
volumenot measured. it cannot be measured without opening it.——
provenance before 1971not established. see the third column of provenance.——
re-reading after the ninety daysno change from the first sitting16 december 2023i
readings are entered at the date they were taken. a reading that was wrong is corrected on a new line and both readings stay in the report. two readings that are both right and differ are both printed. the house does not average.
iiithe lines
0114 september 202301one bottle bought at a single-owner sale, london, lot 1332. the seller's cellar record goes with it.hand ii
0215 september 202301carried in its resting position. the carrier's log reads 1 174 readings at two-minute intervals, 1 d 15 h 8 min, peak 15.4 °C held 31 minutes.hand ii
0302first sitting. bench at 19.8 °C. raking light at 2200 k, the beam across the glass at a low angle, one side then the other.hand i
0409:4002fill read top shoulder · 41 mm below the base of the cork. the capsule was not cut and the cork was not drawn.hand i
0509:5202fill entered at 41 mm.hand isuperseded · see the line below
0610:0502second sitting, blind to the first.hand iv
0710:1902fill read 42 mm. the difference is 1 mm and is inside the ±2 mm tolerance of the method. both readings stand; the register does not average.hand ivcorrection to the line above
0817 september 202303into the rack. alveolus 31 948.hand iii
0913 november 2023037 readings outside the band over 31 minutes. a door was held during a delivery.hand iii
1016 december 202303lifted from the rack for the re-read. back in alveolus 31 948 the same day.hand iii
1103out of the ninety days. re-read at the shoulder before the press; no change from the first sitting.hand i
1224 december 202304lifted from the rack for the press. back in alveolus 31 948 the same day.hand iii
1304mark no. 154 pressed on the shoulder, facing the label. the report is numbered to it.hand iwitnessed, hand iv
144 january 202604placed privately, to one collector. the collector is not named in this register.hand ii
1504lifted from the rack at 43 seconds. the house holds forty-five and does not amend it on one lift.hand iii
ivwhat was not established
- the wine was not tasted. nothing in this report is a note on how it drinks.
- the cork was not drawn. what is said of it was read through the neck glass.
- no grade was given. this house does not grade, and there is no blank here where a grade would go.
- this is not a certificate of authenticity. it is a record of what was seen.
- the years before 1971 rest on the seller's own record and were not verified here.
- the volume in the bottle was not measured; it cannot be measured without opening it.
vprovenance
as stated1951 · the domaine, on release1951–1971 · one cellar, unnamed1971 · sold, a single-owner sale, london
as seen herethe seller's cellar record, 1971–2023, dated and continuousthe sale invoice, 14 september 2023the carrier's log, 15 september 2023nine plates taken here under raking light
not in our handsnothing before 1971 in any document we holdno cellar temperature record for the years before 1971no photograph of the bottle before it reached this house
vithe alveolus
address31 948 · corridor 03 · face f · row 4 · column 19
how it is numberedface a to face j, row 1 at the floor upward, column 1 at the pass-through end. ten faces, 2 578 columns between them, 24 rows to a face: 24 × 2 578 = 61 872.
height above the floor550 mm
distance to the pass-through3.1 m · single depth, one bottle to an alveolus
retrieval43 seconds on this bottle. the house holds forty-five seconds and does not amend it on one lift.
liftedthree times: 16 december 2023 for the re-read at the shoulder, 24 december 2023 for the press, 4 january 2026 when it was placed. the public pages say a bottle leaves the rack once, when it is placed; that is the lift the collector is told about and it is true of it. the register counts the house's own lifts as well.
to be liftednot again. it left the caveau on 4 january 2026.
viithe mark
mark no.154
pressed24 december 2023 · by hand i · witnessed by hand iv
stockcotton rag · hand press, one strike, not re-struck
positionon the shoulder, facing the label
numbered tothis report, register no. 154
proofone plate in the file
the mark is pressed when the ninety days are complete and before the bottle is offered, because the number on the shoulder is the number of the report and the report is finished first. a bottle that fails a stage never receives it. a bottle that is offered and not placed carries the mark and goes back to the rack.
viiithe file, and the term
the file
platesnine, raking light
proof of the markone plate
the saleinvoice and cellar record, 14 september 2023
carrier's log1 174 readings, 1 d 15 h 8 min
rest log25 920 readings
heldin the file, with the bottle
the term
statusplaced
placedprivately · 4 january 2026
pricenot published. this house sells by private treaty.
travels with the bottlethis report and the plates
this report is closed.
written byhand i
re-read byhand iv
last line4 january 2026
signed for the house24 december 2023
a signature here means one person read the bottle and one other read it again without seeing the first reading. it does not mean the wine is good, and it does not mean the bottle is guaranteed to be what the label says. it means two people looked and wrote down what they saw.
nothing in this report is erased. a correction is a new line with its own date, and the line it corrects stays where it was written. hands are entered by number and the house does not print names, its own or anyone else’s. collectors and enquirers are not named. prices are not entered.