Wine ChroniclesThe revenge of Saint Estèphe
Posted on April 29, 2017
Bordeaux 2016 barrel tasting notes
By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com
29 April 2017
Most readers have read the positive feedback from the barrel samples of Bordeaux 2016, including from me. Yes, there is hype, as usual, and some prices are high (such as for Cos d’Estournel, one merchant told me), but I do believe that 2016 is a more homogeneously positive than 2015. That is to say that the highs of 2016 seem higher than most highs in 2015. And the low points of 2016 seem not as low as the low points of 2015.
Don’t get me wrong: I liked 2015 a lot. But I got an overall more exciting impression from 2016. Now that does not apply to Margaux: in 2015, Margaux was wondrous virtually across the board. In 2016, it was merely good to some cases of great. Same goes – albeit to a lesser extent – for Graves and Pessac-Léognan. But you can find class acts from both regions in 2016. Contrast that to 2015 and, say, Saint Estèphe. It was mostly a bit lacklustre in 2015. But, as Ulysses Cazabonne representative Robin Corvet, said it: 2016 is the “revenge of Saint Estèphe.” What better place to start? Read More
Terrible frost strikes vineyards across Europe
Posted on April 28, 2017
From various news sources
28 April 2017
It is very sad to see the news unfold across many parts of Europe, where winegrowers faced a cold weather pattern in recent days that has killed young buds from just emerging vines.
Three weeks ago, I was in Bordeaux admiring early bud development, for example, from Petrus in Pomerol, to Marquis de Terme in the Médoc.
Bud-break seemed normal, with initially mild temperatures that accelerated vine vegetation, and formation of bunches seemed at a precocious pace, according to vintners on location.
But since yesterday, e-mails are flooding in from worried vintners across Europe, as well as in Facebook posts.
Anne Le Naour, technical director for Château Meyney in Saint Estèphe, yesterday posted “Triste nuit (Sad night). P… d’année en 7 (fuc… years ending in 7), referring to the cold snap – and the series of lesser vintages since 1957, ending in 7.
As The Wine Spectator reported, vintners are “employing candles, sprinklers, wind turbines and even helicopters to save their crops.”
In a press release concerning the freezing, Château Angélus, put a brave face to the widespread damage, even if 80% of the estate’s vines for the grand vin have not been affected: “If we look back over the history of our region, we are reminded that if a spring frost affects the abundance of the harvest, it does not necessarily reduce quality. The glorious vintages of 1945 and 1961, when the initial weather conditions were similar to what we have just experienced, are two shining examples.”
“Unfortunately,” reported Château Angélus, “the wine region of Bordeaux was severely hit by frost during the nights of the 26th and 27th April, Angélus included.”
In a report from Decanter, Yohan Castaing noted the damage across France and also parts of Germany, Italy and Switzerland “after several nights that felt more like January than late April.”
High class, with Léoville Las Cases
Posted on April 27, 2017
By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com
27 April 2017
Wines made by Domaines Delon count among the classiest in Bordeaux – and that applies to their moderately priced Médoc Château Potensac, once correctly classified as a Crus Bourgeois Exceptionnel, to the grand vin, Château Léoville Las Cases.
You know top-flight wines are involved when you assess them in terms of Audrey Hepburn or Rita Hayworth or Lauren Bacall: actresses that live on as legends.
And such were the wines last night at Ripple, a restaurant of class itself, whose chef Ryan Ratino proved yet again his many talents. Aside from a too spicy harissa for otherwise fabulous lamb tartar in the first course, everything was utterly splendid. Kudos in particular to his foie gras consumé over delectably delicious tortellini of duck confit: a culinary paradise. I could have stayed with that course all evening… Read More
Bordeaux 2016 – updates!
Posted on April 14, 2017
The mysterious vintage – updated
By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com
14 June 2017
Originally published in April, I am adding links to this page on specific 2016 barrel tasting notes by appellation/region. Live links coming soon for the red and whites of Graves and Pessac-Léognan, Margaux and Sauternes.
Pauillac & Saint Julien / Saint Estèphe / Médoc and Haut Médoc / Margaux / Saint Emilion / Pomerol / Pessac-Léognan and Graves
Sauternes
While tasting barrel samples in late March and early April this year, vintners called the wines “unusual” or “unique”.
2016 was not an easy vintage, given the roller coaster suspense in what I had called a yin-yang vintage in Harpers Wine & Spirit.
But 2016 turned out to be darn good from barrel.
Not as predictable as 2005 or 2010 or 2015, but in some ways better than all three, at least when it comes to some wines.
Vintners were at pains to compare 2016 to any single previous vintage, and this riddle can be explained in how 2016 Bordeaux combines positive aspects from other fine to great years.
Assessing some very well priced 2016s at the negociant Joanne. Sociando Mallet, for example, was excellent from barrel.
Current gold indeed
Posted on March 16, 2017
Zind-Humbrecht 2015
By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com
16 March 2017
In 2015, I reported for Decanter on the Alsace harvest as being warmer than usual. The Alsatian Wine Council (CIVA), for example, had allowed acidification in Alsace for the first time since 2003, because acidities were lower than in previous years. But, acidity is above 2003 in general, thanks to cool evenings in August and September.
So I do admit to having felt just a bit of trepidation before tasting the just-bottled 2015 vintage wines of Domaine Zind-Humbrecht earlier this week.
Some wine professionals judge Zind-Humbrecht as too rich, especially in warmer vintages. But as Eric Asimov noted in the New York Times, way back in 2011, the style has changed, for some time already. By the time I wrote an article in Decanter Magazine, in 2014, about a focus on making dryer wines in Alsace, the pace had only increased.
Getting set to taste the just bottled 2015 vintage from Zind-Humbrecht
How did I find the 2015s? My third year in row to taste the latest vintage to be offered from bottle at Zind-Humbrecht? Remarkably balanced, pristine and, for the most part, rather brisk. There is a Hermes-like quality, a velvety smoothness, to many of the wines, and much underlying power in the more prestigious brands like Brand and Rangen de Thann, coming from particularly advantageous terroirs and older vines. Read More
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