Wine ChroniclesFor hedonists and intellectuals: Bordeaux 2018
By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 7 May 2019 My top barrel samples from 2018 Full tasting notes by appellation and area: Pessac-Léognan+Graves (reds) / Médoc-Haut-Médoc-Listrac-Moulis / Margaux / Saint Julien / Pauillac / Saint Estèphe / Saint Emilion / Pomerol / Fronsac and other bargains / Dry whites including Graves / Sauternes & Barsac NOTE […]
Graves and Pessac-Léognan 2018 (reds)
Noteworthy vintage By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 26 April 2019 The hotter gravely soils of this famous appellation may have been too … gravelly and hot for the vintage. Here is a case where the question of 2016 is quite relevant. In some cases, I do think that 2016 may be a better vintage than […]
Médoc/Haut-Médoc/Moulis/Listrac: 2018 from barrel
by Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 26 April 2019 Some lovely wines from the northern Médoc in 2018. A huge pity for the absence of the great Château La Lagune, as hail devastated the vineyards in 2018. I was able to taste the others that made wine in 2018, with oenologist Christophe Coupez in Pauillac (we […]
Wild n’ Crazy Saint Estèphe 2018?
By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 26 April 2019 Saint Estèphe is an appellation that tends to thrive in hot and arid summers. Take for examples the torrid heat of the 2003 vintage. The cooler soils underneath gravel in Saint Estèphe seemed to counter the extreme weather better than any other Bordeaux appellation of note. Many tasters […]
Premium Pomerol 2018
Quite consistent, too. by Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 26 April 2019 Pomerol was excellent in 2018. Akin in consistency to Saint Julien. Especially cooler terroirs, with more clay and less sun, or at least those wines made with especially careful winemaking, succeeded best. And where it did succeed, it counts among the very best that […]
Stalwart Sauternes 2018
Challenging vintage, but some nice wines By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 26 April 2019 A horrific hailstorm reduced yields for some estates to near nothing, if not nothing. I recall writing this news story about the harvest in Sauternes and Barsac for Decanter last year: including Château Guiraud’s announcement that it would only make dry […]
Bordeaux dry whites 2018
Challenging vintage, but some fine wines By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 26 April 2019 The dry whites generally lack the panache and remarkable balance of the 2017 vintage and – for that matter – the zingy energy in 2014, 2010 and 2008, where acidities lent more vivacity. In this challenging vintage, vintners picked earlier or […]
Champagne: harvest news
Confident in its export markets, Champagne growers and houses agree to set the available yield at 10,800 kg/ha. Report from Comité Champagne 25 July 2018 Expecting stable sales in 2018 and a slight growth over the next few years (especially in the export markets, which now account for more than 50% of the total shipments), Champagne […]
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