Wine ChroniclesWeekend White: 2017 dry Bordeaux
Château Tronquoy-Lalande Blanc By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles 20 February 2021 Much is said of 2019, 2018 and 2016 as recent “great” Bordeaux vintages, naturally regarding red wines. However, this world famous region crafts many whites, dry and “sweet”, so it was useful to taste a just-released 2017 dry white from the excellent Saint Estèphe estate […]
New grapes in Bordeaux to fight climate change
Foresight, or an easy way out? by Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 6 February 2021 Late last month it became official: France’s wine appellation authority (INAO) authorized six new grapes for Bordeaux to better adapt to climate change. Two are very well known: Touriga Nacional and Alvarinho. As most readers know, the late ripening Touriga Nacional, […]
Do wine scores miss the point?
by Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 3 February 2021 When I look at how I scored wines about 10 years ago, the scores were more conservative. Many more wines were rated between 88 and 92, and that was just swell. For a while, I never gave any wine 100 points, because perfection can be boring. 99 […]
New dry white from the Médoc meets increasing demand
Brane Cantenac Blanc 2019 By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 2 February 2021 The label contrasts royal blue and white, evoking perhaps the Mediterranean Sea. But this is no Greek dry white, but another from the Médoc, known for its great red wines. Made from vines on 3.2 hectares on siliceous, clay soils, this maiden 2019 […]
Bordeaux 2018: Where does reality in bottle meet hype from barrel?
By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 24 January 2021 From barrel, I had characterized 2018 Bordeaux as a vintage for “Hedonists and Intellectuals”. Over the course of the last few months, including several visits to Bordeaux during official lockdowns in France, I tasted 2018s on location, after recent bottling. Some bottles had been sent to me to […]
Right Bank Satellites 2018
Mostly Castillon: some excellent, affordable wines By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 24 January 2021 Many less heralded appellations from the Right Bank with cooler clay and/or limestone soils excelled in 2018. But I did not get to too many of them. We can start with Montagne Saint Emilion and Jean-Claude Berrouet, whose name resonates in the […]
Sauternes and Barsac 2018
Saved by the October (Botrytis) Bell By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 24 January 2021 Readers may recall that a hailstorm reduced yields for some estates to near nothing, if not nothing. Château Guiraud for example had announced that it would only make dry white wine in 2018, because of the devastating hail. As for the […]
Pomerol 2018
Some stellar, some not as much By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 24 January 2021 Some very good to great wines, but in some cases, I could not help but detect the ether of the vintage in some. Top wines – from Trotanoy and Pétrus, to Petit Village and Gazin – have deep clays that kept […]
Various Médocs 2018
By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 24 January 2021 Here we have a “catch-all” review of Médoc wines, given COVID19 restrictions to taste from bottle. Tasting notes of course vary, as much ground is covered, from inland Moulis and Listrac, to Haut-Médoc wines that “see the river”, such as Sociando Mallet. Among the 1855 Classified Growths, tasted […]
So Satisfying Saint Emilion 2018
By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 24 January 2021 The revolution towards freshness continues. Sure some wines recall the oaky tannic obsession of the mid-2000s. Not long ago, I recall tasting the Grand Cru Classés blind with too many wines, too hard, over extracted and/or finishing on drying oak tannins. Had the 2018 vintage happened 10 […]