Wine ChroniclesFrench foires aux vins use Parker points as sales points
By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles It is that time of year again in France when supermarkets and chains – and, increasingly – wine boutiques are holding sales for wines in the twice a year foires aux vins or wine fairs. Typically, the featured wines are Bordeaux, many from en primeur campaigns that went bust. Plenty […]
Contextual concerns in blind tasting
29 August 2014 By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com Blind tasting at an international contest as comprehensive as Mundus Vini can be a daunting task. For five days in a row, judges fly to Germany from all over the world. They get up at 6:30 am in order to taste wines from 8 am until about […]
Place over grape: making wine waves in Southern Styria (p. 2)
Blind proof By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles After discovering the general lay of the land thanks to Tamara Kögl in part 1 of this blog, a blind tasting organized the day of the World Cup Final between Germany and Argentina by Michael Gross of Weingut Gross revealed to me a thing or two about wine – […]
Place over grape: making wine waves in Southern Styria (p. 1)
By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com Take a walk along the sinuous and sumptuous Southern Styrian wine region in Ratsch today and it is hard to believe that but 40 years ago, it was a very poor area with few if any winemakers and many more farmers. Taxes were paid to local officials with oxen or farm produce. “There […]
The ”unhidden gem” of Italy: Lugana DOC (3)
By Rita Tóth, for wine-chronicles.com (This three-part blog also has appeared in Jens De Maere’s Belgian Wino blog with full permission of the author) METODO CLASSICO SPARKLING WINES OF LUGANA DOC After having tasted some lovely wines in part one and part two of this blog, what really impressed me during our trip was the quality of classic method […]
The ”unhidden gem” of Italy: Lugana DOC (2)
By Rita Tóth, for wine-chronicles.com (This three-part blog also has appeared in Jens De Maere’s Belgian Wino blog with full permission of the author) Part 1 was a short overview of the Lugana region, but now we examine the surprising aging potential of some of its best wines. AGEING POTENTIAL Although 90% of the regions’ production is the ’basic […]
The “unhidden gem” of Italy: Lugana DOC (1)
By Rita Tóth, for wine-chronicles.com (This three-part blog also has appeared in Jens De Maere’s Belgian Wino blog with full permission of the author) Even though more than 70% of Lugana DOC wines are exported – mainly to Germany, USA, Belgium, Northern Europe, China, Japan and UK – many people may have never heard of this fine […]
Thierry Brouin of Clos des Lambrays
For the past 35 years, Thierry Brouin, 66, has been winemaking director at Domaine des Lambrays in Morey St Denis. Formerly a consultant for the national French appellation authority INAO (1975-1980) and an oenologist by training, Brouin is widely recognized as having revived the fortunes of the estate – which is mainly known for its […]
Yellow Tail: Was expecting horror, got boredom instead
By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com Ripe plum aromas and “bold smooth and easy on the palate”, according to the website. Certainly “easy” is apt: Easily one of the most boring wines I have had – my first ever taste of a Yellow Tail, in this case the Merlot 2013. After having enjoyed some truly exceptional […]
Let’s party like its 1999: Ga ga over the La La’s
It’s 2014. Just about 15 years since the 1999 harvest. I remember listening to Prince singing “Let’s Party Like its 1999” back in the day. So, yes, time flies. In the Northern Rhône harvested Syrah grapes were among the healthiest and ripest ever seen, observers noted, leading to voluptuous, deeply colored wines with finely structured tannins […]
Recent Comments