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 […]

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Fine signs for Bordeaux 2019

Let’s start with some top Cru Bourgeois By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 15 July 2020 As you may recall, back in May, I dubbed Bordeaux 2019 the COVID19 vintage. That was not meant to decry quality, but rather to set context. And as I wrote back then, my intention was not to add hype, but […]

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For 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 […]

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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 […]

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Assessing 15 vintages of Léoville Poyferré

By Panos Kakaviatos for Wine-Chronicles.com 24 January 2019 Over the last nine years, I have been organizing comprehensive verticals of top Bordeaux estates, sometimes several times in one year, and often in Washington D.C.  The most recent, a Friday evening 18 January 2019 dinner at the French embassy in Washington D.C., featured Château Léoville Poyferré, […]

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Northern Médoc: Sweet spots confirmed in 2016

A modern era 1986? Great stuff in Saint Julien, Pauillac and Saint Estèphe ? (Bordeaux 2016 from bottle, part 2) 11 November 2018 By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com  Just as we saw how well Pomerol excelled in 2016, another area of consumer interest, also in terms of quality across all price points, is the northern […]

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#Bdx17 from barrel: The Médoc, part I

Pauillac – Saint Julien – Saint Estèphe  By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com  17 May 2018 As said in previous reports, Bordeaux 2017 is hard to categorize. Despite attempts at “buzz” from collective critical scores on the likes of Wine Lister, and merchants hyping the latest priced barrel issue, it is not exactly 10 hours of […]

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2015 Bordeaux from bottle, part 1: Mostly Médoc wines

Margaux shines brightest By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com  17 November 2017 – revised, with new video intro, below. How good are Bordeaux 2015 from bottle? Based on two days of tasting top Médoc wines in early November this year, I would say quite good. It does not seem to reach the heights, on a more […]

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Médoc 2016 from barrel

Mags of Château Potensac and Château de Lamarque, among other good deals! Bordeaux 2016 barrel tasting notes 10 May 2017 By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com As seen already, the northern Médoc did very well especially from barrel. Budget conscious buyers will find cru bourgeois level wines with high quality. Including for example Château Potensac, which was […]

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Bordeaux bargains 2014

Part 1 – Tasting wines from the Grand Cercle de Vins de Bordeaux (To go to Part 2, click here) By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com  5 January 2017 Like most of you, when I cannot actually do so, I sometimes dream of enjoying Haut Brion, Latour, Petrus and Le Pin. Or Leoville Las Cases, Palmer […]

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