Wine ChroniclesChâteau Lafon-Rochet
A New Chapter of Freshness and Finesse By Panos Kakaviatos for Wine Chronicles 30 October 2025 When Vincent Bache-Gabrielsen (photo above, credit to Château Lafon Rochet) took charge of Château Lafon-Rochet last year, it marked a quiet but meaningful shift for this celebrated classified growth in the Bordeaux appellation of Saint-Estèphe. Having worked within the […]
The Long Game of Greatness: Mouton Rothschild 1986
By Panos Kakaviatos for Wine Chronicles Main photo: Chateau-Mouton-Rothschild-Cuvier-nuit-©-Pierre-Grenet-Astoria-studio.jpg 17 October 2025 “I bought this wine upon release,” a dear friend told me, speaking about Château Mouton Rothschild 1986. “When I tried one of my bottles three years ago, it still hadn’t opened up”, he said in September 2025, nearly 40 years later. World famous […]
Médoc Blanc officially born
The red stronghold has a white awakening — Bordeaux’s Médoc embraces a lighter side. By Panos Kakaviatos for Wine Chronicles 14 October 2025 Last year, I wrote in Decanter of prospects for an official Médoc Blanc appellation. That consideration is now reality. Starting with the 2025 vintage, winegrowers from all eight Médoc AOCs, including Margaux, Pauillac, […]
Legend bottled: Château d’Yquem 1967
By Panos Kakaviatos for Wine Chronicles 13 October 2025 Over a recent dinner with wine pals in Strasbourg, we enjoyed older vintages, some better than others. Château Mouton Rothschild 1986 was stupendous, and I loved Château Ducru Beaucaillou 1986, happily sans TCA: From 1986 to the early 1990s, the estate had some TCA problems, so […]
Top brand Bordeaux 2015
Tasted 10 years on by Panos Kakaviatos for Wine Chronicles 7 March 2025 Thanks to the London-based Bordeaux Index wine trading company, I tasted topflight Bordeaux from the 2015 vintage, “10 years on”. Bordeaux Index hosted the daylong January tasting under excellent conditions: wines at proper temperatures and stemware and plenty of space to comfortably […]
2020 Bordeaux: bottled classic
By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 21 October 2023 TASTING NOTES CLICK HERE Dear Readers, It has been a while, but after buying a new apartment with renovation work, prioritizing articles in magazines for which I am paid, and work from my day job at the Council of Europe, I took a hiatus from this website. […]
Mouton Rothschild: reaching back 40 years
And some talk of “first growth bias” By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com A wonderful evening at the cozy and elegant French restaurant La Chaumière in Georgetown in Washington D.C. It was great to catch up with wine friends most of whom I hadn’t seen since Covid struck. We chose as theme the venerable First Growth […]
Bordeaux 2021 from barrel: the whites
Make Acidity Great Again By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com Updated 27 May with the reds A quick reference to tasting notes below. I had published my reflections on the white wines of Bordeaux on 13 May, which I think shine most in 2021. The reds are now online on a new page: HERE. With thanks […]
Jury selected Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur Rouge of 2019
By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 16 November 2021 As I taste through Bordeaux’s recently bottled 2019 vintage, with an article to appear in Club Oenolgique early next year, a shout out to the more humble Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur appellations. I joined a jury of 30 people to pick out my favorites based on samples the […]
Weekend 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 […]
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