Wine ChroniclesTop 50+ hits: Bordeaux 2020 from barrel
The emotional, the intellectual, the (i)Deals In a vintage that favors Merlot from cold clay and limestone soils By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 26 May 2021 No ads, no fees charged: Here my objective and experienced impressions of 2020 Bordeaux, 18 years in a row assessing Bordeaux from barrel, including visits during the pandemic era. […]
Pessac-Léognan 2018 reds
Hits amidst gravel and heat By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 24 January 2021 2018 was not the ideal vintage for warmer soils, so I would tip my hat more to 2016 as the recent vintage to purchase from Pessac-Léognan. Still, some very good to excellent wines. A few stars and several superb price/quality ratio wines make 2018 […]
Bordeaux 2018 dry whites
Some excellent wines in a challenging vintage By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 24 January 2021 The warmth of the vintage not truly ideal for dry whites, some producers did craft excellent wines, including some from outside the famous Graves (including the northern Pessac-Léognan appellation) region, known for its dry white wines. While tasting the dry […]
White Bordeaux: 2014 vintage
With a focus on Château Smith Haut Lafitte By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 15 September 2020 Top three 2014 whites from this tasting? Domaine de Chevalier, Château Pape Clément and Château Smith Haut Lafitte Last week Decanter Magazine published an article I wrote – subscribers only – about how fine dry white Bordeaux can be, with […]
Wine, sea, sun and Blue Fish
Along the Athenian Riviera, among other adventures Athens log, updates and restaurant recommendations : photos and text by Panos Kakaviatos 10 September 2020 Dear readers, it has been a while since I last posted in these pages, but I am (finally) putting together the rest of what 2019 Bordeaux barrel sample notes I have, so […]
Ode to France, Les Accabailles and Les Crus Classés de Graves
Tasting dinner of top Pessac-Léognan wines at Château Carbonnieux By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 21 November 2019 A round-trip on the high-speed train TGV traversing France from Strasbourg to Bordeaux and back took less than 6 hours. No stop in Paris. Comfy, first class seat at €170: Convenient, efficient and greener than flying or driving. […]
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 […]
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 […]
Pessac-Léognan and Graves from bottle 2016
Cannot recall a better Les Carmes Haut Brion red than the 2016. Buy it, today. But many other Graves shined in 2016, including Smith Haut Lafitte, Haut Bailly, Domaine de Chevalier and Malartic Lagravière. Do not hesitate to look at some fine showings from second wines, too, which I had tasted late last year at Château Bouscaut. Cheers!
Domaine de Chevalier vertical 2016-2000 (red)
Consistency and excellence By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 28 May 2018 For several years now, I have been lucky enough to have enjoyed older vintages of wines both red and white from Domaine de Chevalier, a renowned estate from the Pessac-Léognan appellation of Graves in Bordeaux. From a vertical of the whites, I helped to […]
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