Wine ChroniclesThe 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 […]
A Star, a Steal… and a Splurge: Lunch with Clos Sainte Hune
Because sometimes “economical” ends at the wine list By Panos Kakaviatos for Wine-Chronicles 16 October 2025 It was a treat to have enjoyed lunch with Don and Pam Cornutt and Jürgen Steinke at the new location for a one-star Michelin restaurant in Alsace that began its life in 2018 in the Strasbourg suburb of Schiltigheim […]
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 […]
Wine is to alcohol what Beethoven is to noise
Why wine is not the same as cigarettes, vodka or Coca-Cola: An appeal from the International Wine Academy (AIV) By Panos Kakaviatos 24 September, 2025 This week at the 4ᵗʰ United Nations High-Level Meeting on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases and the promotion of mental health and well-being, the wine world faces a […]
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 […]
25 vintages of Château Haut-Bailly from magnum
By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles 9 March 2024 You know a Bordeaux producer is worthy when their second wine at nearly 20 years old is selected among the top in a blind tasting that included three Ridge Monte Bellos (1996, 2004, 2007), two Château Pontet Canets (2001, 2010), Château Brane Cantenac 1986, Château Beychevelle 1964, […]
A focus on Léoville Poyferré – and more – in Boston
By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 30 January 2024 Many thanks to Marc Bouffard aka Englishmans Claret – a must-follow on Instagram for anyone who appreciates fine wine – for a wonderful dinner and lunch at Boston’s Somerset Club, featuring the wines of the family of Sara Lecompte Cuvelier, who own the storied second growth in […]
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 […]
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