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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Sauternes satisfaction #Bdx15

By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 11 May 2015 Thanks to Christie’s consultant, harvest expert and Sauternes promoter Bill Blatch and his fellow Bordeaux Gold partner Steve Webb, I kicked off en primeur week assessing barrel samples from Sauternes and Barsac. Afterwards, we enjoyed a great barbecue that started off with fresh raw oysters. Oysters and Sauternes go together – as counterintuitive […]

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Intriguingly Pauillac #Bdx15

By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com  7 May 2016 People expecting 2010 style power and evident tannin from Pauillac in 2015 – with all the hype of a “great” vintage – were left scratching their heads. While you find gems here, many samples exuded more charm than power. Indeed, I found barrel samples from both Château […]

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Welcome Merlot al dente #Bdx15

And other tales from Saint Emilion By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 5 May 2016 OK, the title is a bit misleading. Not everyone picks Merlot earlier in Saint Emilion. The influence of ultra-late picking to please critics, and to get an upgrade (or avoid a downgrade) every 10 years for appellation-sanctioned revisions (often ending up in courts […]

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Pessac-Léognan (and Graves) pizzaz #Bdx15

And why dry extract matters By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 4 May 2016 Perhaps my overall favorite region in Bordeaux is the Graves region, which includes the since 1987 created Pessac-Léognan appellation that gathers such famous estates of the northern Graves, from Haut Brion and Pape Clement to Haut Bailly and Domaine de Chevalier. It is […]

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Saint Julien #bdx15: subtle, suave, successful

By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com  1 May 2016 2015 was a successful vintage for Saint Julien, with expected elegance combined with Cabernet driven structure. While some tasters seemed a touch under-whelmed, I was happy with most of the wines from this affable appellation. And boy-oh-boy Léoville Las Cases and Ducru Beaucaillou were both amazing – […]

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Pomerol panache!

Seduction or power from Pomerol #bdx15 barrel samples: you pays your money, you takes your choice By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 1 May 2016 Readers take note: Revised note for La Cabanne based on new sample The appellation as a whole is successful in 2015. Indeed, many writers have propelled Pomerol to the top of […]

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Mad about Margaux #Bdx15

The best Médoc appellation in 2015 By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 30 April 2016 With 21 cru classés châteaux – more than any other commune in Bordeaux, and ranging from first to fifth growth – Margaux is the most sprawling of the famous Médoc appellations, and is usually the most heterogeneous in quality because it […]

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