Wine ChroniclesBordeaux 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 […]
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 […]
Margaux 2018 from barrel
by Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 26 April 2019 As a vast appellation, Margaux can be heterogenous in quality. 2018 is no exception. In many ways, however, it resembles the successful 2015 vintage. I feel that the acidity was slightly better in 2015, but the best wines from 2018 from Margaux are great. On the other […]
Margaux merits #Bdx17
The Médoc, Part III By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 24 May 2018 After examining Pauillac, Saint Julien and Saint Estèphe in Part I and Haut-Médoc, Listrac-Médoc and Moulis-en-Médoc in Part II, now to the barrel samples of Margaux. They include more classified growths than any other Médoc appellation: 21. Margaux is the only appellation whose sole […]
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 […]
Underrated Bordeaux 2014
Worth seeking out from bottle: both white and red 29 January 2017 By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com When I tasted 2014 and 2015 Château Montrose side-by-side in October last year at the estate, I learned that less than 40% of the harvest was used to make the first wine in 2015, while over 50% was […]
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 […]
Bordeaux 1966, fifty years on (and other surprises)
By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles.com 13 January 2016 I have to thank my lucky stars for the great wine loving friends I have in Washington D.C. Since I am turning … 50 in December this year, I wanted to organize a 1966 dinner. And so six of us gathered at the famous wine friendly restaurant […]
Bordeaux in barrel 2014: Solidly Margaux
Faves? Some excellent price/quality ratios, particularly from Château Labégorce. An excellent Château Prieuré-Lichine. Predictably very good Palmer, and a fine Château Margaux (and a superlative white that counts among the very best whites of the vintage) MAIN BORDEAUX 2014 BARREL TASTING PAGE By Panos Kakaviatos for wine-chronicles 24 May 2015 Margaux may prove to be the weakest of the major […]
Bordeaux 2005: high tannin, freshness and balance
Some high alcohol Merlots in Saint Emilion annoy me, but most all wines yield balance and poise, with freshness and opulence By Panos Kakaviatos for Wine-Chronicles.com 3 February 2015 Special note: for tasting notes below, I use a simple system: When bold, I particularly liked the wine. If red and bold, even more. If red, bold and underlined: wine nirvana. […]
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