By Panos Kakaviatos in July, 2013 Last month, I visited Chateau Palmer to verify my very positive impression of that estate in the 2012 barrel sample – video, further down. But I also visited Chateau Margaux, which I did not visit in April. Accounting for stylistic differences, I found Palmer to be more successful than […]

Tasting on the morning of Thursday 11 April at Grand Puy Ducasse. The blind samples of Haut Medoc were all OK, mainly – and in the context of the vintage. One wine I tasted non blind, later the same day, Chateau Sociando Mallet, stood out as among the best, but even the great Sociando was […]

A STUDY IN CONTRASTS Here we have two rather different styles from Right Bank Bordeaux, dominated by the Merlot grape. Compared to Moueix, I get more heat, noticeable extraction and/or dryness from Nicolas Thienpont and Stéphane Derenoncourt, but they are talented in their style of making wine – no doubt about that.  It has been […]

Among the very best barrel samples of 2012 Bordeaux Tasting the wines of Moueix in Libourne on Tuesday 9 April. They included some wines from Saint Emilion, which I list here – and not on my Saint Emilion page. What a treat it was to taste with wine critic John Gilman, who is as jovial […]

After a blind tasting of Saint Emilion (along with Pomerol – which you can read here) at Chateau La Cabanne in Pomerol, I was joined by Canadian wine expert Jessica Harnois, who was less impressed with the wines, for a brief and windy analysis (see above). I found some things to like in Saint Emilion. […]

For all you Bordeaux freaks, you may have heard that Pomerol was the… “Holy Grail” in 2012. Perhaps. If you had a chance to taste barrel samples from the estates of Moueix, I can understand you.  All I can say is that – more than in most other vintages – stylistic options mean so much […]

Tasted “blind” at Chateau Carbonnieux Below you can read a rather spontaneous reaction to my tasting below. To jump to the blind tasting notes: REDS and WHITES Click here for the wines of Domaine Clarence Dillon, tasted at La Mission Haut Brion. And here for the wines of Domaine de Chevalier and those tasted at […]

Now I have not tasted either Montrose or Cos d’Estournel, but I will do so in June. Part of the reason I did not bother is … price. I have just gotten annoyed with the ridiculous price tags of Bordeaux in recent vintages and as much as I l0ve Montrose in particular, there was a […]

Now, I did not get a chance to taste Ducru Beaucaillou, which apparently obtained many a plaudit from tasters this year. I intend to taste it in June 2013. So stay tuned. I will also taste Leoville Las Cases in June… But I did taste many important estates, in a blind tasting, during en primeur […]

Here is the outcome from an afternoon tasting at Château Lafite Rothschild with director Charles Chevallier on Thursday 11 April. The weather was not ideal for tasting barrel samples: cloudy and rainy. Overall an impression of classicism. Chevallier said that he does not feel that these wines will last as long as his wines from […]