June 28, 2014
Dear Readers, I have launched a new blog called wine-chronicles.com. Connections to Wine will continue to exist for the time being on the Internet, but static. To consult my new wine blogging, please go to http://www.wine-chronicles.com. Thanks, Panos
April 26, 2012
It was Thursday late evening, 26 April 2012. Just after my fourth day straight, tasting at least 80 wines blind per day for Decanter Magazine. The occasion? The World Wine Awards. I was part of a phalanx of some 150 judges from all over the world – from Hong Kong and Vienna to Palm Beach […]
November 27, 2011
2005 struck me as a good year for some 22 top German dry Rieslings tasted in Berlin on 27 November 2011. But also a good example to indicate the difference between fine dry Burgundy and fine dry German Riesling. Let’s face it. Dry in German can mean a bit sweet, at least for tasters like […]
February 26, 2011
Chateau Montrose 1989 St Estephe Medoc 2eme cru classé Certainly needs time to open in glass but this wine is glorious. It reminds me of the 1986, but with greater succulence and perhaps more depth. The nose expresses its splendid complexity, at once fresh and minty, even, then also truffle: fine chocolate truffle. Perhaps a […]
January 5, 2011
I have been reading a bit about the anti-flavor elite, referring to a tweet by Robert Parker dismissing people who are not particular fans of big wines, specifically wines from Australia. The great critic also has used the words ‘pleasure police’ to describe people who do not share his point of view when it comes […]
December 15, 2010
Just about to post notes on Burgundy 2009 and – for some early pre malolactic samples – 2010. But before this, an Israeli intermezzo, brought to you from snowy Berlin. On 2 December 2010 at the famous Berlin wine bar Rutz Weinbar, thanks to Martin Zwick who invited me there to taste some top wines […]
November 29, 2010
What a treat it was to be part of a three consecutive tasting dinners in three different German cities – Berlin on 11 November, Frankfurt on 12 November and Baden Baden on 13 November – with Château Angélus and Château Pichon Comtesse de Lalande. The idea behind these events is to pair top quality food […]
October 8, 2010
25 September 2010. Berlin. I was invited by wine and food enthusiast Martin Zwick, where he gathered other tasters, including professional wine merchants, journalists, bloggers and the well-known German winemaker Hans Oliver Spanier. The occasion was the ‘Berlin Riesling Cup’ when we tasted 29 grand cru Rieslings from the 2009 […]
August 19, 2010
I was just in a very nice wine bar in the heart of the wonderful city of Prague. And I must say: some French wines here, miles away from their origin, are … less expensive. I am taking a course in teaching English as a foreign language – to try something new – and being […]