“These are wines people my age really like and appreciate,” says Master Sommelier Fred Dexheimer, an award winning sommelier and mixologist who has been the Spokesperson of Pays d’Oc IGP since 2012. Though he didn’t whip out his driver’s license, he appears to be somewhere in his early or mid thirties and with this statement [...]

Very interesting visit to Chateau de Cazeneuve, one of the top estateds in Pic St. Loup characterized by chalky limestone soils, lots of rain, and a high elevation which allows for good ripening yet high acidity. André Leenhardt,  deeply restructures the estate vineyard and farm buildings in the 1990s. Andre is a very generous man [...]

“Oh, I see you have been studying,” says the gentlemen seated next to me. We are sitting in the private downstairs dinning room of the new Lafayette restaurant downtown here in NYC, where journalists have gathered to hear Mr. Duboeuf speak about the 2012 vintage which is now hitting the market. The gentlemen is referring [...]

“You’re French is quite good!” exclaims the very attractive and very polite Anne-Laure Helfrich, project manager for her family’s Les Grands Chais de France. Anne-Laure and oenologue/brand manager Nicolas Haeffelin were in Manhattan to showcase their Grand Cru wines, which astonishingly perfectly made. I suppose one can argue that when you own Grand Cru terroir, [...]

    A celebrity in Bordeaux and throughout the wine world, Professor Denis Dubourdieu has been Professor of Oenology at the University of Bordeaux since 1987. He owns five wineires (Château Doisy-Daëne, Clos Floridene, Château Reynon, Château Cantegril and Château Haura) and is a widely respected consultant to some of the best Chateau in Bordeaux, [...]

Chateau Kirwan was generous enough to host a fabulous tasting of the wines from Moulis-en-Medoc, Listrac-Medoc, Margaux and the Medoc.  Co-Owner  and publicist Sophie Schyler-Thierry – always stunningly dressed – met us at the door and escorted us into the tasting. As you can imagine, this tasting offered some of the best wines in Bordeaux [...]

It was a delightful treat to blind taste the 2012 vintage of Saint Julien, Pauillac, Saint Estephe and Haut Medoc at 3rd Growth Chateau Lagrange.  Head winemaker Bruno Eynard welcomed journalists to the Chateau in a charming fashion, and made everyone feel comfortable. Given the four regions to be tasted, it was a rather challenging [...]

I love all the wines of Bordeaux, yet there is something so unique about Graves and Pessac-Leognan. This blind En Primeur tasting was very exciting for exactly that reason! Latour-Martillac were excellent hosts, and as I wrote before, the hosting chateaux all scored very well so they must have known early on they had a [...]

Fabulous tasting of wines from Chateau Beauregard for En Primeur on April 10 … What was most interesting the entire week, the Chateau hosting the tasting often had the highest rated scores! In earlier posts, I explained that two groups of journalists (including myself) taste “blind” in that we make our notes before we get [...]

Always such a pleasure to visit Chateau Cheval Blanc!   The 2012 vintage was challenging … buds broke later than usual, and the vines grew very unevenly in April as a result of the difficult weather conditions.  The harvest began on September 27th for Merlot and October 6th for Cabernet Franc. Despite this, the composition [...]

How curious an entire year has passed since I last sipped various vintages of Chateau La Faurie Peyraguey with fellow journalists, under the delightful care of technical manager Eric Larramona, an attractive man in his thirties who looks a bit like a very handsome Clark Kent (you know, Superman) with dark hair, sleek designer glasses, [...]

Every year, the Grands Crus de Bordeaux (UGCB) organizes a welcoming dinner for journalists and members of the trade. This year, the event was generously hosted at Chateau Canon La Gaffeliere on the outskirts of the medieval town of Saint-Emilion, at the southern foot of the slope. The 19.5 hectare vineyard has a complex, outstanding [...]

So the Tasting of Sauternes and Barsac this year was at La Tour Blanche — very generous of them to host the tasting this year! As always, I am in one of the two “blind” tasting groups which means that we all taste the wines and write our notes without knowing the winery. The other [...]

“Oh, you’re coming to our Chateau Wednesday night!,” says Jose Sanfins, technical director of Chateau Cantenac-Brown in Margaux. We have just exchanged cards, and are sitting together at a festive Diner d’accueil at Chateau Canon la Gaffeliere in Saint-Emilion.  It is Monday night – the kickoff night for En Primeur 2013 – and over a [...]

As a seasoned wine writer, I’ve seen my share of creative wine promotions, yet nothing – so far – has exceeded a recent promotion for Burgundy wine created by the Burgundy Wine Board (BIVB) and Sopexa! The idea of the promotion was to showcase the the regions and wines of Burgundy and show how well [...]

“Look at this terroir!” I exclaim, having just tasted the 2012 Château Haut-Bailly and its ‘petite’ sibling, the 2012 La Parde Haut-Bailly during a visit to  the chateau during the week of En Primeur. As you can see in the picture above, the  soil consists of sand mixed with the gravel that gives the Graves [...]

A lovely experience visiting Mr. and Mrs. Jacques Capdemourlin during En Primeur 2013! This chateau in Saint-Emillion is said to be the oldest in the region and had been in the family for hundreds of years. At the end of the 1970s, Jacques Capdemourlin established the unification of the vineyards, grouping together a total of [...]

  John Lewis Brown purchased what would be Chateau Cantenac Brown at the start of the 19th century, put his name on it, and designed the chateau in the Tudor style. The property changed hands several times until the latest to the famous Cognac producer, Remy Martin,  who then sold it to AXA, the insurance [...]

  “Welcome,” says Raphael Pommier of Domaine Notre Dame de Cousignac, a lively energetic producer of organic wine from a small region in the Rhone valley. We are sitting together at Felix, a sort of very cool hangout for French people where almost everyone speaks French. Interestingly enough, we were both at the “Discover Rhone” [...]

So last night was my second G-night … as was the case two years ago, it was held at a club called Delirium just off the central shopping street … Many producers were there to show off their latest vintage, and in many cases, brought a special vintage for guests. I was surprised to see [...]