Bordeaux 2008: Grand Cru Classé
Updated: 2012-08-31 17:59:10
: , Home Vintages and Regions Bordeaux Bordeaux 2008 Grand Cru Classé : 2012 Page 1 of 2 previous 1 2 next Bordeaux 2008 : Grand Cru Classé Tasting , May 2012 Vintage Review First Report Bordeaux 2008 En primeur Top ten wines Pessac-Léognan The Médoc , Part 1 The Médoc , Part 2 St Emilion Pomerol Sauternes Barsac Mopping up At Two Years Introduction Pessac-Léognan The Médoc Communes St Emilion Pomerol Sauternes Barsac From Bottle Grand Cru Classé , 2012 This final report from the 2012 Grand Cru Classé Tasting concerns 2008 Bordeaux Curiously , I have the sensation that I am looking back in time with this vintage even though the wines are now barely four years old , the memory of my trip to Bordeaux for the 2008 primeurs in April 2009, is a very distant one . Even in this short space of
Home Wine of the Week Domaine de Montrieux Boisson Rouge 2010 Domaine de Montrieux Boisson Rouge 2010 The Loire can be a difficult wine region to get to grips with . Not at a very superficial level of course the most famous appellations , such as Sancerre and Chinon , are well-known by many , even some of the most casual of drinkers . Dig beneath the surface , however , and the Loire suddenly becomes much more complex . There are more unsung regions , subregions , appellations and communes than you can possibly imagine . Open a general wine book , for example , and look for some detail on the vineyards and domaines of the Cher Valley or of Jasnières and the Coteaux d Loir and you will soon be scrabbling around in a hunt for scraps of information . The most peripheral regions , such as the
It is now a little over one year since I first tasted the wines of the 2010 Bordeaux vintage during the primeurs, in April 2011. The tastings were held against a backdrop of mild incredulity, as - until the independent reports began filtering out, revealing the fact that this really was another great vintage - few were prepared to believe the words of the Bordelais when they said that the wines were once again of extremely high quality. After the joys of 2009, in a world jaded by years of Bordeaux spin, the thought that we might have another top-class vintage on our hands, giving us a back-to-back pair, just seemed too good to be true.
Home Producer Profiles Loire Profiles Château de l'Aulée Page 1 of 3 previous 1 2 3 next Château de l'Aulée The Loire Valley has a long-established track record of sparkling wine production . The famous houses of Saumur , such as Langlois-Chateau and Bouvet-Ladubay turn out an inordinate number of bottles every year , making this region the second biggest producer of sparkling wine in the world , after Champagne itself of course . These houses have focused on sparkling wine and often produce dozens of different cuvées the vins tranquilles something of an afterthought . Elsewhere along the banks of the Loire , however , sparkling wine is not so predominant . It is easy to find of course , especially around Vouvray , but here as the case with Crémant de Loire and other sparkling appellations
The spectacle that was the 2012 Summer Olympic Games has now drawn to a close. The races have been run, the national anthems played, and victorious Olympians have received their medals and posies. And yet, even after two weeks of non-stop athletics, swimming, running and more, some unanswered questions remain. I'm sure they have been swirling about in your mind as well as mine. What, for instance, exactly is dressage all about? Why do athletes believe covering themselves with brightly-coloured sticky tape achieves anything at all? Why do some sports use a podium for the medal ceremony, and not others? How are the latest cuvées from Domaine de la Pépière tasting right now?
I think many readers of Winedoctor will already be familiar with the wines of Sancerre, and of François Cotat. I hope you will endure, however, a two- or three-sentence recap on the Cotat domaines before I write a little more on this wine. I know I get confused between the various Cotats in Sancerre, so I am sure that there are others out there (this is what I'm telling myself, anyway) who also fail to fully commit to memory which domaine is which, and which Cotat is which.
: , Home Vintages and Regions Bordeaux Bordeaux 1998 Tasting , August 2012 Page 1 of 3 previous 1 2 3 next Bordeaux 1998 : Tasting , August 2012 Vintage Review Bordeaux 1998 Tastings St Emilion , May 2004 Tasting , August 2008 Tasting , August 2012 I have expended a lot of energy reviewing some very recent Bordeaux vintages in the past few months . Obviously my Bordeaux 2011 report , published on my return from Bordeaux in April , has been a major part of this work , although not long before that I also updated my Bordeaux 2007 summary with new notes and opinions from the annual tasting at the Institute of Masters of Wine in London . Then , more recently , I compared and contrasted four vintages , 2008 to 2011 inclusive , following my encounter with them at the annual Grand Cru Classé
Following on from my renewed examination of the Bordeaux 1998 vintage a few weeks ago, and my expressed commitment to report on some more mature Bordeaux wines following all the news on 2011 and other very recent vintages, it is now time for another vintage to come under the spotlight. This is not, however, a comprehensive tasting. The handful of wines tasted here, all from the 1995 vintage in Bordeaux, were opened over dinner, during the course of a few evenings in August, not long after returning from my recent trip to from Bordeaux.
Home Producer Profiles Loire Profiles Domaine de Bel Air Page 1 of 2 previous 1 2 next Domaine de Bel Air As is the case with many estates that are dedicated to viticulture and this is just as true of the Loire today as it was of Bordeaux during the 17th century , Domaine del Bel-Air began life as a polycultural farm , handed down from one generation to the next . It was during the 1970s that viticulture began to dominate , although winemaking was yet to come at this point the fruit was sold to the co-operative at Oisly . Despite this , from the early days the viticultural methods were very simple , working the soils over the vines in winter to protect them , and avoiding the use of chemical herbicides and . insecticides It was in 1999 that Joël Courtault took the domaine in hand ,
One of the benefits of spending a few days in Bordeaux for the primeurs is the opportunity to spend a little time not tasting but drinking, and not looking at the wines in isolation, but as they were intended to be consumed, along with food. I don't tend to partake in the very generous multi-vintage verticals and grand dinners that some châteaux organise, partly because I have no wish to party every night away in a fit of Bacchanalian excess that would see me incapable of tasting and concentrating the following morning, and partly because such events lean more towards tasting (multiple vintages) again, rather than the synthesis of a handful wines with food in a relaxed atmosphere.
When trying to cover a region such as the Loire in its entirety (and I deliberately inserted trying there - I am certainly a long way from succeeding when it comes to providing comprehensive coverage of the Loire) it is inevitable that the process will reveal personal preferences to one extent or another. In a region with such grand diversity, rich as it is in different terroirs, grape varieties, wine styles and winemaking philosophies, it is hardly surprising that some wines will appeal to my palate - or anyone else's palate - more than others. In fact it would be more unusual if I didn't have any preferences.
What Texas Wines to Pair with the Deep Fried Food Finalists at the 2012 State Fair of Texas? CultureMap Houston broke the “big story” today about the finalists in the 2012 State Fair of Texas 8th Annual BigTex® Choice Award for best fried foods on the Fair’s midway. This year’s finalist are: Chicken-Fried Cactus Bites [...]
Over at Vinotrip HQ, we’ve been fans of Orchid Cellars for many years. But, for much of that time, we’ve only tasted their fine selection of Maryland-made meads at festivals until we visited their new tasting room in Middletown last weekend. To recap on mead for any newer readers, it’s an alcoholic beverage made from [...]
Texsom 2012: What a Tasting Opportunity… From Margaux to Mason County Texas The Sunday morning session began with a rush of servers, Sommeliers of all types with varying degrees of certification, pouring to over a hundred attendees, giving each eight glasses of dark red-purple wine from the French Bordeaux region. Representing wines included the complete [...]
Another Wine Blog Because Another Wine , Food , Beer and Travel Blog would have been way too ing long Skip to content Home Best of AWB Reviews Food Cooking Recipes Contact Us Contact AWB Contact Amy Contact Joe Media PR Inquiries Links About About This Site About Amy About Joe RSS Feed Twitter StumbleUpon FaceBook Appreciating old wine is like making love to a very old lady . It is possible . It can even be enjoyable . But it requires a bit of imagination . Andre Tchelistcheff AWB Home » Wines of France Visits Underbelly in Houston August 12, 2012 Wines of France Visits Underbelly in Houston By Hank Greer 2 Comments Tweet Share W ines of France  hosted an event in July that paired French wines with foods that are Houston-inspired and created by Chef Chris Shepard from Underbelly Part of
Texsom 2012 Kick Off: It’s Got It All People started arriving for Texsom (The Texas Sommelier Conference) in Dallas yesterday evening. The air was hot, dry and still. But, as the morning session started the wines were cool, wet and refreshing and attendees at Texsom were getting their last charge of excitement as one of [...]
Another Wine Blog Because Another Wine , Food , Beer and Travel Blog would have been way too ing long Skip to content Home Best of AWB Reviews Food Cooking Recipes Contact Us Contact AWB Contact Amy Contact Joe Media PR Inquiries Links About About This Site About Amy About Joe RSS Feed Twitter StumbleUpon FaceBook This wine should be eaten , it is too good to be drunk . Jonathan Swift AWB Home » Meet AWB Guest Blogger Hank Greer August 9, 2012 Meet AWB Guest Blogger Hank Greer By Amy Corron Power 2 Comments Tweet Share M any of our Houston wine friends attended class with Joe at the University of Houston , through the International Sommelier Guild .  I met Hank Greer , along with Iris Allen at an end-of-semester Christmas party in 2007 to help celebrate the completion of ISG Wine
: : Another Wine Blog Because Another Wine , Food , Beer and Travel Blog would have been way too ing long Skip to content Home Best of AWB Reviews Food Cooking Recipes Contact Us Contact AWB Contact Amy Contact Joe Media PR Inquiries Links About About This Site About Amy About Joe RSS Feed Twitter StumbleUpon FaceBook What I like to drink most is wine that belongs to others . Diogenes AWB Home » A Symphony of Artistry : Cornerstone Oregon Pinot Noir August 6, 2012 A Symphony of Artistry : Cornerstone Oregon Pinot Noir By Amy Corron Power 7 Comments Tweet Share I am sitting at my kitchen table looking out the window after a rainstorm . The blinds are half-mast , so I cannot see the gray sky . My view is just of the yard to the top of our wood fence and is filled with bright green framed by
Narin’s Bombay Brasserie Wine Dinner: It’s Time to Set Aside Some of the Old Rules, Get Some New When asked how does Indo-Asian wine pairing compare to the meat-dominated western approaches (e.g. red meat, red wine; white meat, white wine), Narin Sehgalm owner of Narin’s Bombay Brasserie in Houston Texas responded very matter of factually… [...]