– 2016 Bordeaux Vintage – Institute of Masters of Wine – 1st December 2021 – Every year, except last year, of course, the Institute of Masters of Wine organises a tasting of a Bordeaux vintage that has been in bottle for a couple of years. This is a great opportunity to assess the early evolution of the vintage and support … Read More
20 Years of the Bonnie Family at Chateau Malartic-Lagravieres
A visit this morning to the 67 Pall Mall Club to celebrate with the Bonnie Family, who have been at the helm at Chateau Malartic-Lagravieres for 20 years this year, was welcome change from selling 2016 en-primeurs. Although the 2016 barrel samples brought over especially for the tasting were also very refreshing. In fact the 2016 Rouge showed particularly well … Read More
2009 Vs. 2010 Bordeaux
By Will Gardener These are both gorgeous vintages that will be compared many times in the years ahead. Now 3 and 4 years, respectively, post bottling what would they reveal at this juvenile stage? Our sampling of 14 wines, all tasted blind and in completely random order (actually this was not strictly true, several were paired up but we didn’t know that) … Read More
Bordeaux Tasting – Friday 4th March 2016
The classic French region produces some of the world’s greatest wines. We’ve picked six of our favourite, affordable Bordeaux examples for you to enjoy:
Another great night with MP and the boys at HDV
The Taittinger Comtes 2000 from a limited edition anniversary bottling celebrating 800 years of Reims’ Cathedral, was a bit of a surprise for me, seeming more youthful than the previous tasting of this excellent Blanc de Blancs. It’s character was not lost mind on the boys, MP picking up on the baby sick and Dave hedging for the smoky woody … Read More
2005 Bordeaux Vintage review by Robert Parker
By Will Gardener Robert Parker may not be overseeing the assessment of Bordeaux Primeurs these days but his influence over the Bordeaux marketplace seems relatively undiminished. I am not surprised that the fresh look at this great vintage caused a stir, but I am surprised at the way in which its findings were leaked pre-release of the internet publication of … Read More
An evening at Chateau Margaux
By Will Gardener On Tuesday last week I was among the privileged few to be invited to a celebration and inaugural viewing of the new facilities at Chateau Margaux. Designed by Norman Foster, the new Chais with high tech laboratory and wine library boasting 800,000 bottles, is a triumph and one … Read More
Wine on a high…
The view from the eleventh floor of one of Birmingham’s new and iconic high rises offered the perfect setting for a great evening of food wine and sleuthing. Two attractive flutes of palish golden fizz kicked off proceedings. Initially the colour differential was slightly encumbered due to heavy condensation. They were a little over-chilled reflected in the tight nature of … Read More
Chateau Cheval Blanc
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts…. As the saying goes ‘the way to get a small fortune is to start with a large one and buy a vineyard’; the reason being, winemaking, like many art forms, is about perfection – or getting as close to it as possible. Of course, perfection will always be just around … Read More
An evening with one of Bordeaux’s finest… tasting Châteaux Léoville Barton and Langoa Barton with their producer.
What an evening we all had on the 18th October 2012; the venue was the splendid Dunsley Hall Hotel at nearby Kinver. People came from far and wide to hear Anthony Barton conduct the tasting of some magnificant examples of Château Léoville Barton and Langoa Barton. Anthony’s inimitable style was witty and informative as well as being gently self-deprecating. For those … Read More