Zu Weihnachten darf es auch gerne mal etwas größeres sein. Warum? Zum einen, weil es einfach schade ist, wenn leckerer Wein nach einmal Ausschenken schon alle ist. Zum anderen, weil das größere Format durch eine langsamere Reifung auch eine gewisse Flexibilität in der Auswahl erlaubt. Als erstes unter den Korkenzieher gekommen ist eine Magnum 2000 Château Paloumey aus dem Haut-Médoc – ein Wein mit relativ hohem (ca 40%) Merlot-Anteil in der Cuvée, der mutmaßlich jeden Gaumen beglücken kann. Read the rest of this entry »

Another one from that case, the first Bordeaux primeur I bought in my life, together with my brother. Back then, a very big deal, a big investment for young Economics students and I had to convince my brother that this was THE thing to do with our tiny savings. It worked out… And since the case of Chasse-Spleen 2000 was delivered in 2003, we opened a bottle from time to time, as this is one of the purposes of a case of Bordeaux: follow the evolution of the wine and slowly await its prime. Once every 1 or 2 years is a good rhythm for this ritual and this last Christmas it was again time. Read the rest of this entry »

Two years ago, in a London restaurant, I had my first encounter with Sarget de Gruaud-Larose which is the second wine of Château Gruaud-Larose in Saint-Julien. It was a 1997, so not a spectacular vintage and already more than 10 years old and still, I was more than impressed by its quality. It felt like the perfectly aged bottle of Bordeaux with perfect balance and so much elegance: fruit, coconut, chocolate, melted tannins, good weight. Of course I first have to credit the sommelier for pulling out such a wonderful bottle. That’s what sommeliers are for you will tell me, but such things still happen on too few occasions in my opinion.

But the second thought that crossed my mind was that these second wines are much better than their reputation. And if such a wine from a weaker vintage impresses me so much, there must be tons of hidden treasures out there. So many Crus and Châteaux’ in Bordeaux, so many second wines! And what about the second wines of great vintages? They must be freaking awesome!

I carried these thoughts in my mind for quite some time and finally, for last year’s holiday season, I decided to buy a few “Seconds” from the succesful vintages 2000 and 2005. Here now the first 2 bottles, from the 2000 vintage, which we drunk over some medium-raw steaks with sauce Béarnaise and green beans.  Read the rest of this entry »

Besides the chef’s cooking presentations, the Omnivore food festival is also a showcase for high quality produce such as meats, cheeses and of course wine.

A good dozen of mostly French vignerons were presenting their so-called “Vins Naturels”, a non-certified or -controlled ideology of winemaking which basically reduces the process to a minimum of interference (pumping, filtration) or additons (non-indigenous yeasts, sulfites). While I’ve had a few disappointments especially with Read the rest of this entry »

Degustation is the most recent of Jack Lamb’s East Village ventures and is located just next to Jewel Bako, his Japanese restaurant (and is only a stone’s throw away from JLOB, his third restaurant). As with JLOB, the idea at Degustation is to deliver fine dining in small tasting portions, permitting the diner to try many different creations at good value for money. Read the rest of this entry »

Domaine Santa Duc ist sicherlich einer der bekannteren kleinen Namen in Gigondas, wo sich auch viele grosse wie Chapoutier, Guigal und Konsorten tummeln. Read the rest of this entry »