Latest from the Wine Blog

Burgundy 2009 and 2008 (and 2010 in barrel) + videos

June 2, 2011

Based on visits in late May and early June 2011… CHECK OUT MY VIDEOS: HERE It is a big debate these days. Climate change in the vineyard vs. typicity. Many believe that 2008 Burgundy will prove to be the more “pure” expression of Pinot Noir, made from a cold climate, as it should be. While a vintage like [...]

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11 vintages of Chateau Figeac: freshness over power

January 22, 2012

Château Figeac may be somewhat of a conundrum for neophytes to Bordeaux. Even for some who work in wine. While sampling three white wines at the trendy Vino Volo airport wine bar at Dulles International Airport last week, just before a flight to Frankfurt, Germany, I told the wine salesman there about Figeac being a [...]

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Dinner chez ma soeur

January 16, 2012

What a great pleasure to have enjoyed a home-cooked meal by my sister Tina, who could have gone into the restaurant business, not just because she has a knack for making great food but also because she is very meticulous about what she buys and how she prepares her ingredients. On 13 January 2012 she invited me and [...]

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Burgundy 2009 and 2008 (and 2010 in barrel) + videos

June 2, 2011

Based on visits in late May and early June 2011… CHECK OUT MY VIDEOS: HERE It is a big debate these days. Climate change in the vineyard vs. typicity. Many believe that 2008 Burgundy will prove to be the more “pure” expression of Pinot Noir, made from a cold climate, as it should be. While a vintage like [...]

6 Comments

Neighborhood wine tasting: Tour de France

January 14, 2012

For the second year in a row, I hosted a neighborhood wine tasting in Arlington, Virginia, for family and friends. I was not sure about the theme until nearly the last minute, but a recent political attack advertisement from Newt Gingrich in the midst of the Republican presidential primaires - a Republican attack ad against candidate Mitt [...]

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Wining and dining first class with Lufthansa

January 13, 2012

Many many thanks to Rolf Rehm, pilot with Lufthansa, for allowing me to film on one my regularly scheduled flights back home to Washington D.C. for the holidays. Rolf and his wife Claudia often attend wine tastings I organise in Germany and, because he is a pilot, they sometimes come all the way to the U.S. [...]

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Why Wine Connections?

First of all, welcome to my now revamped website. My name is Panos Kakaviatos and I love to drink wine. Since the past 10 years, I have been seriously writing about it, and since 2004, I have also organised wine dinners around the world in top hotel restaurants, from the Hyatt in Dubai for Château Mouton Rothschild in November 2008 to The Jefferson in Washington D.C. for Château Palmer in January 2010.  If you clicked on the preceding link, you will see that I have started also to create video reports which will become an ever more important part of this website. Later on, I will create winery pages, to feature many Bordeaux châteaux but also estates in Burgundy, the Rhone, Champagne, Alsace and other wine regions. It is all about making connections and my anecdote from February 2008 during a special wine event in London remains relevant. I tasted a 1986 Mouton Rothschild – an $800 bottle of wine – as part of a vertical. Several times. Before the event started, to check each of the 12 bottles to be poured for possible defects and during the tasting, when I eagerly drank, not just sipped and spat. The tasting also featured other fine vintages of this great Bordeaux estate, some as expensive, including the already legendary 2005 and 2000, the popular 2003, a racy 1996 from magnum and a meaty and savory 1989. My connection was Decanter Magazine, which organized the event, and for which I occasionally write articles. But anyone could have attended. As I wine lover, I’ll take any connections that come my way, also for wines far less expensive – wines which I can afford with excellent quality-to-price ratios. Wines I will share with you in these pages. Thanks to my experience traveling and tasting, I have established many a wine connection to get you the wine tips you want: from finding that perfect fine wine dinner with the winemaker at a luxurious hotel restaurant to accessing hundreds of pages of copious wine tasting notes, free on this website.

Partly because of the proven health benefits when enjoyed in moderation, partly because it’s a wonderful way to pass the time with friends over a fine meal, wine increasingly fascinates consumers the world over. Cruise ships hire sommeliers – a job I am considering – and wine bars sprout like so many autumn mushrooms from Austin, Texas to Strasbourg, France. New markets in Russia, China and India to take three prominent examples ratchet up prices for popular brands, much to the dismay of many a consumer including your humble servant. And with so many wines being made worldwide – I recently tasted a Chinese wine that resembled a decent Bordeaux blend – choosing wine at stores and restaurants will become an ever more daunting affair. I hope I can help you.

 
 
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