Archive for the ‘wine dinners’ Category


Dinner chez ma soeur

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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Wine freshness defined, without just nostalgic, rose-tinted glasses

A tasting that brought home to me a certain nostalgia. A poster on the wine forum wineberserkers.com recently lamented the loss of Old School Bordeaux. He went so far as to give “faint praise” to the 1982 vintage, while extolling the virtues of the 70s and 60s. I found his comments a bit strange but [...]

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Château Palmer dinners in Berlin and in Frankfurt: 16-17 November

Achtung Weinliebhaber, Attention Wine lovers! I will be co-hosting along with Bernard de Laage de Meux, Development Director at Château Palmer, two fabulous wine dinners with Château Palmer. In Berlin on 16 November and in Frankfurt on 17 November. In Berlin: Alter Ego 2004 and four Château Palmer vintages 2004-2000-1998-1995 mit einem fünf-Gang Menü. Eintritt [...]

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Dinner with Maurice and Marie-Claire Barthelmé of Domaine Albert Mann

Dinner on 16 July with Maurice and Marie-Christine Barthelmé in Wettolsheim at their home. They are co-owners  of the famous Alsatian domaine Albert Mann. Lovers of great food and wine – and good times – the Barthelmés do not preach or instruct, they just communicate a healthy passion for making one of the best wines of Alsace. [...]

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High alcohol levels in Bordeaux: report from Germany

Just finished tasting a series of wines at two dinners in Germany. Leoville Poyferre, Clos Fourtet, Poujeaux, Le Crock. We also tasted 2010 barrel samples. Clos Fourtet clocked in at 15% alcohol! Just as it had done in 2009. But at least the acidity is a bit higher in 2010. Co-owner Matthieu Cuvelier thinks the [...]

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Léoville Poyferré, Clos Fourtet, Poujeaux and Le Crock in Germany

UPDATE! Dinners to include tastings of Bordeaux 2010 barrel samples from both the Left and Right Banks: Léoville Poyferré and Clos Fourtet! I will be co-hosting two wine dinners in Germany – at the Maingau Hotel in Frankfurt on 24 March and at the Sankt Moritz Restaurant in Berlin on 25 March – with Matthieu [...]

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Blast from the past: magnum Bordeaux dinner October 2005

On October 15 in Frankfurt, I participated in a tasting organized by my good friend Harry H. Hochheimer, a passionate wine and gastronomy consultant based in Frankfurt, Germany and who, each year I think for the past few years, organizes a wine tasting called: Bordeaux : Die Mutter aller Rotweine or “Bordeaux: The Mother of all [...]

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Wine epiphanies: Chateau Montrose 1989

Chateau Montrose 1989 St Estephe Medoc 2eme cru classé   Certainly needs time to open in glass but this wine is glorious. It reminds me of the 1986, but with greater succulence and perhaps more depth. The nose expresses its splendid complexity, at once fresh and minty, even, then also truffle: fine chocolate truffle. Perhaps a [...]

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Haut Brion 1978, Mouton 1966 … and much more!

What better way to appreciate the knowledge and passion of fellow wine lovers than to put together a first growth quality Bordeaux dinner?   The restaurant was a fine setting: Ruth’s Chris Steak House in the lively Dupont Circle area of Washington D.C. If driving, it is important to set the start at 6.30 pm, [...]

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An ultra mini Beychevelle vertical: 2000 and 1982, plus other jewels

Château Beychevelle You have to love the label. A medieval wooden boat with an impressive dragon head, its sail at half mast, in respect of the all-powerful owner hundreds of years ago, a famous French admiral. So the story goes to explain the name of this sprawling estate: baisse-voile (lower the sail). Whether the legend is true [...]

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