Wine can be so much more than just an enjoyable drink. It can link us to times, people, and places. A traditional concept for so-called anniversary wines is to celebrate a milestone, perhaps a birthday or wedding or even anniversary, with a fine bottle from the vintage of the birthyear or anniversary year in question. With that in mind, Ken Gargett shares a few suggestions.
When Ken Gargett first got interested in wine, he was warned about Burgundy. It was made abundantly clear that he (by which he means a bunch of friends with far more experience in wine than he had) drank Bordeaux. But times change and the greatest wines he has tasted have been Burgundies. Here he relates the region’s fascinating history, including a historical war of words with Champagne.
Ken Gargett recently had the good fortune to partake in a wine-tasting lunch with well-heeled friends and judge who brought the best wines. The best (though there was some controversy) was a 1989 Krug champagne. But there was no debate over the best red: a 2010 Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino from Tuscany. Here he shares some of the fascinating history of Biondi-Santi and its wines.
Hervé Deschamps has described the Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque Blanc de Blancs as “the quintessence of Chardonnay with the brilliance and rarity of a yellow diamond.” Ken Gargett thinks it’s hard to argue with that. Here he explains why and shares his experience with the 2006 vintage.
Ken Gargett describes the Wynns Coonawarra Estate John Riddoch Cabernet 2018 as beautifully refined, elegant, and powerful with the structure and fruit to last and improve for another 10, 20, or 30 years. An exquisite Cabernet, one of Australia’s best, and his score reflects it. Here Ken also gives us more than ample background on Wynns, the premier producer in Coonawarra, South Australia.
Ken Gargett set out to review a wine that has been called an Australian First Growth, the Wynns Black Label Cabernet, and its flagship, the John Riddoch Cabernet. But it became clear to him that without providing some context and history in relation to Coonawarra that anything on those wonderful wines would be incomplete. And here he does just that.
Ken Gargett takes a look at the new Bollinger Blanc de Noirs one-off, the B13 from the (unusual) 2013 vintage. And decides that this is no shrinking violet and that no one is going to taste this and start thinking how delicate, how elegant. It is a big, bold, full-of-flavor champagne.
Peter Gago has what many people in the wine world think is the best job on the planet: he is chief winemaker for Penfolds, one of Australia’s oldest wine producers. Here Ken Gargett shares the history of Penfolds and Peter Gago and reports on tasting Penfolds’ latest flagship wine, the G5.
An email arrived: would Ken Gargett be interested in tasting an original prestige champagne from the popular house of Piper-Heidsieck? This is the sort of invitation he would crawl over broken glass to be part of and he shares his experiences here. Spoiler alert: Ken rates the 50-year-old champagne 99/100!
You may be asking yourself why Ken Gargett is reviewing yet another 2008 vintage champagne. For starters, he’s doing it because 2008 is a great year. But also because the Taittinger Comtes de Champagne just might be the best of the 2008s. This champagne has a litany of high scores – most range from 98 to 100 – and praise from critics (including this one).