Category Archives: Bordeaux

Left Bank-A-Palooza 2017

Posted on January 30, 2017 by intoxreport

At the periphery of every wine experience, Bordeaux looms.  In a pinch (and a stellar vintage) other wine regions may be considered Bordeaux’s equal, but none are superior. Like the specter of a master—like Michelangelo hovering above an art class or … Continue reading →

Posted in Bordeaux | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

I Am a Master of Bordeaux, 2016

Posted on January 28, 2016 by intoxreport

I may never be able to tack that coveted MW onto my name; I may never wear an MS badge in my lapel and I may never be a Certified Specialist of Wine (which I would have to spell out … Continue reading →

Posted in Bordeaux | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Long Live the Rothschildren: The Pink of Perfection

Posted on August 30, 2015 by intoxreport

No serious debate that the first family of wine is Rothschild, at least from a historical perspective.  They are to wine what the Kennedys are to political dynasties, what the House of Medici is to art patronage, what the Simpsons … Continue reading →

Posted in Bordeaux, FRANCE | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Right vs. Left: Banking on Bordeaux, 2010

Posted on March 8, 2015 by intoxreport

When Sonny Bono died in 1998, the public pointed to an old superstition: Celebrities tend to die in trees.  Gratefully, Harrison Ford survived; otherwise we’d have to hear them go on about how celebrities tend to die in fores. In … Continue reading →

Posted in Bordeaux, FRANCE | 1 Comment

No Honor-Roll Among Thieves: Balmy & Clod Rob Château d’Yquem

Posted on June 12, 2013 by intoxreport

Granted, when Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker began their cigar-chompin’ shitstorm in 1932, the dessert wine industry had not really taken hold in the Midwest.  So, they are to be forgiven for targeting banks and gas stations rather than hundred-point châteaux … Continue reading →

Posted in Bordeaux, FRANCE, GENERAL | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Bordeaux Without The Bloodshed

Posted on December 11, 2012 by intoxreport

From time to time, I mock the French for some of their inexplicable cultural anomalies, such as eating bugs you can buy poison at English Gardens to kill and animals on which you can bet at Churchill Downs; for having … Continue reading →

Posted in Bordeaux, FRANCE | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Ready To Read Another Dull ‘En Primeur’ Column? Good, Because I’m Not Ready To Write One

Posted on April 12, 2012 by intoxreport

American wine people love to pronounce French words—especially those that they actually can pronounce. That’s why they’re always talking about lieu-dit, cépage and egrappage when they could be talking about ‘vineyard’, ‘kind of grape’ and ‘yanking the friggin’ stems off’. … Continue reading →

Posted in Bordeaux, Cab/Merlot, Cabernet Franc, FRANCE, Malbec, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Sauvignon Blanc | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments

What’s So Great About France, Vintage 2009?

Posted on March 7, 2012 by intoxreport

In the first place, ‘vintage year’ is whatever the opposite of oxymoronic is, since technically, every year is a vintage year. In Oporto, however, certain vintages may be ‘declared’—meaning that, in the spring of the second year following the harvest, … Continue reading →

Posted in Bordeaux, Burgundy, FRANCE, GENERAL, Loire, Rhône | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Only 98 Photoshopping Days Left Until The Bordeaux en primeur

Posted on January 20, 2012 by intoxreport

“I’m on a seafood diet.  I see food and I throw up.” – Runway model Filippa Hamilton-Palmstierna A pair of recent headlines—one excoriating Ralph Lauren for photoshopping cover-girl Filippa Hamilton-Palmstierna to resemble Bobby Sands during Extreme Unction and another excoriating … Continue reading →

Posted in Bordeaux, FRANCE, GENERAL | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Bordeaux Is Selling Out—Or At Least, It’s On The Market

Posted on January 3, 2012 by intoxreport

‘Under-the-radar wine estate for sale, Saint-Caprais-de-Bordeaux, château-on-steroids, 20 hectares of vines that are firing on all cylinders.  Priced to sell, this turn-key opportunity is a win-win.’ In the business world, you call such a find ‘low-hanging fruit’ and then, you … Continue reading →

Posted in Bordeaux, FRANCE | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments