Author Archives: Karl Laczko

A Wine Festival for 2011!

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Karl Laczko

The region has a wine festival for 2011, but it’s not the one we expected! After the success of the 2010 North East Wine Festival in Corbridge over a sunny June weekend I know there was a strong intention to … Continue reading →

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Tonight’s Tipple – Aussie Riesling

Posted on August 11, 2011 by Karl Laczko

After a couple of disappointing whites recently a mid-week wine was called for that could be relied on to deliver, and Tim Adam’s 2006 Clare Valley Riesling proved up the the task. This wine was bought for £9.99 in May … Continue reading →

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Greybeard’s Corner – July 2011

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Karl Laczko

With few standout events my regular review of the wine world’s recent happenings is a mixed bag of topics including broken Shiraz, green wineries and melting bloggers. Wine News: Let’s start with the curious tale of the broken Mollydooker, as … Continue reading →

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Taste’s Grey Zone

Posted on August 6, 2011 by Karl Laczko

There’s an old saying that “Bad luck always comes in threes” which I thought of as I drank the last of 3 bottles of wine at home recently, each of which had got me thinking about another saying, that “Life’s … Continue reading →

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Hungary, you cannot be serious!

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Karl Laczko

In early 2008 Hungarian wine critic Péter Uj took criticism to an extreme in the national newspaper Népszabadság – decrying the poor quality of much Hungarian wine and going so far as to describe the produce of one of the … Continue reading →

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Die Riesling Manufaktur

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Karl Laczko

Johannes Schmitz isn’t your typical Moselian, his Rebenhof winery on the southern edge of Ürzig is testimony to that. In contrast to an otherwise traditional Mosel village his glass, steel and concrete monument to the 21st Century proudly pronounces the … Continue reading →

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Grapevine DNA – The genetics of wine

Posted on July 24, 2011 by Karl Laczko

At first glance Genetics may seem a strange topic for a Wine Blog, but look closer and you’ll discover that humans have been genetically modifying the grapevine ever since it was first farmed over 6,000 years ago by selecting the … Continue reading →

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4 by 3…a NEWTS tasting

Posted on July 24, 2011 by Karl Laczko

4 classic wine styles, 3 local retailers each offering an interpretation from their range; this was the premise for the July meeting of the North East Wine Tasting Society and meant a record 12 wines for the 2 hour meeting. … Continue reading →

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Wine Society Summer Tasting

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Karl Laczko

Last week The Wine Society came to town with a tasting at The Royal Station Hotel in Newcastle. The theme was Loire and Beaujolais, a summery focus as both regions produce light, fresh wines. As usual the tasting was held … Continue reading →

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Greybeard’s Corner – June 2011

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Karl Laczko

The 2011 harvest in both hemispheres dominates the recent wine news while Germany fills up a large part of my own wine experiences in this month’s Corner post. Wine News: Let’s get the bad news out of the way first. … Continue reading →

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