Author Archives: Karl Laczko

Smiling Gods

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Karl Laczko

A red and a white are the usual sacrifices to the Gods of the weekend, and this time the Dieties of rest and relaxation were smiling down on me with both wines a notch above the usual tipples. White is … Continue reading →

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Tonight’s Tipple – 2009 Beaujolais

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Karl Laczko

Beaujolais 2009 has been lauded as a great vintage for the region, exceptional even. I’m not a great Beaujolais drinker, typically getting through only 1 or 2 a year, but when a vintage is pronounced exceptional then I will always … Continue reading →

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PortoVino Summer Tasting at the Biscuit Factory

Posted on July 2, 2011 by Karl Laczko

Portuguese wine retailer PortoVino, run by Alan Holmes and Paul Raven (fellow NEWTS), held their summer tasting at the Biscuit Factory in Newcastle last Thursday evening (can there be a better venue for a tasting than an art gallery?). I … Continue reading →

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Mosel Meanderings

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Karl Laczko

Day 1: Myself, a South African and a brand new BMW 112d (thanks Europcar!!) headed out of Wetzlar, Germany on a sunny Friday afternoon and headed east for the Mosel with a 600km limit on the rental car and a … Continue reading →

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Greybeard’s Corner – May 2011

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Karl Laczko

With the Rapture due to decimate the world on May 21st it hardly seemed worth researching this article, but luckily the end of the world has now been postponed until October 21st so we have a few more months to … Continue reading →

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A Taste of Germany…a NEWTS tasting

Posted on May 22, 2011 by Karl Laczko

Over a year ago I put my name down to give one of the monthly tastings at the North East Wine Tasting Society (NEWTS) and chose Germany as my theme. If you mention German wine to a random group of … Continue reading →

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Greybeard’s Corner – April 2011

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Karl Laczko

Spring takes hold in the wine world with the unsurprising news that Bordeaux is superb again, Oddbins goes through its final death throws and California sees the resurrection of an historic name. The big news of last month was En … Continue reading →

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Greybeard’s Corner – March 2011

Posted on April 10, 2011 by Karl Laczko

“Oddbins, the Demise” would be a fitting sub-title to this month’s post, for what a month it’s been for arguably the most popular wine retailer in the UK. Founded in 1963 by Ahmed Pochee, run through the 1970s by Dennis … Continue reading →

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Greybeard’s Corner – February 2011

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Karl Laczko

I thought January was quiet, but February passed by with barely a whimper here in the North East of England, as can be seen by the world wine news making up most of this piece! Every month I try and … Continue reading →

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Greybeard’s Corner – January 2011

Posted on February 13, 2011 by Karl Laczko

Where did January go? After the excesses of Christmas and New Year the month seemed to fly by with barely a growl, at least in my corner of the world. There were a few interesting news stories which, for a … Continue reading →

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