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Cees Dobbelaer is Best Sommelier 2008

13/10/2008 Jozef Schildermans 0

Cees Dobbelaer is the Best Sommelier of Belgium 2008. Yesterday he won the national championship, held in the Brussels Radison SAS Royal Hotel. Eight sommeliers took part in the championship, with the three best battling it out in a grand finale with five different tasks: serving Champagne from magnum, pairing dishes with wine, correcting a winelist with errors, recognising five > Read more …

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2000 Tenuta Arnulfo Barolo Riserva Costa di Bussia

12/10/2008 Jozef Schildermans 0

2000 Tenuta Arnulfo Barolo Riserva Costa di Bussia – Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (10/7/2008) Hint of red fruit and fruit syrup and a whiff of alcohol and kirsch on the somewhat dusty and restrained nose. On the soft palate fairly sweet red fruit, balanced by good acidity, a hint of liquorice and a dollop of kirsch. Not very complex, but > Read more …

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Bollinger Champagne Rosé Brut

08/10/2008 Jozef Schildermans 0

N.V. Bollinger Champagne Rosé Brut – France, Champagne (10/8/2008) The colour is quite red, considering this first release of Bollinger’s N.V. Rosé contains only about 5,5% red wine, where the normal amount for most Champagnes is 10 to 20%. It resembles the Special Cuvée with its toast and slightly oxidative style, but this has ripe red berry fruit in stead > Read more …

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2005 M. Chapoutier Côtes du Rhône

01/10/2008 Jozef Schildermans 0

2005 M. Chapoutier Côtes du Rhône – France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône (9/19/2008) Black cherries, herbs and a hint of liquorice on the enjoyable nose. Nice warm fruit with some pepper and a hint of wood on the palate. A bit restrained, probably good with food. (87 pts.)

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Proton-beam Discovers Fake Wine Bottles

01/10/2008 Jozef Schildermans 0

French scientists at the Centre d’Etudes Nucléaires in Bordeaux Gradigan (CENBG) have discovered an advanced technique for pinpointing counterfeit bottles of wine. A team led by Hervé Guégan bombarded wine bottles with a 3 MeV proton-beam and used the X-rays emitted by the bottles to analyze the chemical composition of the bottles. They compared this with the known chemical ‘fingerprint’ > Read more …