Wojciech Bońkowski
Master of Wine

A taste of wines from Brazil

A taste of wines from Brazil. I look at 30 different bottlings and reflect on Brazil’s rosy future as a wine producer.

I got caught

Opened a bottle, tasted the wine twice, made a tasting note, gave it 87 points… then I realised it’s corked.

Blau & Blau

A reader recently commented on my blog note from two years ago. It actually had me thinking whether I’d not been too harsh towards Austrian red wines. Easy to check…

2011 Pannon Bormustra winners

2011 edition of the Pannon Bormustra was meant to give a new lease of life to this respected Hungarian competition – and it did. The 48 winners confirm this.

A star is born

Stéphanie Berecz of the Kikelet winery in Tokaj is one of my wine heroes. In a region where wines notoriously beat world records of concentration, her style is subtle and concentrated. Her patient work of a decade is being rewarded today with a precious accolade.

2011 Pannon Bormustra competition

A lightning visit to Budapest to taste the 48 wines awarded at the 2011 Pannon Bormustra competition: hopefully the crème de la crème of Hungarian wine.

Roxanich: incredible complexity

Roxanich: a very individual project and some incredibly good wines from Croatia’s Istria.

Cappellano: amazing depth

(Almost) Live blogging from Piedmont, part 18. The Barolos of Augusto Cappellano have a flavour unlike anything else. Sure, some of his vines are ungrafted, but it’s not the only secret here.

G. D. Vajra: my favourite Barolos

Live blogging from Piedmont, part 17. Aldo, Milena and Giuseppe Vaira make wines to die for.

Bartolo Mascarello: tradition goes on

Live blogging from Piedmont, part 16. Bartolo Mascarello is a mythical personage of Italian wine. Today his work is continued by his daughter Maria Teresa, the Queen of Barolo.