Xavier Auerbach

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• Claude Bizon says:

  1/12/2024 4:01:00 AM - Good morning ! I ask myself the question: What is your job to have the opportunity to taste so many prestigious wines?

• Xavier Auerbach says:

  10/3/2023 12:21:00 PM - Dear Brussels 1049, thank you for your very kind words. It is high praise indeed! I will try to live up to the expectations!

• Brussels 1049 says:

  9/27/2023 12:20:00 AM - Xavier, thank you so much for your tasting notes, always evocative and informative. You are doing a very good job of compensating for the loss of Clive Coates' wisdom in The Vine. I live in Brussels and in case you don't know about it, there is a great Foire aux Vins on at Cora in Woluwe until late October. The catalogue is online at Cora.be; the offer mostly comprises moderate, mid-range wines, but there is for example 2019 Chateau Laroque, St Emilion, at a surely unbeatable €27. Cora will deliver, if you can borrow a friend's address in Belgium.

• soyhead says:

  1/24/2023 3:20:00 AM - Thanks for that info. How about a recommendation for a good retail wine shop in Amsterdam

• Xavier Auerbach says:

  1/20/2023 1:25:00 PM - @soyhead: in Amsterdam I could mention 4850 and Parlotte, but you should really get the Amsterdam Restaurant Guide app, with 240 restaurant recommendations in 24 top 10 categories including the top 10 wine restaurants. It’s € 9.99 and it’s available for iOS and Andriod. And it’s made by my wife, so I can’t recommend it enough! Cheers, Xavier

• soyhead says:

  1/20/2023 12:33:00 PM - can you recommend a few good wine bars in Amsterdam (or NL for that matter)?

• bestdamncab says:

  5/30/2021 5:26:00 AM - Durand is a great wine opener, fortunately for me my 3 best wine friends each own one.

• JJYoyo says:

  12/1/2019 9:00:00 AM - Thanks for accepting my friend request. Your TNs are wide ranging helpful and above all -- reliable!

• FransS says:

  5/27/2018 12:23:00 PM - Beste Xavier, Heb je zin in een proeverij bij mij thuis in Haarlem op 15 juni of 24 juni, met een paar 100-punten wijnen en wat andere toppers; informeel, met 6 tot 8 aan tafel + lekkere hapjes? Groet, Frans S (smitvdberg@planet.nl)

• Xavier Auerbach says:

  5/4/2018 2:05:00 PM - @ppdebie: for “Garand” please read “Durand”. Apologies for the confusion.

• ppdebie says:

  5/2/2018 8:20:00 AM - Thank you so much for all your advise. I do not have a Garand (I am even unsure what it is) but I do have quite a few sommelier's knives and two Ah-so's, or butler's thiefs.

• Xavier Auerbach says:

  5/2/2018 5:41:00 AM - @ppdebie: just allow the bottle to stand upright for a few days and pull the cork! The state of the cork may depend on whether your bottle is an original release (capsule with a red top) or a library release (capsule with a black top). If you have a Garand corkscrew that would be ideal. Otherwise you can improvise one with a sommelier’s knife (screw in all the way until the handle touches the top of the bottle) and a butler’s thief (place over the sommelier’s knife and push down the prongs); pull the cork out with a turning movement. Or just use any good quality corkscrew. Because of the long oak ageing and relatively light colour, Barolos tend to have relatively little sediment. Library releases were decanted prior to release, so they are unlikely to have any sediment at all. If the cork doesn’t disintegrate, there will be no need to filter the wine, otherwise use a fine kitchen sieve. If there is extremely fine sediment, pull a nylon kneehigh over the sieve, and use that as a filter. Do not decant. I would suggest a drinking temperature of 20°-22°C (and not 16°-18°C) as the acidity can be quite pronounced in these old wines and the effect is less marked at a slightly higher temperature. For the rest, expose to oxygen as little as possible, so just pour into a medium sized glass (the bouquet will likely be quite delicate) and see what happens. The wine will probably be very tertiary at the outset and may feel a bit tired, but hopefully it will start to blossom after a few minutes. After such a long sleep, old wines often need a little time to wake up. There is lot of bottle variation with these old Borgognos apparently, so fear the worst and hope for the best. The ethereal 1961 remains one of the most beautiful wines I have ever drunk - the 1952 was more oxidative but very impressive too. Good luck and I look forward to reading your tasting note!

• ppdebie says:

  5/2/2018 3:13:00 AM - Hello Xavier. I see you've rated a really old Giacomo Borgogno barolo. I have a really old bottle (1944) of them in my cellar too, which i plan on drinking soon. What steps would you take with a bottle that old to maximise drinkability chances? Cork removal, standing up, filtering, air-or-not, etc?

• Xavier Auerbach says:

  4/8/2018 3:29:00 AM - @Papies: Yes, I had noticed too that we both seem to be enjoying BA's hospitality from time to time... Would be fun to meet up some day at a tasting or similar event. Thanks for your notes! Xavier

• Papies says:

  4/4/2018 12:06:00 PM - Funny how many wine we tried courtesy of BA. Probably we crossed paths in a lounge or a plane more than once. Thank you for notes ! Best A+N

• Champagneinhand says:

  12/11/2016 7:30:00 PM - I really enjoy reading your notes, especially on champagne. Thanks for taking the time to write them down on Cellar Tracker.

• dave747400 says:

  10/4/2016 11:00:00 AM - Xavier - so sorry to hear of the passing of your family dog, my heart goes out to you. They do inveigle themselves into your daily life, and are so so missed.

• Mikaelbe says:

  8/31/2016 7:35:00 AM - Thanks Xavier for sharing your tasting notes (experience) here leaving quite a legacy, sincerely appreciated!

• violistus says:

  3/7/2016 9:23:00 PM - I agree with Peadar!!

• Peadar says:

  10/7/2015 5:48:00 PM - You're a fantastic person. Keep up the great work.

• Soteriologist says:

  1/7/2015 3:57:00 AM - I keep running across your TNs - and they seem very reasonable - including such on single malts. Not sure whether that is because we have common tastes or, more likely, because you have tasted almost everything and written about it. Keep it up !

• Tim Heaton says:

  2/14/2014 11:26:00 AM - Congratulations on 10,000 notes. Your insights and efforts are much appreciated. Be well

• Luc Peters says:

  10/5/2013 10:44:00 AM - hi xavier, i believe we have done business a couple of years ago. nice to come accross on a platform like this. groeten, luc

• Nik Lasse Seimsson says:

  9/28/2013 1:02:00 AM - Hi there Xavier! I have read some of your notes and it looks like you are one of the people whose notes make sense to me. ;-) Keep on posting, your notes are clear believable. Thanks & greetings from Frankfurt, Germany! Nic

• Xavier Auerbach says:

  11/18/2012 8:35:00 AM - Will you be at De Gouden Leeuw?

• Zweder says:

  8/25/2012 5:47:00 PM - Lunch is great there. Even my children aged 14 and 12 at the time (in 2008) still remember the beautiful meal ;-) (and the beautiful location)

• Xavier Auerbach says:

  8/22/2012 7:34:00 AM - Well. not to the actual cellar but I did have lunch at the hotel in 2004 and I recognised the guy's uniform:-)

• Zweder says:

  8/16/2012 8:31:00 AM - Yes, so you have been there as well...;-)

• Tim Heaton says:

  4/10/2012 8:00:00 PM - thanks for putting forth the effort