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BKWine TV: [E] Tasting Jacquesson champagne

>> Thursday, December 27, 2007

Tasting Jacquesson champagne with Jean-Hervé Chiquet, co-owner and co-wine maker. On the 731 (2003) vintage. On dosage. On rosé champagne and skin contact. On bubbles and wine tasting glasses. By BKWine.



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Book Review: The World Atlas of Wine

The World Atlas of Wine
Hugh Johnson, Jancis Robinson
6th edition
Mitchell Beazley

If you should have only one wine book then this is it. First published in 1971 and since long a classic (we have all editions except the first). The 6th edition has been expanded with 48 pages and 20 new maps. The texts have been reviewed and re-written and many of the illustrations are new. Quite a lot has happened in the wine world since the last edition and all is reflected in the changes in the book. In it you also find the best wine maps there are – indispensable if you want to travel in wine regions. The first part of the book has some general chapters on history, vinification http://www.bkwine.com/images/vote-2.gifetc, easy to pass quickly but well worth a serious read. The remainder of the book covers virtually all of the world’s wine region with interesting texts, beautiful pictures and the maps of course. A book both to leaf through and to read in meticulous detail – to be inspired and to be informed. (And with some new photos from BKWine!)

-- Buy the book
-- Read more reviews

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BKWine TV: [E] JM Brocard winery in Chablis

>> Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Visiting Jean Marc Brocard winery and vineyards in Prehy, Chablis (Burgundy / Bourgogne, France). Tasting the wine and talking to the Canadian winemaker Patrick Piuze. View over the Grand Cru hill. By BKWine



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Saint-Chinian – hidden gem in Languedoc

cb11-564-6438Saint Chinian is one of the appellations in the Languedoc, located a bit inland with a landscape dotted with remote villages, harsh hilltops and dedicated vignerons. St Chinian in short:

-- 20 villages north-west of Bézier
-- received its AOC in 1982 and covers 3300 ha, 510 growers, 135,000 hl, 2/3 produced by the cooperative
-- Belgium is the biggest export market followed by Denmark (!)
-- 89% red, 10% white, 1% rosé (AOC for red since 2004)
-- the soil is very varied with both schist, limestone and clay elements, but often not very fertile
-- maximum yield is 50 hl/ha but in reality it is often lower
http://www.bkwine.com/images/vote-2.gif -- climate is sunny, dry and windy
-- grapes: primarily Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre (min 60%) but also Carignan, Lladoner Pelut and Cinsault
-- sometimes macération carbonique is used instead of regular vinification
-- the wine style varies with soil, grapes and vinification but is often quite powerful with intense fruit and aromas, often with the typical “garrigue” (wild herbs) style
-- www.saint-chinian.com

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BKWine TV: Jacquesson Champagne - making

>> Friday, December 21, 2007

Visiting the Jacquesson champagne house. Jean-Herve Chiquet, co-owner and co-wine maker talks about making the wine, the yields, wine presses and more. Dizy, Champagne, France. By BKWine.com.



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Wine festival VieVinum in Austria

http://www.bkwine.com/images/vote-2.gifVieVinum is a big wine show in Austria showcasing mainly Austrian wines. In 2008 it will take place on May 31 to June 2 in Vienna. More info www.vievinum.at

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Andre Clouet Champagne

>> Thursday, December 20, 2007

Visit to the Andre Clouet vineyards in Champagne with an interview with the winemaker Jean-Francois Clouet, Bouzy, Champagne, France. On the winery history and philosophy. By BKWine.com.



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The Sampler still sells exclusive wines by the glass in small portions

A while back we wrote about the odd rule in the UK that prohibits selling wine by the glass in small measures. Some wine merchants and wine bars had started to offer very exclusive wines in “tasting sample” sizes that were not the regulation size wine glass but, we were told, had had to stop that since servings were not according to the rules. One of the wine merchants we mentioned was The Sampler and they have now corrected us on this. They still serve wines by-the-glass in small portions to allow customers to taste very expensive wines at reasonable prices – so perhaps a http://www.bkwine.com/images/vote-2.gifplace worth trying if you want to discover some interesting wines. But we don’t know how it works: are they ignoring the rules or have the rules changed? If you go there perhaps you can ask them and then tell us…

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BKWine TV: Louis Roederer Champagne

>> Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Visiting the Louis Roederer champagne house in Reims, Champagne, France. Visiting the winery, tasting Cristal champagne (famous from Tsar Alexander's crystal bottle order), on the Japanese market... By BKWine.com



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How big carbon footprint from wine?

http://www.bkwine.com/images/carbon-footprint-greenline.jpgTyler Colman, better known perhaps under his blogger pseudonym Dr Vino, has made a study of what greenhouse gases your wine consumption generates. Being in the US, the basic question he asked was “Is it better (=lesser emissions) to drink a wine from Bordeaux or one from California”. The Bordeaux wine will need longer transport but the transport will be for the longer part of the journey on boat, whereas the Californian wine will be trucked. The result was that it is “better” (causing less emissions) to drink Bordeaux on the East Coast and up until a http://www.bkwine.com/images/vote-2.gif line going north-south through Ohio and Texas. West of that “green line” it is better to drink Californian wine. this is of course just one aspect of being environmentally friendly. there are many other aspects to look at to get the full picture, for example the production methods, soil treatment and fertilization, irrigation, and much more. Perhaps in a future 2.0 edition of the Dr Vino report? More info and the green line map on DRVino.com

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Fine Wine Magazine

A new issue of the free e-zine Fine Wine Magazine is now available. You can read about Provence, Krug champagne, four exciting Languedoc producers and two from Alsace and much more. Some of it written by BKWine of course. Download it here.

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BKWine TV: Champagne houses in reims

>> Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Some famous champagne houses (Louis Roederer, Mumm, Krug...) in Reims, France. Beautiful building, famous champagnes. By BKWine.com



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Christmas gift? USBWine – download wines over broadband

http://www.bkwine.com/images/usb-wine-1.jpgThe latest innovation in wine e-commerce is called USBWine. It’s a small USB-key-like device that you plug into your computer. You then visit one of the participating wine web sites and you can directly download the wines through your USB tap. Several different Bordeaux and Burgundy wines are initially on offer. Too good to be true? See for yourself on their demo video.

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Mature wine from China – 2400 years old!

http://www.bkwine.com/images/vote-2.gifArchaeologists recently found a bronze vessel that contained a liquid believed to be ancient wine. The find was made in the Shaanxi province, according to China Daily, and dates from the Warring Dynasty, 475 BC to 221 BC. wine-business-international.com

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Chablis turns to famous French fashion photographer for publicity campaign

http://www.bkwine.com/images/bettina-rheims-chablis.jpgChablis has recruited the famous French fashion photographer and ex-model Bettina Rheims to create images for a promotional campaign on Chablis. It is mostly lightly clad females and old vines mixed up, all in contorted poses in front of the lens. If they had added an ad text on the pictures the campaign would no doubt have been banned in many countries with ad standards for wine publicity. But it’s an art exhibition, isn’t it, so this is different. Good taste? Judge for yourself on their site. www.chablis-the-french-chic.com The theme is “Chablis, http://www.bkwine.com/images/vote-2.gifthe French chic”. It also includes a promotional video that you can watch on the site. Chic? A matter of taste. Silly, for sure.

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BKWine TV: Andreas Larsson, world champion sommelier

>> Monday, December 17, 2007

http://www.bkwine.com/images/vote-2.gifA video interview with the world champion sommelier Andreas Larsson. On the championship, on Coute de Bourg (Bordeaux), and on what you do next, after winning the world championship title. At the three star restaurant and hotel Meurice in Paris.

The interview is in Swedish, Andreas' native language...
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A brief history of Champagne yields – Or “victim of your own success”

030902-2-k838-0029In Chronique (souvent) Bordelaise you can read about the evolution of harvest yields in Champagne. When the appellation was created in 1935 the maximum yield was defined as 7500 kg/hectare. (In Champagne they count in kg/ha instead of the measure hectolitres/ha used in most other districts. 7500 kg/ha corresponds to approx 50 hl/ha.) By 1998 they maximum yield had reached 8500 kg/ha (ca 57 hl/ha). Today the allowed harvest volume is (after the http://www.bkwine.com/images/vote-2.giflatest increase earlier this year) 15,500 kg/ha (ca 103 hl/ha). A curious contrast to most other regions that make efforts to restrict yields to increase quality.

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Australian wine shortage

http://www.bkwine.com/images/vote-2.gifNot long ago Australia had a huge wine lake, unsold wine stock and falling prices. Now there is a worry that there will soon be a serious shortage of Australian grapes and wines due to sever draught and irrigation restrictions due to water shortages. How tables turn. ABC.net.au - upi.com

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The annulled St Emilion classification revisited – Now you see it. Now you don’t.

>> Friday, December 14, 2007

050527-204-0442Saint Emilion reviewed its classification in 2006, according to the principle of a revision every 10 years. Shortly after a court order annulled the classification judging that the process to arrive at the new classification had not been fair. Four chateaux that had been declassified complained that the panel making the classification was partial (including some of the owners of classified properties), to which the court (“Tribunal Administratif”) agreed. The matter then went to another court (“Conseil d’Etat”) that has now said that the classification should not be annulled considering its importance for St Emilion and that the region should not be left without any classification at all… http://www.bkwine.com/images/vote-2.gifWe are waiting for the next episode in this thrilling court battle. Vitisphere.com - Decanter.com

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New Zealand wine refused due to high copper levels

>> Tuesday, December 11, 2007

http://www.bkwine.com/images/vote-2.gif A German wine importer has refused delivery of a shipment of wine from New Zealand, from the Te Karianga winery. The wine contained 3.6 ppm (parts per million) of copper whereas the limit within the EU is 1 ppm. 4000 cases were returned to the producer. The returned wine will, it is said, instead be sold in New Zealand. Wine is not routinely checked for copper in New Zealand. According to FoodWeek.com the CEO of Te Kairanga, Ian Frame says to NZ Herald that he is not worried, since the wine were not going to be sold under the Te Karianga name. The Chief Executive of New Zealand Wines (a producer organisation), Philip Gregan, is not worried either: since Germany is a "stickler for technical points […] They are just very pedantic about rules and regulations […] If there's an issue that comes out of a customer in Germany, it never surprises me." FoodWeek.com (Copper is sometimes added to wine to remove unwanted smells caused by the use of sulphur in wine production.) NZHerald.co.nz

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BKWine Pick: Domaine la Monardière, Vacqueyras, Rhone

>> Monday, December 10, 2007

Domaine la Monardière, Vacqueyras, Rhone

am13-304-0402The owner, Christian Vache, is an enthusiastic vigneron passionate about making the best wines from his terroir and from his vineyards. The property covers 20 hectares and has been extensively replanted and renovated since Christian and his wife took over this family domaine in 1987. Excellent quality wines with a lot of typicity from Vacqueyras.

http://www.bkwine.com/images/vote-2.gifClick here for address and more recommendations.

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Just out: BKWine Brief nr 53, December 2007

>> Friday, December 07, 2007

Thank you.

The end of the year is approaching so I wanted to take the occasion to say a big thank you!

http://www.bkwine.com/images/vote-2.gifThank you – to all readers and visitor on the site! We now have 16,000 subscribers to the BKWine Brief and more than 30,000 “unique” visitors per month on the site. And thank you for letting other know about the newsletter and the site so even more read it!

Thank you – to all participants on our tours. This year we’ve done almost 25 wine tours, taking some 400 people around the wine regions – today probably one of the leading organisers of wine and gastronomy travel. Today we do tours in several different languages: English, Swedish, Finnish and others on request. We have travellers coming from a bit all over the world, even if the majority still come from Scandinavia. We have both scheduled tours on our “public” program as well as a lot of custom made tours. And the best of all, I think, is that many of the customers we have become “addicted” and come back on new tours!

Thank you – to all of the people I work and collaborate with and who make it possible to develop the business: Kay, Martin, Asa, Peter, Astrid, Esther, Graham, Hasse, Tommy, Helen, David, Gabriela, Marianne,… and no doubt some that I have forgotten to include on the list. Some of you contribute by being in charge of tour management on some trips, others contribute with marketing or contents or other things. And thank you too to Per, my husband, the other “half” of BKWine.

I hope that you are all as happy with 2007 as I am and look forward to next year!

Projects 2008

And next year will be exciting. There are lots of project on the table. First of all I will be making even more wine tours, both scheduled and custom tours – let me know if you are interested!

And here are some other projects in the pipeline:

-- More tours in English – we want to do even more English language wine and gastronomy tours. To be honest, it is a market that it takes quite some effort to get into but I believe we have a high quality product that could find many customers – in the UK, in the US or from any other country where people speak English. Perhaps you know someone who would be interested?

-- New website – Well, this is a long term project perhaps… I know that the site is very “old” (designed more than 5 years ago!) and not very user-friendly. We want to change that and make it easier to use, easier to find information, easier to manage, make it possible for you to contribute,… But it’s a big project and we’re not yet sure how to go about it. Perhaps you do?

-- More custom made travel – We want to develop the activity with specially designed tours, exactly according to your requirement. This can be for a private wine club, a company get-together, an incentive event, customer conferences, specifically educational tours and events (e.g. for wine professionals and restaurateurs and also for “amateurs”) and much more. Let me know if you are interested.

-- BKWine TV?! Everyone has to try video these days so we’ve started recording interviews with wine personalities and visits to vineyards. We already have ten hours of recordings so the big question is when we’ll get the time to edit it and put it online. But we will publish more wine video clips over next year (we already have a YouTube channel). Perhaps we can find a video “stagiaire” to help…

-- More wine writing – We just did our first book and it is itching to make a second. We have several new ideas! But we also want to publish more articles in magazines. We already contribute to several Scandinavian wine, food and lifestyle magazines and to some English language publications, but we’d love to do more. So, calling all editors out there – we’ll be happy to work with you!

-- More photography – we have a substantial backlog with wine pictures waiting to be processed. We visit some 200 wineries each year so we produce quite a few thousand pictures. Per says he wants a photo assistant as Christmas gift. I’m not so sure…

-- and much more.

And then we’ll take a day vacation over Christmas perhaps.

Christmas Gifts

Talking about Christmas – here are some suggestions for Christmas gifts: The best gift of all is of course a wine tour to someone you like (or to yourself). We can make you a specially designed gift card and let us know if you will be celebrating something special when you arrive (wedding, birthday….). We’ll organise something special on site.

Take a look at our Truffles, Foie Gras and Wine tour in February and our “Three Classics” to Champagne, Chablis and Burgundy in June!

Another gift idea is one of the wine books we write about in the book review section in this Brief: Portugal, Tokaj, or even the whole world. Or take a look on our book page on the site for more reviews.

Or you could get the USBWine computer accessory that lets you download a selection of wine to a USB device.

Happy reading with this month’s BKWine Brief.

Britt

PS: Read more in the full BKWine Brief newsletter

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Sweet white wines from Bordeaux – not just Sauternes

>> Monday, December 03, 2007

040331-1-k3-0016“Vins d’Or de Bordeaux” (Golden Wines from Bordeaux) is a theme under which Bordeaux wants to publicise the sweet wines from the region, and perhaps in particular some of the lesser known appellations. Sweet whites are produced on 4068 hectares, which represents only 2% of the total area of Bordeaux. The appellations included in Vins d’Or are:

http://www.bkwine.com/images/vote-2.gif - Bordeaux Supérieur
- Côtes de Bordeaux Saint-Macaire
- Graves Supérieur
- Premières Côtes de Bordeaux
- Sainte-Foy Bordeaux
- Cadillac
- Cérons
- Loupiac
- Sainte-Croix-du-Mont, and of course
- Barsac and
- Sauternes

... all well worth tasting.

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Bordeaux builds new wine research centre

>> Sunday, December 02, 2007

http://www.bkwine.com/images/vote-2.gifL’Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin (ISVV) is the French name for the new research centre that is being constructed in the Bordeaux area. It will bring together research activities that has previously been spread out in several different locations. They will have 200 researchers and technicians – possibly the biggest wine research centre in the world. The scientific focus for the centre will be on three themes: oenology, physiology and polyphenols & health, but it will also have a broader vocation including collaborations in the area of social sciences, economics and marketing. www.isvv.fr

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Argentina’s exports

>> Saturday, December 01, 2007

ah25-247-4740The major markets for Argentinean wines:
1. USA
2. UK
3. Brazil
4. Canada
5. Holland
6. Denmark
...
11. Finland
12. Sweden

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Port wine

http://www.bkwine.com/images/vote-2.gifChristmas as getting worryingly close and it is perhaps time to bring out one of those old bottles of port you have in the cellar and crack it open to the stilton cheese or the walnuts. The port district exports 80 million bottles every year. These are the biggest markets:

1. France (2.9 million 9-litre cases)
2. Holland (1.6)
3. Belgium (1.3)
4. Great Britain (1.1)
5. USA (0.5)
6. Germany (0.3)
7. Canada (0.24)
8. Spain (0.15)
9. Denmark (0.15)
10. Brazil (0.1)

(Source IVDP)

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