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New wine department at Galleries Lafayette with focus on Bordeaux

>> Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Galleries Lafayette, the big department store in Paris, has just opened a new wine department. It is entirely dedicated to wines from Bordeaux and looks as if it will have a very big selection of bottles (judging from the photos). If the focus will be exclusively on the big & famous or if they also will feature some of the many less exalted names that make very affordable and excellent Bordeaux remains to be seen. We have not been there yet. Have you?

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BKWine on MTV3 in Finland

We were glad to discover that BKWine was recently featured in an article in the Finnish MTV3 on wine and food travel to France. Our Finnish partner, VirpiSorvisto is interviewed in the article and if you look really hard you can find Britt on one of the photos. The article www.mtv3.fi or translated to English.

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Spanish wine sales fall – crisis support for 50 M€ proposed

Export of Spanish wines fell with 13.5% in 2009, measured in value. In volume it fell with “only” 9.7%. In other words, not only are people drinking less and less of it, but they are also paying lower prices. Worst hit are the sparkling wines, which fell with 30%. This morose situation has led to several organisations suggesting to the agricultural minister that a program of crisis distillation should be started, in other words, that the wines that don’t find a buyer should instead be distilled and the producer thus paid by the government. (Wouldn’t it be nice to have that system also in other industries than agriculture – if you can’t sell your products the government steps in and pays for it.) The agricultural organisation Asja has not been positive to the idea though, since it is estimated to cost some € 50 million. Read more www.ansamed.info

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Åsa’s Wine of the Month: Biancone, Renzo Marinai

>> Tuesday, March 30, 2010

My friend was so overwhelmed when she tasted Ronzo Marinai’s chardonnay that she decided to rename her cat Renzo, in homage to the winemaker. After having tasted the wine I think I might do the same thing, that is if I had a nameless cat. Biancone is made exclusively from chardonnay grown in the heart of the Chianti Classio zone, not far from the small town Panzano in Chianti. It has an alcohol level of 13% but it tastes dangerously light. It is actually very elegant, with aromas of vanilla and the typical, slightly buttery and nutty flavour that you get in some chardonnays. My recommendation is to make a hearty fish soup to go with the wine. Serve it at ten to twelve degrees, not colder. PS: If Renzo (the winemaker, not the cat) was flattered by having a cat named after him is yet to discover. www.renzomarinai.it Around 15 euro.

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BKWine Pick: Marie Edith, Paris 15

Not far from métro Cambronne in the 15th in Paris you find this popular Parisian restaurant on a side street. They have a very affordable 29 euro menu (three courses, or two for 26€) that will give you a very traditional French meal. If you have that kind of preferences you can get andouillette (grilled sausage from intestines), rognons de veau (veal kidney), or veal liver. They also serve various grilled fish (e.g. a delicious filet de bar grillé) and meat (e.g. an excellent and juicy grilled bavette). To start with you can try the terrines, or the original ravioles de Royan (quite different from Italian ravioli) in a cream and garlic sauce, or a salad with crayfish (with a small supplement, as several other dishes have too). To finish you can have my favourite, oeuf à la neige façon Marie Edith, poached whipped egg-white in vanilla and caramel sauce, divine. The wine list is short and traditional. A modestly priced wine is e.g. JL Colombo’s Côtes du Rhône (red or white – 26€). All is very old-fashioned French, almost as if you were in the country side. It is often fully-booked, so call ahead.
Click here for address and more recommendations.

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BKWine TV: Domaine Sainte Croix on BKWine TV

>> Thursday, March 11, 2010

It’s been a bit quiet on the video front recently here at BKWine. Too much stuff to do… But now we’ve just published a new video on BKWine TV: An interview with Jon Bowen who makes wine together with his wife at Domaine Sainte Croix in the Languedoc (Hautes Corbieres). We met Jon & Elizabeth for the first time at Vinisud recently (apparently, Jon reads the Brief and he had sent us an email suggesting that we come and taste their wines Which we did. Marketing works!). So we did a short video with Jon (with our new technology). Perhaps we should also mention that they make excellent wine. Watch the video interview with Jon Bowen at Domaine Sainte Croix on BKWine TV.

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BKWine Pick: Domaine des Terres Georges, Minervois

Domaine des Terres Georges, Minervois

Three years ago we discovered this winery when we were researching our book on the Languedoc wines. We asked one of the producers we met if he had any personal recommendations and that’s how we got their name! And when we recently re-tasted their wines we can only conclude that their search for perfection continues and makes progress. The wines are exceptionally well made and very delicious. Roland and Anne-Marie Coustal have 12 ha in the southern part of Minervois. Their first vintage was 2001, after taking over Anne-Marie’s family’s vineyards. They still do all the work themselves, except for the harvest. A new cuvée is the Et Cetera. ”It’s our entry level wine and it’s very successful”, says Anne-Marie, ”many wine shops buys this one first and then they discover our other wines”. It is made from 60% carignan and 35% grenache and is very drinkable, unoaked with good fruit and structure and a bit of the typical Languedoc herbs and spices (5.50 euro). Very good is the Racines 2007 from 100% carignan, lots of character fruit, elegance – a genuine Languedoc. Exceptional value for money at 9.75 euro. Quintessens 2007 is a 100% syrah, dense structure, long and good complexity on the palate. The varietal character does not dominate; the wine is still very much from the Languedoc.
Click here for address and more recommendations.

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BKWine Pick: Domaine de Pialentou, Gaillac

Domaine de Pialentou, Gaillac

Domaine de Pialentou is a family owned property in the appellation Gaillac in the French South-West, near Toulouse. It is beautifully situated in the small village of Brens by the river Tarn. The Gervais family started to convert it to organic farming in 2007 and this year (2010) they will get their certificate. Now they have grass growing between the vines, making for less compact soil and natural fertiliser. They have planted hedges to attract “good” insects. They have 12.5 ha and make several different cuvees. They use several local and not very well known grape varieties, as is often the case in this region. And they even have a Swedish connection: the mother of Agnès Gervais, who runs it today, is Swedish. A favourite of ours is the white Mauzac Blanc Sec, made from the local grape of the same name. Very good, appely with individuality. Unfortunately only made in small quantities. Some of their reds can be a bit rustic, worth looking for is e.g. the Nuance de Cocagne, a syrah wine with spice, mixed with the local braucol and duras grapes. Or Les Gentilles Pierres where braucol gives a lot of fruit and merlot gives roundness, and cabernet sauvignon gives structure, with some spice added with the syrah. Gaillac is a little known district that is certainly worth discovering.
Click here for address and more recommendations.

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Chile earthquake report #2: Colchagua badly hit

>> Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Many areas in Chile were very badly hit by the quake. New reports say e.g. that one of Chile’s biggest cities, Concepcion, was moved three meters to the east by the earthquake. Colchagua is one of the wine regions that were badly hit by the quake. Here is a report we’ve had from Andrea Ilabaca at MontGras Properties (www.montgras.cl):

“As you have seen, the earthquake that we lived through last Saturday, February 27th is one of the strongest in the world’s history. It’s said to be about 500 times stronger than the one that Haiti suffered in January.

Now, as we wait for Mother Earth to re-accommodate herself, we are living with the replicas; dozens of quakes a day, some even up to 6.5º on the Richter scale.

Colchagua was hit hard… and is on the ground. Till today there is still no electricity or running water.

Hundreds of Santa Cruz’s houses and buildings destroyed, on the ground.
The Santa Cruz Cathedral lost one of its towers and suffered major damages.
The losses and damages that our wineries suffered are great.



New bottles lost; Barrels down like bowling pins; Stainless steel tanks down; Santiago offices in a mess; Loss of wine; Thousands of bottles with and without wine lost; Fallen tanks near bottling line; Tanks laid down to rest.
…. BUT OUR DRIVE IS EVEN GREATER.




Fallen tanks immediately removed; Everything was taken out of the winery; Damaged bins, removed; Workers preparing orders; Everything was replaced and re stacked; All equipments cleaned and checked; Wine shop restacked and cleaned; Bin room restacked; Damaged bins and pallets removed; Service patios cleaned; Barrel chai restacked; Service patio cleaned, additional generators rented.




Each bin checked; Team work in re-establishing safety and order; Tanks checked to be able to receive 2010 vintage; Immediate removal of damaged tanks; Label supply room in order; Excellent morale of our workers.



The work carried out last week, since the day of the earthquake has been tremendous. The commitment and high spirit of our workers, despite the losses they may have suffered, is truly admirable.

Our Santiago office, Visitors Centre and our wineries are fine and operative. We shipped 3 containers last Wednesday. We are harvesting normally since last Thursday and tomorrow, we start our normal bottling process.

Fruit reception since last Thursday; Harvest, fruit selection and vinification underway!



Initially, we were pessimistic about the amount of the losses. Only for your information, we now estimate them to be around US$ 3 million, although we hope to have an exact figure this week and gratefully, we do have insurance coverage.

We are standing strong! But our country and region have been very affected. For us to recover quickly, please remember:

The best way to help CHILE is by preferring our products.

The best way to help MontGras Properties, is by paying all invoices soon to expire and with anticipated payments of placed orders.

The best way to help the workers and neighbours of the Colchagua Valley, is to send your donation via wire transfer to the Corpbanca account, or cheque to our corporate office. With this money, we can start building homes in the piece of land we have donated to our workers.

Don’t forget us, we do need your help!

The entire MontGras Properties Team”

The text refers to donations to Corpbanca. We don’t have any details of that activity, other than that it has been put in place to help raise money for workers and neighbours in the Colchagua Valley. If you would like to make donations we suggest you contact MontGras to get the details: www.montgras.cl. Andrea ends with a note that they are among the fortunate: “Luckily, we faired quite well under the circumstances, as other neighbouring wineries lost everything and suffered greater damages. But our greatest asset by far, is our people. They truly make the difference!” (Photos provided by MontGras Properties)

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Chile earthquake report #1: things are slowly getting back to “normal”

This is information on the situation in Chilean vineyards from Helen Albano of Brandabout SA, www.brandabout.cl, a marketing and promotion organization for Chilean wines:

“Last week was a very eventful week in which information surrounding the real situation in the effected regions and the vineyards was both difficult to get hold of and understand the implications for the next few months. Towards the end of the week however and today, the picture has become much clearer and I would like to share this information with you.

Please remember that the worst affected areas are the coastal areas immediate around Conception which were badly damaged by the earthquake and tsunami. These are the principal areas which are shown on television, showing complete devastation and they are not the areas in which the vineyards are located.

We have now been in touch with approx. 90% of our client vineyards in Chile. Almost all of them have experienced some losses to their infrastructure in their bodega, a minimal loss of wine and in a few cases also suffered structural damage to their commercial offices in Santiago.[...]

In Santiago, business has now resumed and is operating normally. The road networks are good and there are no visible effects of the earthquake except in very isolated areas – mainly the older parts of Santiago. All communications channels are now working and we have good internet, mobile and fixed line telephone connections. All the shops have resumed business and restaurants have re-opened.

The main highways to the North (Ruta 5) and to the coast (Ruta 68, Ruta 78) are completely open and not affected by the earthquake. To the south of Santiago, the main highway (Ruta 5) is open but suffered some damages. Journeys south now take longer than expected with some diversions in places. With the high amount of government and military aid traffic on this road, it is expected that the main communication channels will be repaired very quickly.

Vineyard areas:
-- Elqui, Limari – ok, not affected
-- Aconcagua – very limited damage in some vineyards
-- Casablanca – ok (no reports so far)
-- San Antonio – ok, (no reports so far)
-- Maipo – very limited damage in some vineyards
-- Cachapoal – affected in some areas
-- Colchagua – affected
-- Curico – affected
-- Maule – affected
-- Bio Bio – no report so far

All of the vineyards are now accessible and we are looking forward to business resuming with them in April. [...]”

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Welcome to the BKWine Brief nr 80, march 2010

New issue of the BKWine Brief out. Here's the intro:


It has been an eventful few weeks lately. Most dramatic, and tragic, is the earth quake in Chile. It has cased much damage in the wine districts even if it may be less catastrophic in most wine regions than what was initially feared. In this Brief we have two reports from Chile, written by people in Chile. One gives an overview with at least a few positive notes, the other is more personal and talks about more damage. Read them below. In May BKWine expects to go to Chile and we will come back with more info then.

We have been in the south of France recently, in Montpellier, at France’s second biggest wine fair, Vinisud. As always, a very interesting show where we met old acquaintances and made some new friends. You will find a short summary below and we you will be reading more about those wines and winemakers in coming Briefs.

We will soon be leaving for South Africa. Tomorrow, actually. South Africa has seen a tremendous success over the last few years. It has for some time been the biggest supplier of wine to Sweden and has just recently overtaken France on the UK market. In Sweden the success is no doubt partially due to that the South Africans happily sell their wines in bag-in-box. 60% of all wine in Sweden is sold in BiB (mainly) and other non-bottle containers. Secondly, in Sweden there is one big buyer (the monopoly) and in the UK the big supermarket chains are taking a bigger and bigger portion of the wine sales. For a big (or very big) buyer it is often easier to buy from big suppliers, such as you find in South Africa, but have a hard time finding in France or Spain. That’s some structural reasons for the success. But more important is probably the fact that there is much good and excellent wine produced in South Africa. And we are very excited to go there to discover it on site!

So, let’s go pack the bags!

Britt & Per

PS: Recommend to your friends to read the Brief or forward it to them ! More on wine:
Guest writers on BKWine.com
Wine videos: BKWine TV
Wine photography



Read the full Brief here (or get a subscription!): BKWine Brief.

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Prizes to wine bloggers

>> Tuesday, March 09, 2010

The wine show Salon des Vins de la Loire gives since a few years (or is this the first time?) prizes to the best wine blogs. It is French speaking wine blogs (albeit not purely French blogs as the prize list will show) but it can be interesting to look at as inspiration even if you are not very francophone. Here are the winners:

- The internet surfers' prize and prize for best design: Aurélia Filion, http://busurleweb.com./. We’ve previously written about Bu sur le Web in the Brief (it’s her with the entertaining videos and wonderful “accent”). It is also worth noting that the best design is very, very minimalist. Well chosen!

- Best writer: Hervé Lalu, http://hlalau.skynetblogs.be/

- Best interactivity: Emmanuel Delmas, http://www.sommelier-vins.com/

- Special Loire prize: Jacques Berthomeau, http://www.berthomeau.com/

- Best blog: Anne-Laurence Chadronnier, http://rougeblancbulles.blogspot.com/

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BKWine TV: [E] Jon Bowen at Domaine Sainte Croix

>> Monday, March 08, 2010



http://www.bkwine.com/wine_tours/wine_tours.htm --- Jon and Elizabeth Bowen make wine at the Domaine Sainte Croix in the Languedoc region in the south of France. They are in the sub-region called Corbieres (or Haut Corbieres), not very far from Spain. Theyre near Narbonne and Perpignan. They started out six years to produce vins de terroir, coming from the UK. They became convinced that there is a great potential in the wines from this region after having worked for other wineries as winemakers for some time.

They make a very interesting white wine, called La Serre, made from grenache blanc and grenache gris. It is a very elegant and mineral wine that expresses the character in the soil. Their main production is red though with the cuvees Le Fournas, their entry level wine, Magneric, Carignan, and Celestra. All wines are made from blends of carignan and grenache grapes. They also have some syrah and mourvedre and a few other grape varieties planted. Yes, they make a wine called Carignan that is a grape variety that is mostly known for uninteresting volume wines, but here at Domaine Sainte Croix it makes dense, character-full wines.

They are also in the process of becoming certified organic. This is one way Jon and Elizabeth Bowen try and express the full character of the soil and the vineyards in the Hautes Corbieres  and part of the belief that "fine wine is made in the vineyard". Another aspect is that they use wild yeast. All those things contribute to the stringency and elegance of their wines.

More on Domaine Sainte Croix: http://www.saintecroixvins.com

Music: DovEporTar, Il sigaro a metà, http://www.jamendo.com

By BKWine, http://www.bkwine.com. Interviewer: Per Karlsson, BKWine. © Copyright BKWine, Per Karlsson.

See all our wine videos on our BKWine TV channel: http://www.youtube.com/bkwine

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Not fun in Champagne

As expected 2009 was a difficult year for Champagne – the wine district that otherwise over recent time has suffered very little (none, to be precise) of the hardship that most wine regions have seen. Sales were down with “only” 9%. Some earlier predictions pointed in the direction of -25% or more but that was avoided. In total 293 million bottles shipped. The French market remained stable compared to 2008 and since it represents more than 60% of total sales it certainly dampened the down turn. Where the Champenois lost most ground in Europe was in the UK, Italy and in Spain. The total for Europe fell with 17%. For the “rest of the world” the fall was 25%. These numbers are in volume. If counted in value the fall was more: -17% world-wide, since prices have been falling and the expensive luxury cuvees have been difficult to sell (perhaps an opportunity to by the Clos d’Ambonnay on the cheap – ”hey, buddy, only $2000 for a bottle”?). All this will have effect of course: Vitisphere.com reports that e.g. Piper-Heidsieck is letting go of a quarter of its employees (they’ve lost 42% of the revenues). CIVC, the producer organisation, is less gloomy: they think 2010 might be better since their estimates are that global consumption was much higher than shipments from Champagne. In other words, stocks down the distribution chain are being depleted. Well, we’ll have to see in a year’s time. Vitisphere.com

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Today’s scoop

>> Sunday, March 07, 2010

We read in The Guardian a long (it feels) article about a wine expert called Tim Hanni who, according to what the Guardian says, recommends that wine consumers should ignore what the wine critics say and drink what they like themselves… And where is the news item? Read more about this revolutionizing opinion: www.guardian.co.uk

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A big (BIG) wine bottle

>> Saturday, March 06, 2010

But we don’t mean just big, we mean REALLY, REALLY BIG. Want Wines in Liaoning in China has produced a bottle containing 1,850 litres of wine. It measures 5 meter in height. 'We are very proud, and the wine is very good. We have all had a glass from the bottle to celebrate,' said a company spokesman according to Metro.co.uk. Well, it would hardly make any difference if the pilfered a bit of that wine before putting in the cork. Read more and see it on picture here: www.metro.co.uk

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Don’t put monkeys in the microwave oven

It may sound obvious. But in Sweden there is a bag-in-box wine called Three Monkeys, and it might not be wise to do even with that. Some bright and investigative mind decided to test what happens if you but a BiB in the microwave oven. (Perhaps his theory was that it might improve?) Ahead he went. Even better: he filmed it all and put it on YouTube. The effect of microwaving a bag-in-box wine is, to say the least, spectacular! Watch the video on YouTube. The question is: is it true or is it fake? What do you think?

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Catastrophe relief organisations refuse donations from wine importers

In the newsletter WoW News we read that several catastrophe relief organisations in Sweden have refused or returned donations from wine importers who have wanted to support the work in Haiti. SOS Children’s Villages is one of the (heartless?) organisations. “We don’t accept money from companies who works with guns, pornography, tobacco or alcohol”, says Pia Watkinson, spokesperson at SOS Children’s Villages. One wine importer, Arvid Nordquist, wanted to donate 120,000 kr to the work on Haiti but was refused. Other organisations in Sweden who refuse donations from wine importers are Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children, and Amnesty International. A depressing standpoint and reflecting an odd view of the world and priorities. We can only suggest that you think twice to which organisations you choose to donate in the future.

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How to turn water (?) into wine; or how to turn 67 million bottles into 160 million

Perhaps they hoped no one would notice (although it is rather ‘bulky’). It appears that Sieur d’Arques in Limoux in the south of France has sold 160 million bottles of pinot noir to E&J Gallo to go into their very popular brand Red Bicyclette. The problem is that, according to official statistics, there are only 67 million bottles produced in the region. So a hawk eyed (was that really needed) inspector started to ask questions. (Apparently, Gallo had not thought much about the odd situation.) Today, both French and American customs and regulation authorities are very interested in the matter. Both fines and jail sentences seem to be in line. Tom Fiorina at The Wine Route tells the story both amusingly and in detail on his blog: ”Red Bicyclette scandal: there’s un pigeon born every day” (and don’t miss the illustration!)

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Cork dogs to fight TCA?

>> Friday, March 05, 2010

Corked wines is still a problem. It is often the fault of the foul smelling chemical TCA. Even if the situation seems to have improved over recent years (fewer corked wines) it’s still a problem. A reader of the Brief suggested that one could teach dogs to identify TCA and find bad corks before they find their way into a bottle. Dogs can find both narcotics and truffles so why not TCA? Yes, why not? So we posed the question to Carlos de Jesus, marketing director of Amorim, the world’s biggest cork producer. It turns out that our reader was not the first to have the dog idea. The answer is that, yes, one could probably train dogs to find TCA. But it would have two drawbacks: First, there are quite a few corks made (billions each year) so you would need to have very fast dogs or very many dogs. But perhaps more importantly, various health and safety or food control administrations might not see in a favourable light dogs poring over food closures (envision a sniffing and slobbering hound…). That’s why they are likely to stick to the expensive gas-chromatographers and mass spectrometers they already have invested in.

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New Zealand wine producers regroup to raise prices

A new grouping of New Zealand wine producers has been created to promote quality wines from the island country. It is called The Specialist Winegrowers of New Zealand (TSWNZ!). In the first instance they focus on promoting the best varietal wines, that they see as the strength of NZ but also grape blends are admitted in the group. The initial members are Destiny Bay Wines, No1 Family Estate, Vinoptima, The Hay Paddock och Wooing Tree Vineyard. One of their aims is not only to promote quality wines but also to raise the prices of the wines (perhaps an odd thing to promote in a press release?). One should probably see that against the backdrop of the looming storm cloud of over-production and thus falling prices that is much talked about in NZ today. Unfortunately we’ve not had the opportunity to taste their wins. http://tswnz.com/

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Another bright bottle idea?

>> Thursday, March 04, 2010

Dom Pérignon, the luxury champagne brand made by Moët & Chandon, i.e. the luxury products group LVMH, has launched a special packaging of the Dom Pérignon bottle for night clubs. It is called “lightskin” and for a reason. It is a tight fitting plastic cover that glows in the dark (maybe so that you can find the bottle in the dark corner of the club?). The glow emanates from light diodes embedded in the base of the “skin”. The packaging is not for sale in retail. The champagne is the same as in bottles without the green skin. On the other hand, it is probably of no real importance what’s inside the glass body in this case. A clear (shining?) win for form over contents… www.clairethirion.com

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Valle d’Aosta – valley wines to discover

Most people would think of ham and of skiing rather than wine. But they do make wine in Valle d’Aosta. As a matter of fact, all 20 Italian regions produce wine. But the quantity is not large; only 2 million bottles are produced per year. But the quality is high, from what we could judge from a tasting in Paris. So if you go there, make sure to dive into the local wines. 60% of the production is white, some of it sparkling of excellent quality. The grapes are often local varieties, almost unheard of elsewhere. For example fumin, petit rouge and prié blanc. But they also do some excellent dry pinot gris, sweet moscato and red syrah wines.

This is Italy’s smallest region and it is almost exclusively mountain country. The vineyards are at the foot of Mont Blanc, the mountain the Italians share with France. The slopes are steep and difficult to work, sometimes with terraces. This is indeed high altitude wine growing: up to 1300 m above sea level. Modern wine production is a quite recent phenomena and they had their first DOC in 1991. Therefore the vines are often young which, according to the Italian sommelier Moreno Rossin, gives wine with a fresh fruit, often suitable to drink young.

The red fumin was an interesting acquaintance to make. It’s one of those rare grapes that have coloured grape pulp (a ‘tinturier’ in French) and it makes a wine with an intense fruity cassis flavour. You could try the Fumni 2007 from L’Atouéyo de Saraillon Fernanda, a DOC Valle d’Aosta. An excellent sparkling wine is the one made from prié blanc grapes from La Cave du Vin Blanc de Morgex et de la Salle (certainly a mouthful of a name). Aromatic with lots of pears (poire william) and a fine mousse and smooth taste. More info http://www.regione.vda.it

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American wine tasting in Paris

This spring (hopefully spring by then!) we will also see a very interesting wine tasting take place in Paris. This time the focus will be on Zinfandel from all over the United States. 92 wineries and over 200 wines will be on show. The tasting will take place at the residence of the ambassador on March 24. Only for trade and media. For more info, contact Marie-Claire Fauveau: tel 06 12 49 85 93- mcfauveau-arrobas-wanadoo-point-fr

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The world’s lightest bottle

>> Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Tesco, the big English supermarket chain, has launched what is said to be the world’s lightest glass wine bottle, weighing only 300 grams. A normal bottle weighs in at around 450 g. A champagne bottle is around 850 g and some show-off cuvée of body building wines (assuming body building drinkers) have bottles that weigh more than 1 kg! More on the feather-weight bottle on Jamie Goode’s blog.

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Jeanjean and Laroche becomes Advini

Some time ago we wrote that Laroche, the big wine producer based in Chablis, created by Michel Laroche, has been bought by the even bigger producer Jeanjean based in Languedoc, and that the merged company will get a new name. The new name has now finally been revealed: Advini. Jeanjean is perhaps not a familiar name for many readers but the group includes, in addition to Laroche, names such as Ogier, Rigal, Gassier, Cazes, and Antoine Moueix.

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More on Worcester Sauce

We’ve been writing about the wine blog called Worcester Sauce, written by Stuart George, since some time now. The big question has been, why is it called The Worcester Sauce Blog? The latest suggestion is that “Nobody knows what on earth goes into this stuff”. May we add that this suggestion comes from a fellow (unnamed) wine writer… http://worcestersauce.wordpress.com/

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BKWine in the press

We’ve had quite a good month, as far as press coverage goes. Dagens Industri (“the FT of Sweden”) featured BKWine in a half-page article, thanks to the tasting we’re doing at Vinisud. The Helsingborgs Dagblad (the local in Helsingborg, Britt’s birth city) had a one column text on Britt at the occasion of our book presentation in the city. And on VinVin.se, the wine site of Allt om Mat (Sweden’s biggest food magazine) and Expressen (one of the biggest dailies), there was one article on our 10 Predictions for Wine in 2010, as well as an article and a review of our new book A Wine is Born. We’re quite happy with that!

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More forecasts for wine in 2010

>> Monday, March 01, 2010

John Mariani has, just like we did in the last issue of the Brief, made predictions of what will happen in 2010 in the wine world. Here’s what he thinks:

1. Prices will continue to fall
2. More and more people will buy wine online
3. Wine blogging will continue to grow, albeit not always with credible contents
4. California misses the chance to make wines that are more elegant and subtle and continues to make alcohol and fruit bombs
5. The flood of new wines from South America and Eastern Europe may recede, unless they keep their prices down
6. New Zeeland hits problems due to over-production
7. Champagne sees continued problems too: too many too expensive wines and increasing competition from sparkling alternatives
8. Hard times for luxury restaurants and more focus on good-value wines (rather that luxury) wines in restaurants
9. More and more producers adopt the screw cap
10. Americans buy more wine under $10, the Chinese also consumes lots of inexpensive wines

Read more on www.bloomberg.com

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European Wine Bloggers Conference 2010 in Austria!

Now it’s official. The 2010 European Wine Bloggers Conference (#EWBC) will take place in Vienna in Austria on October 22-24. It is an occasion for all wine bloggers to meet, as well as for everyone else who are just interested in the blogging phenomena, or just interested in wine and the internet (and I am sure there will be lots of talk on social networking this year). A definite “recommend”. More info on the EWBC here: http://winebloggersconference.org/europe/

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Excursion in the country of fire in Provence 29 & 30 May

Terroir de Pierrefeu (the country of the stones on fire?) is an area in western Provence not far from the big city of Toulon. For the second time they will organise a “balade gourmande”, or gastronomic excursion to the vineyards and the countryside, a trip that will be accompanied by delicacies prepared by four different restaurants and no doubt a few nice wines too. More info http://www.terroir-pierrefeu.fr

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