New issue: Welcome to the BKWine Brief nr 86, September 2010

This will probably be a record short Brief. Not that it’s a record we’re aiming for. We hope you don’t mind too much. This is a rather busy period. Britt just returned from the Douro Valley in Portugal and Per from southern Italy (how much good food can they stuff you with down there?!). Tomorrow we’re off to Bordeaux and to Tuscany/Umbria respectively. And at this very moment Martin is in Catalonia and Priorat (which will be a challenge tomorrow when there’s a general strike in Spain). That’s the way it’s been since the beginning of September and will continue for another few weeks.

So this month’s Brief will be short. Please don’t hold it against us!

On the other hand, this gives us a good view of how the harvest is shaping up in the various regions. Generally it looks good but perhaps more variable than last year. In some places, the harvest will be smaller than usual. In Châteauneuf for example, where some vineyards were badly affected by coulure (partially failed flowering/fruit setting). A drop in 30% is expected (no, not in prices).

Read more in our preliminary harvest report further down in the Brief.

This time of the year is of course a wonderful time to go travelling in wine country. There are lots of things to see in the vineyards and in the wineries. You see plenty of ripe fruit (unless they’ve already harvested). On the other hand, wine touring is the spring is really wonderful. (Actually, we’d like more people to discover the spring season for wine tours!) The vines have beautiful young shoots in bright green. Temperatures are rising. Winemakers have plenty of time to talk and to taste wines with visitors, time that they often don’t have in harvest time. So here’s to spring season wine touring!

That’s all for this time. Time to pack the bags!

Britt & Per

PS: Did you see in the last issue of the Brief that Travel & Leisure, the world’s biggest travel magazine, listed BKWine as “world’s best wine tours? In this issue of the Brief you can read about Frommer’s, a giant in travel publishing, who also talks about BKWine! Read more further down.

PS 2: Recommend to your friends to read the Brief or forward it to them !

Read the entire new issue of the BKWine Brief here!


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