Château l’Evêché in Saint Emilion has made a tradition of having its label created by a fashion designer. The latest vintage (the 2003) has been drawn by agnès b. Not very traditional bordelaise in style but the clothes are a bit more striking. www.chateau-eveche.com (Foto: www.chateau-eveche.com)
BKWine will be offering a series of wine tastings in Paris this autumn for English speakers. The tastings will be on begginner's and intermediate level and will take place in a just-opened wine shop close to Les Halles. The first one will be a "Tour de France" with an overview of grape varieties and wine regions (October 24) and the second tasting will be on the theme of "Champagne and other sparkling wine" - just in time for the fêtes on December 5. More info here
BKWine, who is one of Scandinavias most active organisers of wine tours, now launches a selection of tours in English to French wine regions. The BKWine tours will be in the format of "a long week-end", starting on Thursday evening and ending on Sunday. Each tour will include several visits to a selection of the most interesting wine producers in the region. The first two tours will be "Two Classics: Champagne and Chablis" in May 2006, and "Cote d'Or - The Heart of Burgundy" in June 2006. More info here.
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The EU allocated a special budget for distilling excess wine: the wine producers had to apply to have their wines distilled and would then be paid for the wine. In France the applications have by far not reached the required volumes (a third of the volume is missing). In Spain, on the other hand, there has been so much applications so the volume has exceeded the quota with a quarter. (Photo: a mobile distillation unit in Champagne.)
Journée Vinicole writes that the Norwegian ministry of Justice wondered if the articles written on wine in the Norwegian press should be considered as advertisements. They asked the Ministry of Health for an opinion, also concerning if photos of wine bottles should be forbidden, but the response was that they saw no reason to change current legislation
Read more...For more restaurant recommendations and for the addresses - visit our restaurant page on the site:
Restaurants Wine Shops Books
This beautiful hôtel particulier has been transformed into a trendy restaurant without losing its noble character. The walls have been painted in a warm burgundy red colour which goes very well with the very special lamps. Exciting food and a good wine list where, of course, the Rhône Valley is dominant. Set menu from 22 € and main courses from 14 €.
Read more...A tiny restaurant with amusing and colourful details and a very ambitious cuisine. The speciality of the house is ravioli (but there are other things as well) and as raviolis are a speciality from the Rhône Valley (you didn’t think they were Italian, did you?) the wine list offers only wine from this part of France. The food looks beautiful on the plate and tastes delicious. All entrées are 9 €, the main courses are 14 € and the desserts 7 €.
Read more... 
This big chateau in the northern part om Médoc belongs to the family Delon, who also owns the more famous Château Léoville-las-Cases i Saint-Julien and recently Château Nenin in Pomerol was acquired. Potensac is a 70 hectares estate situated just north of Saint-Estèphe and was one of the nine chateaux being classified as Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel in 2003. Right now there are a lot of renovations going on at Potensac. The wine is well structured in the classical Médoc-style and needs some ageing. The very good vintage 2001 is 18,17 euro at www.chateauonline.fr
Philippe Delarche has 9 hectares of vines in Côte de Beaune, and apart from Pernand-Vergelesses he also makes a little Corton and Corton-Charlemagne. His red wines are elegant and fruity, quite light but with a delicious Pinot Noir-aroma. Red Pernand-Vergelesses from 11 euro.
Resveratrol is a substance that can be found in wine and that is believed to be good for your health. Now there is a site dedicated to resveratrol: www.resveratrolnews.com
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According to our information (and as a confirmation of previous rumours) Vranken has bought Listel (owned mainly by Val d’Orbieu and the bank Credit Agricole). However, it is not the champagne house Vranken that buys (which, by the way is now called Vranken-Pommery) but the founder of the company, Paul Vranken, who buys Listel personally.
Take a look in the calendar at the bottom of the Brief. There you have the upcoming wine auctions at Sotheby’s in London and New York. The auction house also offers you other information on the site, such as a report on 2004 Bordeaux, articles about Yquem, Petrus and Ornellaia.
Read more...The famous Burgundy house Remoissenet was recently sold to an American investor called Edward Millstein for around 10 million euro. Millstein bought Remoissenet in collaboration with Louis Jadot who had a 20% stake.
Read more...Blaxta Vineyard just south of Stockholm was given a silver medal for its Vidal Ice Wine 2003 at Challange International du Vin at Vinexpo (www.challengeduvin.fr) recently. They are currently looking for an importer in France to try and sell this unusual wine here. Contact Göran Amnegård at Blaxta if you are interested! www.blaxstawine.com
Read more...Every once in a while you see an new internet shop that tries and sell wine. That it is not very easy to do that profitably is well illustrated by the story of American wine site Wine.com that we noted in the Brief a while back has just started a collaboration with Amazon.com. Read more about it on SFGate.com
Read more...In the last Brief we mentioned that Fine Expressions, a magazine on wine and rinks, has been launched in the UK. You can get a discounted subscription on Tom Cannavan's Wine Pages. (Tom also happens to be wine editor of the magazine.)
Read more...At the opening of Vinexpo the French minister of agriculture said ‘The French offer does not always win over new consumers, who sometimes prefer products that are easier to buy and consume, not to mention easier to appreciate.’ He also promised 7 million euro to support exports. Read more on e.g. Wine International
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Louis Roederer International Wine Writers’ Awards 2005 have been given in four different categories:
* Wine Writer of the Year 2005: John Stimpfig, articles in the FT ‘How to Spend It’
* International Wine Book of the Year 2005: John W. Haeger, North American Pinot Noir, published by University of California Press
* International Champagne Writer of the Year 2005: Richard Juhlin, 4000 Champagnes, published by Flammarion
* Regional Wine Writer of the Year 2005: Liz Sagues, for her articles from Ham & High
In a survey by Deloitte almost half of the wineries were found to have made losses in 2004. As in France, the government has stepped in with financial support. Read more in Beveragedaily.com.
Read more...INAO has approved Beaume de Venise as a new AOC. The wine was previously part of Côtes du Rhône Villages. Permitted grape varieties are Grenache (minimum 50%) and Syrah (min 25%), with the rest being made up of other varieties permitted in Côtes du Rhône. Maximum yield is 38 hl/ha (”rendement de base”) and harvest must be manual. Beaume de Venise thus joins the group of “cru appellations” in Rhône (Chateauneuf du Pape, Gigondas, Lirac, Tavel, Vacqueyras, Château Grillet, Condrieu, Cornas, Côte-Rôtie, Crozes Hermitage, Hermitage, Saint-Joseph, Saint-Peray).
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Rumours (and press reports) are saying that the Taittinger champagne house is being put up for sale. It is owned by the Taittinger family that also owns numerous other luxury firms, e.g. Baccarat Crystal and several luxury hotels. The value of the champagne house is estimated to 500 million euro. Read more on e.g. Decanter or business.telegraph.co.uk
44% of Lanson is owned by the bank Caisse d’Epargne. They have said that they are interested in selling their stake in the champagne house. Caisse d’Epargne bought it only last July from the Mora family (who still owns the remaining 56%) for 38 million euro. Read more on e.g. Decanter
Michelin, famous for its red guides on gastronomy and green tourist guides, has launched a new green guide called “The Wine Regions of France”. It is a practical, pocket size guide (provided you have big pockets) if you plan to go on vacation in the French wine regions. It covers essentially all regions and contains information on restaurants and hotels as well as practical info on producers, walks in the vineyards, routes to choose as well as other wine information. www.michelin.co.uk. Buy it from our book review page
Read more...BKWine recently met the well known Australian wine making consultant Richard Smart at a quick visit he made to Denmark. He was invited by the Danish Wine Growers’ Association. Some 30 (!) members and other visitors (including a few Swedes!) participated in the seminar that was organised by Dansk VinCenter (www.vincenter.dk).
Richard currently consults in 24 different countries and Peru is on its way to become his 25th country. He has (by design or by coincidence) become somewhat of an expert on cool climate 
vineyards. since two years he even works with a vineyard in Tasmania (Tamar Ridge) where he successfully makes a Pinot Noir. That Denmark indeed is a cool climate area was proven by this June day that boasted just barely 10 degrees Celsius and plenty of rain. “This is not cool climate”, he said “it is freezing. The coldest I have experienced for wine growing”. We had to assure him that this was not the normal weather in June. But it didn’t prevent Richard to keep a somewhat sceptical attitude during the presentation. According to Richard, the climate is the most important factor when growing wine. After that comes the grape variety and then the wine producer. And what about the soil? “Terrois is just nonsense”, he replies. –“The importance of soil has been very much exaggerated. It’s chemical composition is not very important but its structure and physical properties are, since they influence drainage.”
Richard’s advice to the Danish wine growers (or to other cold climate wine growers):
* Make more sparkling wine since they require low alcohol and high acidity. And don’t be afraid to make red sparkling.
* Denmark is a flat country near the sea. You need to protect the vines from the wind by constructing wind breakers
* Try many different grape varieties. There are many varieties today that can be recommended for cool climates.
* Grow the vines under plastic cover. It can raise the temperature with 5 degrees.
* Prune the vines very low in winter and cover them with soil to protect them from the worst winter frosts.
But maybe the cool climate is soon past in Denmark. Richards see two main threats against wine growing today: One is the decrease in consumption and the other is global warming.
Read more about Richard Smart on www.smartvit.com.au
BKWine organises a new Scandinavian Wine Fair in Paris on February 11 in collaboration with Le Cercle Suédois. The date has just been set so we you will get more details later, but book the date in your agenda already! Last time (in 2004) there were some 30 exhibitors from all Scandinavian countries except Iceland (mainly making wine, and cognac, in warmer climates)! This is how it was.
Chateau Thieuley has long been a favourite of ours among the not-so-expensive Bordeaux wines – both the red and the white wines. The chateau is close to La Sauve Majeure, in the centre of Entre-deux-Mers. Francis Courcelle, an expert in making excellent white wines, brought this domain from obscurity to well earned fame. Now it is primarily run by his daughters Sylvie and Marie. In France you can buy them at e.g. Monoprix.
More recommendations
Flemming and Peter Jørgensen bought Chateau de Haux in 1985. The vineyard was in poor shape and the chateau itself was in ruins. They were in for plenty of work to put things in order. And now both the red and the white wines are among the best in the district. To finance the development they founded a company where wine enthusiasts can buy shares and get a return in wine and also get the opportunity to stay at the chateau. www.haux.com
More recommendations: Recommeded Wine Producers
Jennifer Rosen – an American wine writer (called Chotzi...?). Many articles on her site: www.vinchotzi.com (be aware: the site doesn’t work properly if you use the web browser Mozilla Firefox)
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La Revue du Vin de France likes making classifications. We have talked about their suggested classification of Graves here before. Now they have taken on the ultimate in classifications: the 1855 classification of Bordeaux (Médoc, in practice) that celebrates its 150th anniversary this year (definitely past its best-before date). As always, RVF has interesting opinions. For example, these are the chateaux they think should be elevated to classed today (and was not included in 1855):
One million dollars per year is the budget to double the wine exports in five years. Today Israel exports wine for a total value of 13.7 million dollars, half of which goes to the United States.
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The consumption of rosé wines should progress by 8.5% between 2004 and 2009 according to a report published by Europmonitor. Statistics have already shown that in France the sales of rosé is good and several international wine producers have launched new rosé brands. So if you want to catch the trend this year – bring out the rosé for the barbeque.
More pictures here.
The wine world has grown smaller again. Fosters has now finalised the deal worth AUS$ 3.17bn taking over Southcorp. Both were already Australian drinks giants. The deal means e.g. that Foster will now control famous wine “brands” such as Penfolds, Lindemans, and Rosemount.
Read more...Signature BIO is a wine competition for organic wines (biologique). This year the first prize went to, Medaille d’Or Mention Spéciale:
One more new English drinks magazine has just been borne. It’s about wine but also about spirits and fine beers, with a distinct “lifestyle” flavour, judging from the first issue. More info here: www.fineexpressions.co.uk
Read more...Bernard magrez, one of the most active names in Bordeaux, continues buying wine chateaux. He has just acquired Chateau Latrezotte in Barsac (Sauternes) with an 8 hectare vineyard primarily planted with semillon.
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We’ve found one more place to store your wines in Paris, in case you do not have wine cellar space of your own: Cave Lovin’ on 40, rue Saint Honoré. There’s just one catch: you should buy your wines in their wine shop. More info: http://www.lovin.fr/
More pictures of Paris here
Another decision by the INAO on May 28: Wine with the AOC Corbières-Boutenac can be produced in the Aude ‘departement’ (Languedoc) in Boutenac and other communes around it. Permitted grape varieties are Carignan (30-50%), Grenache Noir, Syrah (max 30%), and Mourvedre. Two or more different varieties must be used. Carignan Noir must always be used. Manual harvest is compulsory.
Travel to Languedoc
Mouton-Rothschild, Margaux and Haut-Brion have announced the prices for the 2004 primeurs. The price (the same for all three) is 80 euro, down 33% from last year but still substantially higher than the 60 euro asked for the 2002s. (One wonders how they all three almost always land on the same price…?) This confirms (once more) the downward trend. Some chateau have even lowered the prices much more, with up to almost 50%. When we were in Bordeaux two weeks ago the impression was that even at these prices many producers have difficulties selling anything at all.
More pictures here
No big changes, but the decision by the INAO on May 28 means that the following AOC are defined "Armagnac", "Bas Armagnac", "Armagnac-Ténarèze", "Haut Armagnac" and now also ”Blanche Armagnac”. Permitted grape varieties for Armagnac are baco blanc, blanc dame, colombard, folle blanche, graisse, jurançon blanc, mauzac, mauzac rosé, meslier Saint-François, and ugni blanc. More: www.armagnac.fr
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Appellation Contrôlée (AC) Entre-deux-Mers makes exclusively white wine, between the rivers Garonne and Dordogne in Bordeaux. 194 producers share 1592 hectares. 41% is exported. Belgium, Germany and the UK are the biggest markets. To improve quality they are introducing stricter tastings to grant AOC and are intending to launch a ”top 20” of EdM wines. We look forward to seeing it. More info: www.vins-entre-deux-mers.com
More pictures here
Contrary to the rest of France, Alsace wines are generally sold with the grape variety indicated on the label, and on Grand Cru wines it is even compulsory. INAO has now decided that it will allow Grand Cru wines to be sold without the grape variety indicated on the label. From the information we have seen it is not clear if the decision also means that INAO will allow Grand Cru wines to be made from a blend of grape varieties. Jean-Michel Deiss has long argued that the focus on grape varieties in Alsace kills the concept of terroir, especially in the Grand Cru vineyards. Many other producers, though, think that this brake with tradition will confuse consumers.
Read more on Wine International
As we have mentioned previously, the process has been started to revise the classification in Graves. We recently had the occasion to talk to the presidents of the “syndicates” (growers’ associations) of Graves and of Pessac-Léognan.
Dominique Haverlan, president of the Syndicat de Graves (and owner of Vieux Chateau Gaubert, one of the better Grave wines) says that he thinks it is good that the classification will now be revised. It is a sign of dynamism, he thinks. Laurent Cogombles, president of the Pessac-Léognan syndicat and owner together with his wife of Chateau Bouscaut is a bit more hesitant, and more so to classifications in general. – “On what do you base a classification?” he asks “Well, on the price”, he continues “and to find the expensive wines the consumer hardly needs a classification”. With much reason, on can think, since it is difficult to imagine any other more “impartial” way of doing a classification. And Xavier Perromat, owner of Chateau du Mayne in Graves, and General Secretary of the Graves syndicat, thinks that in a period of crisis, such as now, there might be more important things do, like promoting the region for example. Not a bad idea that either maybe. So, different views. Maybe we will see the result in 3 to 5 years. (Note: All chateaux that were classified in the “old” 1953 classification is in the Pessac-Léognan AC.)
Graves, just south of the city of Bordeaux, has three appellations: AC Graves, AC Graves Supérieures and AC Pessac-Léognan. Pessac-Léognan was part of AC Graves until 1987 when it became a separate AC. The surface of the G and GS appellation (excluding P-L) is 3800 hectares (2004), of which a little more than two thirds are red and one third produces white wines. Less and less white wine is (unfortunately!) made. Graves and Pessac-Léognan make both red wine and dry white wine. Graves Supérieures only makes semi-sweet and sweet white, most of which is exported to Holland(!). The grape varieties are: Red wines: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Cot (Malbec). White wines: Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon and Muscadelle. More info: www.vins-graves.com
More photos and info here
Just off Place Carnot this small restaurant hides in a passage way. Very cosy and unpretentious, the food is not complicated but very well done (and easy on your budget). It is quite popular so come early or book a table. They also have a wine shop.
More restaurant recommendations here.
Just a stone’s throw from Beaune’s biggest tourist site, the magnificent Hotel Dieu, you find Le Gourmandin on the main square, Place Carnot. Classic French food with regional specialities. Quite elegant and ambitious, without being expensive.
More restaurant recommendations here.
After the renovation the Place du Marché Saint Honoré has become full of restaurants. At this one, as you can guess, they use tomatoes in virtually everything, and they do it very well. Excellent cooking and quite low prices. The wine list is also good with the ”speciality” being that all wines are varietal wines (made from only one grape variety), mostly from outside of France!
More recommendations here!
Fabien Coche has in total 10 hectares that includes patches in several appellations, e.g. Meursault and Pommard. He started working with his father in 1991 and makes the wine himself since 1998. Wonderful, smooth, full-bodied white wines (and reds).
See more pictures here
More wine maker recommendations here.
Excellent red Burgundy wines and not too expensive. The property is run by the very sympathetic couple Philippe and Martine Bernard. It covers 12 hectares split among the appellations Cote de Nuits Villages, Marsannay, Fixin, Fixin 1er Cru and Gevrey-Chambertin. In addition, Martine makes excellent cheese petits-choux and if you’re lucky you might get to taste with their wines (or you can make them yourself – read the recipe here).
See more images here
More wine maker recommendations here.
Robert Parker, the world’s biggest wine guru, is the subject of a new unauthorised biography. The book is called “The Emperor of Wine: The Rise of Robert M Parker Jr and the Reign of American Taste” and is written by Elin McCoy. Read parker’s own comments on his bulletin board.
Read more...The EU farm commissioner, the Dane Mariann Fischer Boel, has said in an interview in the Financial times that she wants to cut the subsidies for production of cheap wine that finds no buyers. The EU has recently given 145 million euros to France and Spain to subsidise “crisis distillation” of cheap wine that no one wants but in return Fischer Boel wants the countries to take action and grub up more vines. Read more
www.beveragedaily.com
Financial Times
On May 13 in the after-noon hail descended on Bergerac. hail can be devastating, destroying leaves, buds, and branches. It is estimated that up to 400 hectares were hit by the hail. In many places there will be no harvest 2005 due to the hail. The best one can hope for is that the vines will recover to 2006. Read more on Decanter
Read more...Amazon.com has started a co-operation with Wine.com to sell wine. They hope to get more momentum in wine sales over the internet than anyone has succeeded in before. Wine has been much more difficult to sell over the internet than other goods, both in the US (partially due to regulations) and in Europe. Initially the cooperation means simply that traffic will be directed from Amazon to the Wine.com web site. Read more on SFGate.
Read more...Some statistics from CIVA (www.vinsalsace.com):
Most popular grape varieties:
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The Italian umbrella organisation ICE has decided to cancel its participation in Vinexpo at the last minute. The cancellation is du to a conflict with the organisers of Vinexpo regarding space allocations. This leaves many Italian producers without a presence at the show. Many of those are now trying to get a last minute individual participation so as not to miss it altogether.
Read more...A Portugese cork research institute (CTCOR) has developed a new method to prevent altogether the formation of TCA, thus eliminating cork taint at its source. This new procedure is called Symbios. Read more:
Taiwan News http://www.etaiwannews.com
A Burgundian company (Embag with Gérard Michel and Laurent Villaume) has developed a cure for wines with cork taint. You pour the wine into a decanter and put a small plastic grape bunch in it. The grape bunch contains a substance that absorbs the TCA (2,4,6-trichloroanisole) that gives the wine it off taste. Each treatment will cost around 5€; a starting kit is 40€. We have not yet tested it…
Decanter - http://www.decanter.com/news/63913.html
Times http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1604251,00.html
RTL http://www.rtl.fr/rtlinfo/article.asp?dicid=283465
Nice wine bar and restaurant in the main town in Burgundy with a very ambitious chef (even sometimes a bit over ambitious…). On Saturdays they sometimes have jazz concerts.
Le Bistro Bourguignon
8, rue Monge
Beaune
tel 03 80 22 23 24
-> Discover more exciting restaurants in Beaune on our Wine Tour to Beaune in September
Facing the old church Saint Pierre in the Old Town in Bordeaux you can find this very good value-for-money restaurant (and many others on the neighbouring streets). You can e.g. get a very nice foie gras with the 3 course menu for no more than 14 euro.
Le Jardin des Gastronomes
1, place Saint-Peirre
33000 Bordeaux
tel 05 57 85 90 35
-> Discover more exciting restaurants in Bordeaux on our Wine Tour to Bordeaux in September
A new wine restaurant with a good wine list with a certain emphasis on organic wines. You can for example find the full selection of wines from Julien and Claude Courtois, father-and-son winemakers on the edge of the Loire Valley, in Sologne. The 2 course menu costs 23 euro, or 26 for three courses. If you are a sweet addidct don’t miss their excellent Ile Flottante, this French speciality made from whipped egg white served with a vanilla sauce.
Louis Vins
9 r Montagne Ste Geneviève 75005 Paris
01 43 29 12 12
Open every day (!), even Sundays.
One of the best estates in Madiran, owned by Patrick Ducournau. Ducourneau is also known for being the person who invented micro-oxygenation – a method widely used today to make tannins softer. His best cuvée, Chapelle Lenclos, is made from 100% Tannat and is an incredibly powerful, tannic and dark wine full of flavour.
What's on this picture?...
Framed by the majestic Pic Saint Loup and Montagne de l’Hortus, this vineyard is less than an hour’s drive north of Montpellier. Jean Orliac and his wife bought a small piece of land here 25 years ago after having fallen in love with the beautiful scenery. With it came some vines and they have now expanded the domaine to cover 35 hectares. All has been replanted – with Syrah, Mourvèdre and Grenache for the reds and Chardonnay, Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc for the whites. Domaine de l’Hortus has become somewhat of a reference for Languedoc wines. Domaine de l’Hortus Grand Cuvée, around 14€ at e.g. Legrand, 1, rue de la Banque, Paris 1.
Michel Bettane and Thierry Desseauve were two of the leading names at La Revue des Vins de France (France’s leading wine magazine). They left the magazine when it was acquired by the Marie Claire Group. Bettane & Desseauve have now revealed what they intend to do: They have started a web site called (no price for guessing): www.bettanedesseauve.com. They say there will be quite a lot of free information on the site. They will also publish a bi-weekly pdf newsletter that is sent out to paying subscribers only (but it seems not to be quite operational yet…) and a second newsletter for the trade. Originally they aimed to have everything up and running by March 1 but when we last checked it seemed to have slipped… But it will definitely be interesting to see how this turns out.
Read more...Alain Voge is one of the very best producers in Cornas, just south of Hermitage. He is one of the persons that have led the renaissance of the Cornas appellation bringing it from quasi-obscurity 20 years ago to now being almost as well known as Hermitage and Cote Rôtie. He will soon take retirement and does not have any family member who is interested in taking over the vineyard. Instead he has started a collaboration (a “joint venture”) with Alberic Mazoyer (now technical director and manager at Chapoutier) who will in practice take over the operations of the domaine. In addition to Voge and Mazoyer, Chapoutier will also have a stake in the company.
On April 16 and 17 (seems like ages ago now) Hermitage had, very unexpectedly, heavy snow fall. For two days we had (we happened to be there that week-end) five centimetres of snow on the ground. We talked to Joel Duran, one of the leading growers in Cornas and St Joseph, and he commented: “I am not very old but all the same this is only the second time I see snow in April. The first time was on April 27 in 1981”. Joel and other growers we talked to were not worried for the vines though: ”What is dangerous is the star bright nights – nuits blanches. That’s when you can get frost. On the contrary, the snow is good for the vines. They need water and the snow will melt slowly and let the soil absorb the water”. Read more in Decanter. (we wrote the piece)
Quote from an interview in La Revue des Vins de France:
“We [the wine trade] are going through a crisis. There’s been excess everywhere. In the New World too, but there they are much more flexible. Supply and demand is much more easily balanced in those countries. I have already experienced three crisis in Chile [Torres has a vineyard in Chile] and I remember that during one of those crisis we grafted kiwi on the vines. There you don’t wait for the government to intervene, instead you take some initiative. In Italy or France it is always the government that is supposed to take some action. You should rather alleviate the burdens [on the wine producers] to improve the competition on the market.”
Oak chips in Bordeaux wine is not permitted today. The new boss of CIVB (the Bordeaux producers’ association) has proposed that it should be allowed in the future (but not for all wines). But we are far from there yet. He also wants the local growers’ associations (like his own CIVB for example) to have more power to decide about rules and legislation. Today the control is mainly in the hands of the INAO.
Read more...According to a recent survey 55% of Swedes are positive to keeping the monopoly, 35% are negative and 10% don’t know. The survey was commissioned by the Swedish Spirits and Wine Importers Association. Of course, you can interpret this in different ways. You could for example take it as a clear decrease in the support for the monopoly. I don’t know if they did a similar survey earlier but going back in time my impression is that some years ago almost everyone in Sweden thought the monopoly was a good thing, even those who in other context thought that a market economy rather than planning economy was good.
Read more...As we have mentioned previously in the Brief the process has started to change the classification in Graves/Pessac-Léognan. La Revue des Vins de France has taken this as an occasion to do a big tasting of the wines and make their own ranking of the Graves wines. The top ten wines in the list (from both Graves and Pessac-Léognan):
I was recently part of the jury for the twelfth edition of the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, one of the many wine competitions around the world. This was the biggest edition ever: almost 200 tasters from 46 countries tasted 4666 wines from all over the world. Over three days we blind tasted around 50 wines each day. 40-50 wines is what they consider to be a ”reasonable” number of wines in a day to be able to give a faire judgement of each. And you do want ot be fair – for many producers, especially those that are not so well known, this is an important event. Getting a medal that you can put on the label can make a difference.
1378 medals were given: 44 Grandes Médailles d’Or (<1%), 445 Gold Medals (9%), and 881 Silver Medals.
These were the French winners of Grande Médaille d’Or:
A nice little Italian restaurant with a very good brochette de scampi and home made pasta. Original and clever strategy with the first courses: add 2€ and they’ll make it into a (bigger) main course. Pleasant outside seating in the garden at the back
The address and more recommendations here
Drink champagne and eat salmon – that’s what you should do at Trëma! Go for a brunch on Sundays for example (18-25 €). On week-days you can get a good lunch with two courses for 12€. Emphasis on fish of different kinds and you can swallow it down with a glass of very nice Domaine Tariquet white. The lowest price champagne is called Godet and sells for 25€, for 35€ you will get a Jacquesson Cuvée 729 (note that they have moved from 728 to 729, indicating a new vintage) and for 45€ you can get Jacquesson Avize Grand Cru 1995 – almost a steal. Good value is also the Pol Roger for 27€. The chef comes from Finland (!) so they also have many types of vodka to choose from. And Swedish mineral water: Ramlösa.
The address and more recommendations here.
In the middle of the little village Chateaubourg, just behind the church, in the southern part of the appellation Saint Joseph you find the two brothers Durand – Eric and Joël. They used to sell the grapes to larger producers like Delas and Jaboulet but in the early 1990s they started to bottle their own wine. Now they make fabulous wines from their 12 hectares (7 ha in St Joseph and 5 ha in Cornas). As an example, a Cornas 2003 bought at the domaine costs 23€.
More pictures here
Decanter reports that a study shows that wines that get a rating from Parker on average gains 3€ (equivalent to 15% for the wines studied) compared to a wine that is not rated by Parker. The study is based on ‘primeur’ wines in Bordeaux. For the consumer it can then be expected that the price difference will be even greater. Maybe one conclusion can be that the Parker craze may be defeating itself: rated wines automatically become more expensive so if you want to find something that is good value-for-money you should look elsewhere?
Read more...INAO made positive noises towards allowing irrigation in French vineyards. The proposal means that it would be OK to water vineyards under special circumstances, as for instance the extremely hot summer in 2003.
Read more...INAO has introduced some new or changed rules for Alsace wines: Planting density must be at least 4500 vines per hectare, training must be in simple Guyot with at the most 8-10 “eyes”. Alsace Grand Cru must be made from one single grape variety; permitted Grand Cru wine varieties are Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, Muscat à Petits Grains, Muscat Ottonel. (Grand Cru Altenberg de Bergheim and Zotzenberg have more sever restrictions.) Maximum ”agronomic” yield is 10,100 kg/ha. Minimum alcohol contents is 12.5% for Pinot Gris and 11% for the other varieties. The new rules will initially only apply to vineyards planted after 2000.
More pictures here
China Drinks, China’s main wine and spirits magazine, organised a competition in January: the 2005 Beijing International Wine & Spirits Competition. BKWine was on-site and participated in the jury for the Chinese wines and spirits. Well, today Chinese “wines” are not always made from grapes but sometimes from other fruit and berries – or rice! So it was an odd collection of beverages we were tasting and judging. Not all that easy. One Great Gold Medal was awarded to a Chinese wine, a Cabernet Sauvignon from one of the best and biggest vineyards: the Great Wall Winery. Chinese wine consumption, as the production, is rising rapidly. Pictures from China are on the site.
More pictures here
Calvados is making progress on the export market. This excellent digestif can help you digest a big meal as no other and is also an excellent ingredient in the kitchen (and for the cook): e.g. crêpes flambées or to give flavour to a creamy sauce. Most calvados come from the sub-region called Pays d’Auge, the very picturesque landscape between the fashionable seaside resort Deauville and the cheese town Pont l’Eveque. In Pays d’Auge calvados is double distilled, just like for cognac. And then it is stored in oak for a number of years which gives it much of its character. The youngest calvados is sold after 2 years of aging. After four years it can be called VSOP and if it has six years or more it can be called hors d’age. Sometimes you can even see 20 ans (20 years) or old vintages in small quantities. It is small and not at all tasty apples that are used for calvados (and cider). It is a mix of bitter, sweet and acidic apples (of different varieties) that are used to make a good cider that is then distilled to make the calvados. And you need a lot of apples! 20 kg of apples makes 14 litres of cider which makes 1 litre of 70 % calvados – which is then diluted to the appropriate strength.
More pictures here
If you are using a news aggregator to collect information from blogs you can now get the BKWine Brief nes directly to NewsGator by clicking on the button in the right hand column. Quick and easy.
Read more...Here are a few wine blogs that you might want to take a look at:
Spittoon: http://www.spittoon.biz/
Swirl & Sniff: http://swirlsnifftaste.blogspot.com/
Tempranillo: http://www.manfatta.com/wineblog/
We had a very interesting discussion this morning with one of the "blogging gurus" in France - Loic Le Meur. (Thank you Susan for organising it!) It convinced me that we should see if we can do some more with this blog.
Because, as you might have noticed, we're not very active so far.
The thing that really interests me is the "business model" that drives blogging. It's easy to understand if you own a company that sells software for blogging - like Loic (Six Apart - have to find out where that name comes from. The stranger the better?). Or if you can sell a company for millions like flikr. But for some reason there are 30 million blogs out there (I am told. - Where can one find statistics on this?)
So, we'll try and be a bit more active in this blog and see what happens. Because I think we have a lot to tell about wine, food, restaurants and such things that could interest many people. (But somehow, somewhere we also need to make a living don't we?)
Another thing that pushed me into spending a bit more time on this blog was that I went on to Technorati and looked up BKWine. Technorati, I am told (again) is THE cool thing to use to see what happens in the bloggosphere. Looking up http://www.bkwine.com on Technorati (in real time(!) they say) I foiund that some new people had linked to us. I don't know who BWIII is but he/she likes the same Rhone producer as we do: domaine du Colombier. That's fun to know. We have a nice little photo gallery on Domaine du Colombier and Florent Viale, and we have written a recommendation on him on our wine producer recommendation page. We have even written about him in our newsletter, the BKWine Brief. (PUBLICITY: you can subscribe for free here) And below in this blog.
So, there you have it. We'll try and spend a bit more time on this. If you want.
L’Avant Goût
26, rue Bobillot, 75013 Paris (M. Place d’Italie), tel 01 53 80 24 00. Booking essential evenings. Good wine list with many organic wines. Set menu 12€ (lunch) to 32€.
Mavrommatis
42, rue Daubenton, 75005 Paris (M. Censier-Daubenton), tel 01 43 31 17 17 (closed Sun & Mon)
Maybe Paris’ best Greek restaurant. Some good “domestic” wines. Menu from 18€.
Le Café Constant
139, rue Saint-Dominique, 75007 Paris (M. Ecole-Militaire)
Traditional well made food. Very busy and bustling. 15-18 € for a main course.
More restaurant and wine bar recommendations here.
56, boulevard Saint-Vencent, 49400 Varrains, tel 02 41 52 94 02
Red Loire wine is often made from Cabernet Franc, an aromatic and appealing grape variety. But it is important not to pick it too early or else you can get very harsh, “green” and rough wines. Thierry Germain at Domaine des Roches Neuves is a master at handling Cabernet Franc, with low yields and late harvest. His wines are full-bodied and soft, almost velvety. He also makes a very good Saumur Blanc white wine.
--> More wine producer recommendations here.
--> More pictures here
Pech Narbonnais 11440 Peyriac de Mer, tel 04 68 41 67 79
Corbières is the biggest appellation in Languedoc. It is dominated by mountains and can be very remote and rural. It used to be know for its rustic wines that went well with stews and other heavy food. That style still exists but quality conscious growers now give their wines more elegance and complexity. Like for instance this producer with its curious name (‘anes’ means donkeys).
The organisers of Vinexpo, the world's biggest wine trade fair, have decided to once more organise a "sister show" in Asia called "Vinexpo Overseas". This is the sixth time a Vinexpo is organised outside Bordeaux. The previous locations have been: Hong Kong (the first "overseas" Vinexpo), Tokyo (twice), New York, and Chicago. The next Vinexpo Overseas will take place 23-25 May 2006. Info: www.vinexpo.com
Read more...For the ninth year in a row Absolut Vodka recorded growing sales. Total sales in 2004 was 76 million litres, up 5% from 2003. Absolut is produced by V&S Vin & Sprit that is owned by the Swedish government. One wonders how this excellent (?) sales performance can be reconciled with the government’s public health objectives of reducing alcohol consumption… Did anyone say schizophrenic?
Read more...I have discretely opened up a book review section on the site too. The intention is to write about the books that we like and that we think are particularly useful for wine lovers as well as comment on some new books. You can find it here http://www.bkwine.com/vininformation/wine_books.htm
For most of the books we have a link to Amazon so that you can easily buy the books that you find interesting. (And yes, if you buy a book at Amazon when you have clicked on a book link on bkwine.com you also support the site – provided you buy the book in the same “session”.) We don’t have an awful lot of book reviews at the moment but more will come!
Wines full of character, in particular the cuvée prestige called Gaby. Florent Viale is a master at making wines from the Syrah grape. Until 1992 Florent and his father sold all the wines to a négociant. But at that time they thought that the interest for Crozes-Hermitage had grown so much that they started to make their own wines. Which they do outstandingly well! More info here
Twenty years ago there was nothing - not a vine - here at Château Puech-Haut in Saint-Drézery. Now it is one of the most successful wine estates in Languedoc, much thanks to the dynamic Gerard Bru and to the substantial investments he has done in wine making. More info here.
A small Bordeaux company called Authenticwine has developed a clever system to prevent wine forgeries. It uses a complicated (and difficult to forge) label that is put on the bottle (in addition to the usual label) and a security code that can be verified over the internet. Undoubtedly interesting for more exclusive bottles. More info on their site: http://www.authenticwine.com
Read more...”Nordlund” is a wine grown and produced in Denmark. The producer (Danskt Vin-Center) has now signed a contract with a French importer. We must of course add that Nordlund first came to France in February 2004 when it was shown at BKWine’s Scandinavian Wine Fair in Paris. Nordlund subsequently participated in the Danish wine fair in Paris in November. As a result they established good contacts with an importer who will now sell the Danish wine in France! http://www.vincenter.dk/
Sideways is the second film in a short time that has wine as a major theme. This time it is not so seriously intended though. It is more a comedy that takes place in Santa Barbara. The film has already won a Golden globe award and has been nominated for an Oscar. This has led to a boom in the tourism in Santa Barbara. Maybe an idea for the French wine industry: recruit Gerard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve to make a film where they travel around French wine district and dine in nice country restaurants (with some serious story line behind it of course!). Maybe that could give an upswing in French wine sales?
Read more...Irrigation has long been prohibited in French vineyards. The reasoning being that with water the growers could inflate the grapes, increase production but lower the quality. There is currently a proposal on the table, likely to be accepted, to allow irrigation, but under strict conditions. The background is the extremely hot and dry summer 2003 where many vineyards suffered great damage from the heat and lack of water.
Read more...In earlier Briefs we have talked about the conflict between Bronco Wine Co. and the Napa Valley Vintners. Bronco is selling a wine that is labelled “Napa” but does not contain any grapes from Napa. Bronco can do this because of a legal “loop hole”. Napa Vintners wants to stop this, arguing that a “Napa wine” should be made from Napa grapes. This conflict is now going to the Supreme Court after having been won by Napa Vintners in the California Supreme court. We can only hope that Napa Vintners is successful. It must be a bit confusing for consumers that Napa wine is not really Napa wine… Read more in e.g. The Press Democrat
Read more...Chateauonline, probably the most successful European internet wine shop, has been bought by CL Financial. The value of the transaction has not been made public. They control today eg. Hine and Monier cognac and Angostura Bitter. According to our information Chateauonline achieved break even for the first time in 2004 and had a turn over of around 10€ M. www.clfinancial.com, www.chateauonline.com
Read more...The Swedish alcohol retail monopoly Systembolaget AB fires the 50 employees who are suspected of bribery and who are still employed by the company. We do not quite understand how this works. How can they be fired before the court has made a verdict? Suppose that the verdict is “not guilty”. We believed that you were assumed not guilty until the verdict was give. Maybe the Systembolaget knows better than the courts?
Read more: Forbes and again Forbes, and The Local
An often heard argument to keep the monopoly is that if it disappears (in Sweden or in other monopoly markets) the range of wines on offer will decrease dramatically. We at BKWine find that hard to believe. Is the wine selection that poor in markets that have an open market: Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom…? If we look at our own local selection at the corner grocery store (Monoprix) it is quite decent (we don't live in Sweden but in France so we don't have a controlled monopoly market here). We can even find the odd bottle of Yquem or Petrus and it starts with wines for just a few euros.
It is interesting to look at an example in Canada. Most of Canada is a monopoly market (like Sweden, Norway and Finland). Some fifteen years ago, in the province of Alberta, they decided to change the monopoly to an open market. There were, of course, fears that the number of wines available would shrink. What happened was that the number of items grew from 5000 to 16,000. The regulators also stipulated that grocers were not allowed to sell wines in the same shop as food – so as to make the playing field more level with new and independent wine shops. This led to many new wine shops and new employment opportunities. All according to Wayne Henuset, one of the new independent merchants in Alberta, Canada, to whom we are grateful for the info.
We participated recently in a conference organised by Skalli & Rein, a wine consulting company (http://www.wineevolution.org/). One of the presenters was a representative from one of the major Scandinavian importers, who was there to talk about the situation of the market in the Nordic countries. We were stunned by some of the things we heard. Without claiming to have the words exactly accurate, here are two examples: “If the monopolies disappear the pressure on margins for the importers will increase.” Well, of course, more competition will require more professionalism. Or this one: “It is better both for consumers and producers to keep the monopoly.” Well, it is probably better for those producers who are already established as suppliers to the monopolies with a cosy relationship, but for all the rest who find these markets impenetrable? Maybe it has to do with a fear for increasing competition. But above all it is bizarre to hear a senior manager at a commercial company, presumably believing in some kind of market economy, to advocate a monopoly.
Read more...Päivittäistavarakauppa ry, an organisation representing Finnish retailers, has requested that the EU investigate the Finnish monopoly (Alko). They want that the monopoly should be disbanded since it no longer serves it purpose for “public health”. They say that less than a third of the alcohol consumed in Finland is now bought at the Alko monopoly (the rest being imported directly by consumers, which is legal.) Read more: Helsingin Sanomat
Read more...Henrik Matsson is a Swedish writer who has spent 2 years working on an ambitious venture. He has single handed written, typeset and designed what is in effect the first real book (as far as we know) about Calvados. It is elegantly designed and covers all important subjects, such as: the history of Calvados, how to make it and how to drink it, the producers, and things to see and do when you go there. Unfortunately it could have been better checked for typos and linguistically. But it is nevertheless a very interesting book to read for those of you who like a glass of calvados every now and then. Buy the book from the publisher: http://www.calvadosbook.com/ . You can now find this and other book reviews in our new book section on the site: http://www.bkwine.com/vininformation/wine_books.htm
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Vine Growing and Wine Making
The original Swedish title is "Ett vin blir till" meaning A Wine is Born. It is a unique description of the work in the vineyard and in the wine cellar. Published in 2009. More info on the web site for A Wine is Born.
Languedoc
Wines, vineyards and winemakers in Languedoc in the south of France, one of the most dynamic wine regions in France, and in the world. Published in 2007. More info on the site of the Languedoc book.
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