BKWine Blog

BKWine Pick: Beluga Restaurant, Stockholm

>> Sunday, September 10, 2006

The name speaks partially true but don’t let yourself be deterred. They do serve caviar but they also serve real food. Both the menu and the wine list is restricted to a small number of well chosen references. What is particularly interesting is that for each dish they have a suggested wine – and all wines are served by the glass. So you can easily compose a nice dinner with a different and appropriate wine to every dish. The restaurant is quite small, discretely designed, so booking is a good idea. A slightly upscale (especially if you go for the caviar) and elegant restaurant in the “nice” part of Stockholm but with a dedicated team who runs it.

Click here for address and more recommendations.

BKWine Pick: Terreno Wine Bar, Stockholm

Perhaps the most important reason to visit this wine bar is to see how it functions. It built around an original self-service concept: First you have to buy a “wine card”, like a pre-paid phone card. then you go to the “dispensing machine”, insert your card, push the button for the wine you want (don’t forget to hold out your glass) and you are served a good 4cl tasting dose. An interesting concept if you want to taste several different wines, but perhaps not the most romantic way of drinking wine (perhaps well suited to Swedes who are not known for their romanticism, but rather for their pragmatism…). You can also get some not-too-complicated Italian food with the wine. New, and certainly original concept, worth visiting even if the wine selection (and the food) is a bit limited.

Click here for address and more recommendations.

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>> Thursday, September 07, 2006

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BKWine Pick: Bodega Pisano, Progreso, Uruguay

Uruguay is a comparatively small country in South America with many small family run vineyards and a climate that is similar to that of Bordeaux. There are many interesting wine producers in the country and one of them is the Pisano family, a family that seems to be producing only male – very charming – offspring (“it’s the red wine, you know”). Today the winery is run by three brothers: Daniel takes care of sales, marketing and exports. Gustavo is the winemaker, and Eduardo takes care of the vineyards. Between them they have eight sons (!) and all want to work in wine. It was grandfather Pisano who created the vineyard in 1914. He came from Liguria and his wife came from the Basque region – quite a common background with Uruguay winemakers. Try their Rio de los Pajaros Reserve Tannat Merlot for example, or any of their other cuvées.

There are more pictures in our photo gallery.

Click here for address and more recommendations.

BKWine Pick: Domaine Yves Cuilleron, Condrieu, Rhone

When Yves Cuilleron made his first wine in 1987 not many people knew of Condrieu or Viognier. “I was part of the young generation that was part of the recreation of the northern Rhône valley as a wine district” he says. Today, Yves is one of the big stars in Condrieu. All his wines are of excellent quality, from an aromatic Viognier Vin de Pays for around 11 euro to his different cuvées of Condrieu (around 30 euro).

There are more pictures in our photo gallery.

Click here for address and more recommendations.

Book Reviews: Spain and Tuscany

>> Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Northern Spain - How to find great wines off the beaten track
Susie Barrie, text; Tory McTernan, photo

Mitchell Beazley Tuscany - How to find great wines off the beaten track
Monty Waldin, text; Tory McTernan, photo

Mitchell Beazley The series Discovering Wine Country from Mitchell Beazley has recently seen two new additions: one on northern Spain, including Catalonia, Rioja, Galicia and Navarra, and one on Toscana.

Both books follow the same formula: The author makes a short introduction to each region and its wines, followed by recommendations of wine growers to visit, restaurants, hotels, and sights. The books are ideal companions for travelling, also thanks to the handy and small format. But also perfect to start travelling already on the couch in the living room. There are also some tips and suggestions as to what to do, and what not to do – e.g. wear a shirt and not a T-shirt in Tuscany, don’t try and schedule any visits over lunch time in Spain, always call ahead etc. Quite good maps with suggested itineraries.

Click here for more book reviews on my site. You will also find links to on-line book shops on that page.

Médoc and Bordeaux Statistics

From In Vino Veritas: Total vineyard area in Bordeaux: 122,000 ha. Médoc: 16,000 ha (14% of the total). Médoc appellations, in percentage of total Médoc (volume):

Médoc 34%
Haut-Médoc 28%
Margaux 9%
Saint Estephe 8%
Pauillac 7%
Saint Julien 6%
Moulis 4%
Listrac 4%

Ch d’Alesme Backer sold to Labégorce

Hubert Perrodo has just bought Chateau Marquis d’Alesme Becker for an estimated €25-30 million. Perrodo already owns Ch Labégorce and Ch Labégorce Zédé. The deal includes everything except the main chateau building that remains in the hands of the seller, the Zuger family, who has owned it since the 1950s. Read more on Decanter.com.

German export up 11%

The German wine export grew by 11% in value and 4% in volume over the 12 month period ending in April ’06. It is the popularity of the Riesling grape that is driving demand for German wines. The United States has seen the most positive performance but the United Kingdome remains the biggest market. Read more journee-vinicole.com

Wine, business and marketing

It seems to be the thing to do these days – focus on wine and “business”. (Actually makes a nice change from discussions on “terroir”.) Earlier this year saw the creation of the American Association of Wine Economists that also publishes a refereed journal (the Harvard Business Review of wine?) called The Journal of Wine Economics. Also, not long ago The Third International Wine Business & Marketing Conference i Montpellier. Both of these (the AAWE and the conference) are very scientific things with participation primarily from researchers but they cover a number of interesting topics, both practicl things like tasting methodology and more market oriented themes as customer perceptions and marketing. More “populist” are two other events: Every January Skalli & Rein (a French consultancy) organises the conference WineEvolution that discusses market opportunities across the globe and how better to sell wines. Another business conference is organised by William Reed called The International Wine Conference 2006 on September 6. In spite of its name this conference seems to have a much more UK focus but is also talking about how to sell and market your wine to consumers. We are particularly interested in this kind of information and events so if you are active in this area, do keep us informed.

New organisation for Languedoc-Roussillon promotion

The collaboration between the different wine regions in southern France is being reinforced. This is no doubt due to the increasing international competition and a desire to pool resources. And it may also be a good idea to have more collaboration rather than competition in face of the international market. So, “Inter Sud de France” has just been created (“Inter” is the trend word in French wine producers’ organisations these days – making reference to the term “interproffessionel”, i.e. producers’ association). Inter Sud de France is the result of the merger of CIVL (Languedoc), CIVR (Roussillon), Inter’Oc and Anivit. It will represent a total production of some 15 million hectolitres, which is about the same as the total production of Argentina.

Cork statistics

Each year some 17 billion bottles of wine are sold. The way to plug the neck varies greatly from one country to another. Catherine Pivot at the Université de Lyon has collected statistics of the closures:

France: 90% natural cork, 9% plastic cork, 1% capsule.
Switzerland: 80% screw cap.
Australia: 30% synthetic (plastic) cork.
USA: 75% natural cork, 17% plastic cork, 8% screw cap or other type of capsule.

The price of the closure: Natural cork: 2 euro cents – 1 euro. Plastic cork: 1.7-8 cents. Aluminium capsule: 2-8 cents. Read more : vitisphere.com

Wine fair for organic wines: Millésime Bio 15-17 January 2007

>> Tuesday, September 05, 2006

The next edition of the wine fair for organic (and bio-dynamic) wines, Millésime Bio, will take place on January 15-17, 2007 in Narbonne in the south of France. It is the 14th edition of the event! More info www.millesime-bio.com

Primeur prices for consumers – €40 per centilitre...

Fun (?) to take a look at what prices the Bordeaux Primeurs reach in shops, where you and I can buy them (and get delivery in two years’ time). Some of the dearest: Pomerol: Château Lafleur 1200€, Ch Le Pin 1150€; Pauillac: Ch Mouton-Rothschild 480€, Ch Latour 650€, Ch Lafite 480€, Yquem around 500€. Prices per bottle in case you wondered. Add on VAT (19.6% in France) and transport charges. To be paid now and delivered in two years’ time. Sample prices from Chateauonline.fr. Alternatively, from Berry Brothers & Rudd in London: Ch Petrus £1750 (2557€ - which, after adding French VAT (that’s where we’re writing) but no transport fee adds up to arund €40 per centilitre...), Le Pin £1250 (1826€), Lafleur & Ausone £750 (1095€), Latour £475 (694€), Margaux £475 (694€).

The EU Wine Production

>> Monday, September 04, 2006

Some statistics selected from the briefing material released when EU presented it’s discussion proposal for new wine policy: Europe counts for 40% of the world’s wine acreage and 60% of world wine production. It also accounts for 60% of consumption. Average production (of EU 25) is 178 million hectolitres, worth €16.1 billion.

France is the biggest producer with 55M hl (30% of the total). If counted in value France actually represents 50%, producing €7.7 bn worth.
Second is Italy with 51M hl (28%) or €4.2 bn (26%).
Third place goes to Spain with 43M hl (23%) worth €1.2 bn (7.6%).
Germany produces only 10M hl but the value is almost the same as that of Spain (€1.1 bn). So, the other 21 countries share the remaining 10%:
Portugal (7.2M hl/€1 bn),
Hungary (4.5M hl/€181M),
Greece (€3.6 M hl/€46M),
Austria (2.5M hl/€437M),
Slovenia (1M hl),
Czech Republic (0.5M hl),
Slovakia (0.4M hl),
Cyprus (0.4M hl),
Luxemburg (0.14M hl), and
Malta (0.07M hl)

EU expects overproduction to reach 27M hl, i.e. 15% of production, by 2010 – unless a reform of support policies are agreed. Total acreage within the EU 25 is 3.4 million hectares of vines.

Wine pictures update

We have done a major update to the wine photography section on our site. A few thousand new pictures are now available online. Both the northern and the southern Rhône Valley, South America with Argentina and Uruguay, Sweden (!) with photos from Stockholm, Château d’Yquem, Provence and more. You can find all the new photos on our gallery page here.

BKWine Pick: Ulriksdals Wärdshus, Stockholm

One of Stockholm’s old classics! Classic food, classic building, classic surroundings (in the park of a royal palace). Very well made, excellent cooking and beautiful surroundings. And also the wine selection is leaning to the classic with an emphasis on France even if there is a reasonable selection of wines from other countries too. And Ulriksdal also has something really unique: a collection of the six top Bordeaux chateaux Margaux, Mouton-Rothschild, Lafite-Rotschild, Haut-Brion, Latour and d’Yquem including almost all vintages from the beginning of the (last) century. Ask if you can take a peek when you are there!

Click here for address and more recommendations.

BKWine Pick: Il Fantozzi, Stockholm

I can’t claim to be an expert on Italian restaurants in Stockholm but this one must be high up on the list of the top ones. But first you have to find it: it is on a small, obscure street but not far from Skanstull, the metro station. In the husband and wife team he does the cooking and she takes care of the guests. The interior decoration is cool, low key and elegant. Food is excellent and exceptionally good value for money. The wine list is ambitious (if oversized in format) and has lots of information about the wines. Definitely worth a visit. And they have just opened a small wine and grappa bar where you can have a drink while waiting for a table.

Click here for address and more recommendations.

BKWine Pick: Sturehof, Stockholm

This must be considered as one of the classics in Stockholm today. Fetching inspiration in classic Parisian brasserie they are open almost around the clock and you can get a meal at any hour. Very informal (and busy) atmosphere. Excellent kitchen with some rather exclusive things and a few more reasonably priced. Very good wine list, always ten reds and ten whites to chose from by the glass. Ask the wine waiter Niklas for advice if you don’t know what to chose. One of the best wine watering holes in town.

Click here for address and more recommendations.

BKWine Pick: Château de Pressac, Saint-Emilion

>> Sunday, September 03, 2006

Château de Pressac, Saint-Emilion

Many chateaux in Saint-Emilion are very humble abodes and hardly merits the term chateau. For Chateau de Pressac the case is the opposite. The main building is on a hilltop and reminds you of a medieval knight’s castle and it actually dates from the 15th century (at least in parts). Jean-François and Dominique Quenin bought the chateau in 1997 (after a previous life in the corporate world) and started a new life as vignerons. The chateau is surrounded by all of its 30 hectares of vines and the wines are excellent. The chateau may well be included in the new classification for Saint Emilion, that is under preparation, and if it is not it is not due to the quality but to that the Quenins have been there for “only” nine years.

Click here for address and more recommendations.

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