BKWine Blog

Selling wine online gives teenagers easy access to alcohol. Or…?

>> Wednesday, September 20, 2006

A decision last year by the US Supreme Court lead to the opening of the internet market for wine (internet sales had previously been very restricted). Pressure groups argued that this would lead to teenagers getting easy access to alcohol. A study recently published by the Teenage Research Unlimited in Illinois has show that very few teenagers have taken the opportunity to by alcohol online. Ironically the study was commissioned by the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, one of the pressure groups against the change. Tom Riley, spokesman for the White House Office of National Drug Control says that online alcohol sales to teenagers is not a major problem, but adds that that could change. As reported in: USA Today and TechDirt.com

Bordeaux harvest started on August 28

>> Tuesday, September 19, 2006

On August 28 Chateau Carbonnieux started picking its white grapes (Sauvignon Blanc) Preliminary reports sound quite positive for this year’s quality even if weather at the end of August has been not quite perfect.

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Wine growing is spreading across the USA

Apparently there is wine grown in every state but one in the USA (no prizes for guessing which state has no wine). Here are some examples:

North Carolina (with a NC wine quiz): Winemakers hoping for the perfect crop
Idaho wine industry seeks its place in the sun
Colorado: High country wine
Virginia: Dry, hot summer could add up to good year for Virginia wine

High tech vineyards

Some California vineyards have gone literally high tech. It is probably a contamination from the neighbouring Silicon Valley, or at least indirectly. High Tech ex-executives invest their earned millions in vineyards and cannot completely leave the technology behind. Some examples: sap flow sensors on the vines, linked to irrigation systems of course, laboratory equipment (called titrator) costing $15000 to test for every thing you’d want to know about a must or a wine, humidity sensors in the ground etc. Read more on CNNMoney.com

This month’s must have gadget: Vino Cacao, chocolate wine

So this month it is not a gadget but actually a drink. A drink made from a base of wine that is then flavoured with chocolate. It is recommended e.g. as an aperitif, in sauces, or “during society parties”. We have not tasted it but our impression is that it is a not a joke but a serious initiative. More info: Vino Cacao

Robert Parker changes shape

>> Monday, September 18, 2006

Perhaps a bit cryptic as a heading. Many people probably think that what is referred to as Robert Parker’s ratings (and comments) come from the famous wine critic himself. Of course, that is partially true, but he actually has a staff of collaborators who work (and taste) for him: Pierre-Antoine Rovani writes e.g. about many parts of France, Daniel Thomases writes about Italy and David Schildknecht about German and Austrian wines. Changes will come though. Rovani is leaving “the firm” and also Thomases will be leaving. Schildknecht, however, is staying on. Latest news is that Schildknecht will take over much of France (except “core” regions that stay with Parker). There will be two new staff: Antonio Galloni who will cover Italy and Jay Miller who will write about much of the world outside of Europe plus Portugal. Read more in The Wine Enthusiast and Decanter.com

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New Spanish wine classification

Spanish authorities have decided to introduce a new category of wine called Vinos de la Tierra de los Viñedos de España. It will be a notch below the category that today is called DO (Denominacion de Origen).

New Zealand wine production to increase

An NZ government agency estimates that the production this year will increase by 20% and that it will continue to increase by 10% per year until 2010. This years production is estimated to 185 000 tonnes. 55% of the production is exported. Exports are estimated to be worth $1 billion by 2010. The largest variety is of course Sauvignon Blanc, followed by Pinot Noir that has recently overtaken Chardonnay as number two. More info theage.com.au

Revival for Kurdish wine

Until 1987 there were vineyards planted in the northern Iraqi region of Dohuk. then they were all destroyed by the war. Mohammed Saleem, then winemaker, has now replanted his vineyard in the Kurdish village Beri Bahar. Read more in Middle East Online

Len Evans, Australian wine legend, passed away

Len Evans was one of the most emblematic persons of the Australian wine industry. He wrote several books and contributed greatly to the advancement of the Australian wine production. He passed away in August at the age of 75.

California wine production, some statistics

>> Wednesday, September 13, 2006

California represents 95% of the wine production in the United States. These are the main regions:

Sonoma 20 000 ha
Napa Valley, 18 600 ha
Monterrey 18 300 ha
Central Coast 9 900 ha
Mendocino County 6 300 ha
Lake County 2 300 ha
Sierra Foothills 2 300 ha
San Francisco Bay 1 600 ha
Southern California 1 400 ha

A world tour of vineyards

The WineWorldTour was launched by two young wine enthusiasts in Bordeaux. They have travelled around the globe and visited almost 200 vineyards in 17 countries. They have created a site that tells the story behind their trip (you have to navigate around the site a bit to find the info) and are currently working on a book on their odyssey. Read more on their site www.wineworldtour.com. You can also read about some of their visits on BKWine’s guest writer page.

French industrialist François Pinault buys Burgundy vineyard

>> Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Domaine Engel in Vosne Romanée, a six hectare domaine including some of the most famous names in Burgundian vineyards (Clos Vougeot, Echezeaux, Grands Echezeaux, Vosne-Romanée…) has been sold to the super-rich French industrialist François Pinault. Pinault already owns a vineyard in Bordeaux: Chateau Latour. Vitisphere.com

Randall Grahm at Bonny Doon sells Big House Red and Cardinal Zin

Randall Grahm, cult wine maker at Bonny Doon Vineyards in Santa Cruz, California, has sold two of his most popular wines, Big House Red and Cardinal Zin, to The Wine Group LLC. He keeps, and will continue to produce the remaining range of wines, e.g. Le Cigar Volant, his famous Châteauneuf copy. WineBusiness.com and LATimes.com

Global warming will increase land prices in Germany

At least, that is the thesis of a paper written by the two American scientists Orley Ashenfelter and Karl Storchman (Using a Hedonic Model of Solar Radiation to Assess the Economic Effect of Climate Change: The Case of Mosel Valley Vineyards). Their reasoning is that the climatic changes will have a direct impact on the solar radiation and thence the hedonistic appreciation of the wines and land valuations. In other words, warmer weather in Germany will make the German wines better and more expensive (perhaps I am oversimplifying?). As you can guess, it is a scientific paper , 39 pages in all, and you can read it all here. If the full paper is a bit too much for you you can read the article in Forbes Magazine

Wine investments in Argentina decreasing

>> Monday, September 11, 2006

Exports are going up but the investments in new wineries are decreasing. Land prices have gone up sharply and have now reached around 15 000 USD per hectare for virgin wine land and between 20 000 and 35 000 USD/ha for vineyards in production. With a grape price around 1.2-1.3 USD/kg it may take up to 30 years to amortise an investment (on the top quality land grape prices may of course be higher). According to Vitishpere.com

Top level gastronomic education

It is time to prepare the dossier for one of Europe’s more original gastronomic educations. “IHEGGAT”, or Institut des Hautes Etudes du Goût de la Gastronomie et des Arts de la Table, is accepting submissions for the next program. The program quite unique in that it focuses more on the overall concepts of gastronomy and wine (and is certainly not a cooking school). Read our review in BKWine Brief 34 and go to their site to find out admission criteria: www.iheggat.com

Unique wine cellar stolen in top restaurant

The Ulriksdals Wärdshus restaurant was famous for it’s wine cellar: virtually all vintages from the 20th century of Mouton-Rothschild, Lafite-Rothschild, Latour, Margaux, Haut-Brion and Yquem. But during summer thieves broke into the closed restaurant and took everything. They obviously knew exactly what they were doing (e.g. cut the electricity in a control box half a kilometre away…). So, if someone offers you a nice collection of Premier Crus – don’t buy, call the restaurant.

Tell us where you are!

>> Sunday, September 10, 2006

Tell us where in the world you are located. Put your pin on the BKWine Brief Frappr map. Just for fun. We're curious to know where in the world you are! (Or just follow the link to find out where other readers are.)

BKWine Pick: Eriks Vinbar Wine Bar, Stockholm

Eriks Vinbar (wine bar in Swedish) is at ground level in the same building as the luxury restaurant Eriks Gondolen (from which you have a view over all of Stockholm), close to Slussen. It is a small and cosy place, really a bar and not a restaurant even if you can have some small things to eat (cheese, charcuteries…). The wine list is very extensive and they regularly have “specials” that are not on the list – so ask for advice! Very competent wine staff. Another good idea is that they have two serving sizes, the small being 5 cl so that you can taste a lot of different wines if you want (otherwise all too often in Stockholm a serving in “a glass of wine” is ridiculously big). One of the few places in Stockholm that really is a good wine bar and not just a bar serving a few wines.

Click here for address and more recommendations.

Enough Stockholm for now!

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