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

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

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

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?

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?

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

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

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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Wood disease - maladie de bois

A big problem in many vineyards today is ’maladie de bois’ (wood disease?). It is a fungal disease that attacks the vine and finally kills it (there are several different types, e.g. esca and eutypiose). Previously, it has been effectively treated with a mixture containing arsenic, but since it turned out to be harmful not only to the vine it is now forbidden. Today the wine growers just have to wait until the vine dies and then pull it up (or pull it up earlier of course). But there is a problem – you have to make sure you get as much as possible of the roots out of the ground since otherwise the virus will remain in the sick root. And that is not easy to do. In Auvergne they have been doing tests with a mini-excavator with a contraption that can pull up the vine and almost all of the roots, and it has proven to do a pretty good job. Read more on the tests here: www.sauvat-vins.com (Photo: Sauvat-Vins)

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