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.
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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):
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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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