Book review: Andrew Jefford’s Wine Course

Andrew Jefford’s Wine Course
By: Andrew Jefford
Photo: William Lingwood & Alan Williams, et al
Ryland, Peters & Small, £19.99, ISBN 978-1845977238

This is an introduction to wine and wine tasting. Andrew Jefford accompanies the reader through a series of “projects” where each is focused on learning something about wine. You can start with Project #1 “how to taste wine” and then go through the book to learn (a bit) about winemaking, about grape varieties and about the world’s major wine districts. Each section also contains some practical exercises to make the whole even more enjoyable. The book is elegantly produced with overall a very good photo material (and Jefford seems to have enjoyed the tasting shoots with his three beautiful co-tasters). The text is well written and easy to follow, not going very much in detail of course. In other words, it’s an excellent introduction to wine and wine tasting that can be followed up later (in the Christmas present sack for instance) with one more book with more details on wine regions and wine producers.

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BKWine TV: [E] Domaine Matassa, interview with Tom Lubbe, Roussillon

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http://www.bkwine.com/wine_tours/wine... --- Interview with Tom Lubbe, the owner and winemaker at Domaine Matassa in Calce in Roussillon. It is a relatively new winery in the Roussillon in the south of France that Tom Lubbe created some years ago (in 2002) together with Sam Harrop from New Zealand. Lubbe has previously been making wine both in South Africa and in Bordeaux and arrived some years back to the Roussillon to work with Domaine Gauby with Gerard Gauby (also in Calces).

The vineyard is managed with biodynamic principles (just like Gauby). Lubbe makes both red and white wine from traditional Roussillon grape varieties: carignan and grenache and some mourvedre.

http://www.matassawines.com/

(John Radford, interviewing Thomas in the video, is a freelance feature-writer (since 1981) and broadcaster (since 1989) with a special interest in the Mediterranean, particularly Spain, and a background in food and drink going back to 1966. For more on John Radford: see http://www.johnradford.com for latest news and read his blog at http://www.johnradford.com/blog/blogg...

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Book review: Japanese Whisky – Facts, figures and taste

Japanese Whisky – Facts, figures and taste
By: Ulf Buxrud
Publisher: DataAnalysis Scandinavia AB, http://www.buxrud.se/japan.htm

Ulf Buxrud is a great connoisseur of whisky. He has previously written a book about single malts from Scotland. This is his second book and in it he explores the world of Japanese whisky. Contrary to many other spirits (and wines), whisky is not a protected denomination of origin. So Japan is both a great consumer and producer of whisky. The major part of the book contains producer profiles with both history, tasting notes and even some tourism tips for the potential visitor – a good idea! The first part of the book gives you an introduction to whisky in Japan, including how it first came to this country as well as a chapter on how whisky is made (with some interesting Japanese specialities). It is a big format book (too big for our book shelf!) and the design is elegant. Just a pity that the photos generally are dull and poor (and some are even mounted the wrong way). In spite of that, this is definitely a book to be slowly consumed by any adventurous whisky enthusiast who ventures beyond Scotland.

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BKWine TV: [F] Chateau Lestage, Caroline Chanfreau-Philippon interview

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http://www.bkwine.com/wine_tours/wine... --- Interview with Caroline Chanfreau-Philippon, owner of Chateau Lestage together with her brother Jean Chanfreau, who is the winemaker.

The vineyard and winery of Ch Lestage is located in Listrac in Medoc, Bordeaux. The chateau is one of those that have been classified as Cru Bourgeois.

She explains first where Listrac is situated. Not far from Moulis that is between Saint Julien and Margaux. It covers only 670 hectares and is one of the highest (in altitude) of the Medoc appellations with its 43 (!) meters.

She tastes the 2005 of Chateau Lestage– a great and exceptional vintage in Bordeaux. And she also comments specifically on the wines from the new 2007 vintage.

The first grapes to be harvested are the merlots and the last are the cabernets. Part of the harvest is manual and part is made by harvesting machine. They use quite long macerations. As virtually all modern vineries they use temperature controlled fermentation tanks.

Entretien avec le vigneron (vigneronne) Caroline Chanfreau-Philippon, proprietaire du domaine Cheteau Lestage.
Une propriete dans le vignoble de Listrac en Medoc, une region viticole dans le Bordelais en Aquitaine connu pour ses vins elegants et classiques.

http://www.chateau-lestage.com/

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The Paris wine shop Lavinia grows with 19%

Lavinia is one of Paris’ most interesting (but perhaps not cheapest) wine shops, located centrally on Bd Madeleine. They have an impressively large selection counting some 6500 references. They also have a restaurant (with the wines at shop prices) and a wine accessory shop. Lavinia France ended the year 07/08 with the turnover up by 19%, reaching sales of 13.5 M euro. Exports and internet sales are the sectors that have seen the most buoyant growth. Lavinia France is part of the Lavinia Group with a turnover of 35 M euro, selling 1.5 M bottles, with 250 000 customers world wide. www.winealley.com

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BKWine TV: [E] Domaine Boucabeille interview

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http://www.bkwine.com/wine_tours/wine... --- Interview with Jean Boucabeille, the owner and winemaker at Domaine Boucabeille in Roussillon. It is a family property in the Roussillon in the south of France. In this video it is the new generation winemaker in the family who talks.

The vineyard comprises some 20 hectares and makes primarily red wine of the appellation Cotes du Roussillon Villages and some sweet Rivesaltes. The winery and vineyard was created from scratch on barren land in the 70s on old fashioned terraces. They grow mainly Grenache noir, carignan, mourvedre and syrah, and a bit macabeu and Grenache blanc. The soil is mainly schist (slate).

Language is English [E]

Entretien avec le vigneron M. Boucabeille, proprietaire du Domaine Boucabeille.

Une propriete dans le vignoble roussillonnais, une region viticole dans le sud de la France connu pour ses vin rouge tres savoureux.

http://www.boucabeille.com

(John Radford, interviewing Jean in the video, is a freelance feature-writer (since 1981) and broadcaster (since 1989) with a special interest in the Mediterranean, particularly Spain, and a background in food and drink going back to 1966. For more on John Radford:
see http://www.johnradford.com for latest news and read his blog at http://www.johnradford.com/blog/blogg...


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New edition of Parker’s wine bible, the Buyer’s Guide

Robert Parker, the world’s pre-eminent wine guru according to many buyers, have recently published a new edition of his main book: 'Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide No. 7' (yes, it’s the seventh edition). In this new edition it is not only Parker who writes. He has enlisted a team of co-writers for the comments and tasting notes. Parker himself writes about Bordeaux, California and the Rhône Valley. The rest of the book is shared thus: : Neal Martin - New Zealand & South America; Mark Squires – Portugal & Israel; Antonio Galloni – Italy; Jay Miller - Australia, Chile, Argentina, Spain, Oregon, Washington & Port wine; David Schildknecht - Alsace, Beaujolais, Burgundy, the Loire Valley, Languedoc-Roussillon, Austria, Germany & Central Europe. In other words, Parker is behind only a minority of the text in the book. One can wonder if this “dilution” of Parker’s own writing will have an effect over time on the influence that the Parker Guides have on the international wine market. More info www.latimes.com

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BKWine TV: Chateau Bellefont-Belcier, a visual visit

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http://www.bkwine.com/wine_tours/wine... --- A virtual visual visit to Chateau Bellefont Belcier, Saint Emilion Grand Cru Class?, in Bordeaux.

Bellefont Belcier is located on the lower part of the appellation (below the village itself) and to the east. It is in total 20 hectares. The grape varieties used are merlot, cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc. The wine is made by Dominique Hebrard and Emanuel de Saint Salvy with the help of two consultant oenologists: Michel Rolland and Gilles Pauquet.

http://www.bellefont-belcier.fr/

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Wine gadgets for Christmas?

What about a pair of ear-rings in the shape of grape bunches? Or a cocktail table with legs made from old vines? Or a tshirt with the text “I’ll trade my husband for wine”? Or keeping to the more down to earth things, decanters, glasses and many other kind of (potential) gift items. Lots of inspiration can be found here: www.sterlingwineonline.com

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BKWine TV: [F] Ch Fourcas-Hosten, Renaud Momméja interview

http://www.bkwine.com/wine_tours/wine... --- Interview with Renaud Momméja, owner since 2006 of Chateau Fourcas-Hosten, together with his brother Laurent Momméja. (The Momméjas are one of the principal owners of Hermès, the French fashion and luxury goods group.)

Ch Fourcas-Hosten is located in Listrac in Médoc, Bordeaux. The chateau is one of those that have been classified as Cru Bourgeois.

Its a property of 20 ha with merlot on clay-limestone (argilo-calcaire), and 27 hectares on sand and gravel (graves) for cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc.

After 18 months of ownership he Renaud Mommeja shares with us the experiences as a « recent » winemaker.

Three vintages tasted and discussed: 2007 in primeur, a very interesting vintage with a cold summer but excellent harvest season; 2006 has just come out of its aging; 2005 a finished wine and outstanding vintage, balance, fruit, length, an almost perfect vintage.

Language is French [F].

[F] Entretien avec le vigneron Renaud Momméja, le propriétaire du Chateau Fourcas-Hosten à Bordeaux.

http://www.chateaufourcashosten.com/

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Wine Fairs

French Wine Growers’ Fair in London 21-23 November

130 ”authentic” and “traditional” French winegrowers will exhibit on the First French Winegrowers Fair in London on November 21-23. It takes place at the Barbican Exhibition Centre in central London. You pay a small entrance fee (£10) and then you can taste as much as you like of the more than 500 wines that are presented. There will also be tastings, a special section on organic wines and on French wines made by Brits and more. You can also buy wines on-site (trolleys are provided) or have them delivered to your home. Sounds like an entertaining event. Especially the authentic winegrower! www.frenchwinegrowersfair.com

Millesime Bio – organic wine fair, 26-28 January

Millesime bio is the annual wine faire dedicated to organic wines (need we add once again that it should be read “wine produced from organically grown grapes”. There are no such thing, strictly speaking, as “organic wine”). The next edition (the 16th!) takes place on January 26-28, 2009. This time it will be in Montpellier, making it easier to access for long distance visitors. Perhaps they are also expecting larger crowds ‘organic’ being much the rage these days. www.millesime-bio.com

WineMeetings Cannes in February

A little while ago we talked about the WineMeetings Cannes event. It is a meeting place for buyers and negociants. Their new web site is now online: www.winemeetings-cannes.fr

Provence and Rhône wine fair, Blue Wine Expo.

Blue Wine Expo is a professional wine fair that presents 120 independent winegrowers (‘vignerons indépendants’) to buyers, importers and the restaurant trade. A good occasion to make new contacts with winemakers from Provence and the southern Rhône valley. In Marseille on January 26-27. More info www.bleuwinexpo.com

VinExpo Asia-Pacific: May 25-27, 2010

The next Asian edition of the big (huge) wine fair VinExpo has been scheduled for May 25-27, 2010. It will take place at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre. More info: www.vinexpo.com

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BKWine TV: [F] Ch Fourcas-Dupré, Patrice Pagès

http://www.bkwine.com/wine_tours/wine... --- Interview with Patice Pagès, owner of Château Fourcas Dupré in Listrac, Médoc, Bordeaux, France.

It is a family owned winery that his father bought in 1970. The French chateau is one of those that have been classified as Cru Bourgeois claret.
47 hectares of vines.

2007: an outstandingly charming vintage. Very elegant.
2006: a completely different vintage. A much more classic vintage. More structured and more tannin.
2005: Now in bottle since a few months. A great vintage, that almost approaches a definition of what wine should be, almost a perfect wine. Justifiably hailed as a great vintage by the markets.

M. Pagès aims to always do a bit better. There is always something that can be improved.

The key for a great wine is to harvest great grapes. And what are great grapes? Well, it is ripe grapes.

Language is French [F].

[F] Entretien avec le vigneron Patrice Pagès, le propriétaire du Chateau Fourcas-Dupré à Bordeaux.

http://www.fourcasdupre.com/

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Campaign for more organic wines in France

The French minister of agriculture, Michel Barnier, has presented a plan to increase the portion of organically grown (wine) grapes in France. The aim is to reach 6% of the total area by 2012. There will be new restriction against using chemicals as well as initiatives to stimulate growers to switch to organic. According to Agence Bio there is today (2007) 2.6% of organic vineyards in France. It is Burgundy (perhaps surprisingly) that has seen the most rapid growth in organic wine farming: plus 28% in 2007, compared to the country average of +16%. Provence and Languedoc-Roussillon are two other regions that have seen big increases. www.frenchwinesbulletin.co.uk

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Does hiring a famous winemaker make the wine more expensive? – Yes.

If a vineyard hires a “famous” winemaker, does it have an impact on the price of their wines? The answer is, not surprisingly, yes, according to a recent study. The effect is immediate and possibly double. Immediately when a famous winemaker is hired (or it is announced) the price goes up, long before the winemaker star has had the possibility to have any influence on the quality of the wine – in economic terms this is called the symbolic effect. Later, when the new winemaker has had an impact on the wine there can also be a “substantive effect” if the quality goes up too. Peter Roberts and Christopher Rider from Emory University and Mukti Khaire of Harvard University have recently written a paper on the subject that will be presented at the Association of Wine Economists congress: “Basking in Reflected Glory: Symbolic and Substantive Implications of Winemaker Mobility”. The results show that the “symbolic” effect, i.e. the immediate effect before any possible change in quality, is an increase in price of 3%. More surprising, perhaps, is that the finding that there is (even later) no change in quality, as measured in WineSpectator ratings. In other words, hiring a famous winemaker makes the wine go up in price but it makes no difference for the quality of the wine… Read more… wine-econ.org

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BKWine TV: [F] Ch Fonréaud, Jean Chanfreau interview

http://www.bkwine.com/wine_tours/wine... --- Interview with Jean Chanfreau, winemaker and co-owner of Chateau Fonréaud, Chateau Lestage in Listrac in Médoc, Bordeaux, and Chateau Caroline (the latter in Moulis), together with his sister Caroline Chanfreau-Philippon. The chateau is one of those that have been classified as Cru Bourgeois.

All are wines that age very well. It is classic claret wines with lots of elegance.

He talks about the history of the château and the character of his wines.
Over the 25 years that he has made the wine. He also explains the different option a winemaker has to change the style of his wines.

He also mentions the interesting fact that when the Médoc chateaux were classified in 1855 there were no cabernet or merlot grapes in the Médoc.

He comments on the three vintages 2005 the perfect vintage with perfect balance, 2006 which was a cooler vintage and that will perhaps need more time but potentially longer living, and 2007 a late vintage but with wonderful autumn giving more fruity wines for early drinking.

Language is French [F].

[F] Entretien avec le vigneron Jean Chanfreau, le propriétaire du Chateau Fonréaud à Bordeaux.

http://www.chateau-fonreaud.com/

By BKWine, http://www.bkwine.com

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18 month low for wine prices

The Liv-ex 100 Fine Wine is an index (just like stock indexes) tracking wine prices. It has reach an 18 month low in October, falling 12% in that month alone. Some examples: Lafite 2004 -28%, Montrose 2003 -23%, Ausone 2000 -22% and so on. The somewhat broader Liv-ex 500 (including 500 wines) was not hit at all as hard, down only 1.8% in the month. Jack Hibberd, research manager at Liv-ex, says to Decanter: “the [wine] market is not immune”. www.decanter.com

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BKWine TV: [E] Mount Athos Wine - Tsantali

http://www.bkwine.com/wine_tours/wine... --- Interview with George Salpiggidis, viticultural director of Tsantali Winery. He talks about Tsantali's wine made on the holy peninsula of Mount Athos.

Evangelos Tsantali established the Mount Athos vineyard in the early 70s, with mainly international grape varieties.

Today the vineyards cover around 100 hectares. Much has been replanted more recently, also with traditional Greek grape varieties.

The vineyard is cultivated organically.

One problem is the lack of water, there is only 300 mm rain per year. Today they are considering irrigation - watering the vineyards. Another challenge is to bring the organic manure to the vineyards since they are very remote.

The wine was originally made in collaboration with the monks at the closest monastery. But today Tsantali only provide the wine to the monastery and help maintain the buildings, badly in need of restoration.

http://www.tsantali.gr

By BKWine, http://www.bkwine.com

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End of The Good Times for top Bordeaux wines?

Will the financial crisis lead to harder times for the most exclusive wine chateaux in Bordeaux? Some people think so. Jeffrey Davis says to Wine Business International that he has noted a decline in the demand in top US restaurants. Others also note a weakening demand. But it’s perhaps not only the financial crisis that is in play: the primeur “campaign” for the 2007s were very slow; the dollar is weak etc. But it may take some time before the pain is felt. Many merchants ar getting paid this year for deliveries of the very expensive 2005s, bolstering revenues. Yann Schyler, of negociant Schroder & Schyler and Ch Kirwan is expecting a difficult 2009: “The sales of top-of-the-range wines have stopped since a few months back. Customers have other things on their minds. Airlines, for instance, who used to buy bottles between 8 and 12 euro are now looking for wines at 3 to 8 euro”, he sais to the Sud-Ouest newspaper.

(And perhaps this should not come as a big surprise, after e.g. the drastic price hikes in 2005 when some wines went up in price with 500% or more…) Read more: wine-business-international.com and www.straitstimes.com

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BKWine TV: [E] Domaine Gerovassiliou in Greece

http://www.bkwine.com/wine_tours/wine... --- Interview with Evangelos Gerovassiliou founder and owner of Domaine Gerovassiliou. He founded the winery in 1981.

Domaine Gerovassiliou is a winery located not far from Thessaloniki (Thessalonica) in the hillsides of Epanomi, in northern Greece.

Evangelos Gerovassiliou believes that the future of Greek wine is based on the indigenous native varieties, for example, malagousia, a grape variety he revived and saved from oblivion.

The winery makes both red and white wines, white are both dry and sweet.
Evangelos Gerovassiliou also co-owns another Greek winery called Biblia Chora further to the north. he also has a wine estate in Stellenbosch in South Africa.

http://www.gerovassiliou.gr

By BKWine, http://www.bkwine.com

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• Subscribe: Subscribe to our channel and you will get an email notification each time we publish a new video. There’s a yellow ‘subscribe’ button on the page. (You have to have a YouTube account, but it’s free and easy to register, and it is not at all necessary to upload a video when you have an account)
• Choose a subject: You can choose videos on specific themes, e.g. Bordeaux, Portugal, Italy etc. Go to our Playlists (menu link on the top of the channel page) and choose the subject
• Choose a language: If you want to see videos only in a specific language (English [E], French [F], or Swedish [S]) choose the corresponding Playlists or the link to the language sections on the BKWine TV channel page
• High Quality: most videos are also available in “high quality”. Click on the link “watch in high quality” just under the video box. Much better playback but you’ll need a good broadband. Try it!
• Feedback: You make us happy if you rate our videos or give us other feedback: give star ratings, write comments, or put videos on your favourites list
• Share: If you like a video you can share it with friends. Click “share” to send them an email.
• Advanced…: If you are a true enthusiast and have a web site (or blog) you can “borrow” our videos. Just copy the “embed code” on the video page and use it on your site.

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Does filtered wine taste less good?

It is very common that wine is filtered before bottling. There are even oenologists who say that any winemaker who does not filter is irresponsible and careless. In the opposite corner we have the crowd that says that filtering, and the “finer” the worse, removes subtleties and nuances in the wine. Just look at all the wines that proudly boast “unfiltered” on the label (we had a Greek one last night). So, what’s the truth? As usual with wine, there is not necessarily any definite “truth”. It depends. On many things. If you’re interested you can get one point of view in the article ”If Filtration 'Strips' Wine, What's Getting Stripped?” in Wines & Vines . (The author comments that it is difficult to judge if it makes any perceptible difference or not, but that can hardly be the case. Just sample the same wine filtered and unfiltered. Surely someone has done that…)

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