BKWine Blog

World’s biggest cooper: Seguin Moreau (part 1): The Oeneo Group

>> Friday, November 12, 2010

If you want to be exact, the world’s biggest cooper brand, for barrels from French oak, is Seguin Moreau. There are bigger barrel makers, e.g. making barrels for bourbon. We recently had the opportunity to visit Seguin Moreau at their headquarters just outside the small town of Cognac and will have the occasion to come back on this subject later. (We are hearing rumours about a “revolutionary” new innovation in oak barrel quality control to be launched early next year…) But we wanted to give you a few short facts about the cooper and cooperage already now.

Seguin Moreau is part of the group Oeneo, quoted on the French stock exchange. Oeneo also owns another barrel maker, Radoux, and a cork producer called Diams (perhaps better known under its previous name Sabaté, which they have changed perhaps due to an innovative process they originated that eliminates TCA in cork).

The two coopers, Seguin Moreau and Radoux, operate quite independently, even if they are part of the same group. They even seem to compete quite ferociously against each other sometimes. More info: www.lejournalduvin.com and www.seguin-moreau.fr and on their blog ”Winemakers for Good Wood”!

(Part 2 and 3 to come)

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Organic products grow with 50% at the Swedish alcohol monopoly

>> Thursday, November 11, 2010

Systembolaget, Sweden’s retail monopoly for alcohol, reports an increase in sales of 50% for organic products, including wine, for the third quarter 2010 compared to Q3-09. What the increase is for wine only is not reported. The total market share of organic products at the retail monopoly is 3%.

Systembolaget carries 117 organic products in their product range (“the fixed range”). They do not specify how many (or few) of those are wines. “To respond to (customer’s) demand we will continue to develop and broaden the range (of organic products) in the future”, says Marie Nygren, purchasing director at Systembolaget according to their press release.

But perhaps the conclusion should be the opposite? that they should suspend all organic products? The monopoly has as one objective to minimise alcohol sales (or at least not increase sales). It’s not easy to be a monopoly…

Sales of wine grew with 2.6% compared to Q3-09 to reach 49 million litres.

(NB: Organic wine is short for wine made from organically grown grapes. The EU recently failed to reach an agreement on regulations for organic winemaking. Today there are only rules for organic farming e.g. vine growing.)

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The Chinese wine market: a specialists’ blog

>> Monday, November 08, 2010

Many wine producers are betting the future on the Chinese wine market these days. The export sales to most countries are weak, but China seems to have caught an appetite for wine. According to the latest figures, if they are correct, China is now the biggest export market for Bordeaux wine, ahead of the UK. For those who want to know more about China and about how wine is sold and understood in China there is now a very specialised blog in that very subject. It is written by a Chinese journalist living in France, Jia Peng, so it is in French, but with Google Translate most people will be able to understand the essentials: Le Marché du Vin en Chine.

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Food photography festival in Paris 29 Oct – 14 Nov

The International Festival of Culinary Photography (Festival International de la Photographie Culinaire) will take place for the second year in a row in Paris between Oct 29 and Nov 14. This year’s theme is “I went down in my garden”. Definitely and interesting destination if you happen to be in Paris in the coming weeks! More info http://www.festivalphotoculinaire.com/

French wine TV relocates to Luxemburg

>> Sunday, November 07, 2010

Edonys is the cryptic name of a new television channel that will be entirely dedicated to programs about wine. The channel was created about a year ago by an entrepreneur who has specialised in creating very niche focused TV channels. But Edonys has now received a definitive “no” from the CSA (the French authority who supervises media and television. Trivia: the head of the CSA is also a vineyard owner): Edonys will not be allowed to carry advertising for wine. And without advertising the business will of course not be sustainable. Result: The channel will relocate to Luxemburg (currently they have their offices a stone’s throw from BKWine!), and will start transmitting from there. According to the Edonys management it poses no regulatory problem to locate the channel in Luxemburg and transmit to other EU countries (the CSA is of a different opinion). Vive l’UE! They expect to start transmitting programs early 2011. More info www.vitisphere.com (and the photo?)

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Cognac Renault acquired by Altia from Pernod Ricard for € 10 M

>> Friday, November 05, 2010

Cognac Renault is a brand that is mainly known on the Scandinavian market. Best known is the premium brand Renault Carte Noire, popularly called Black Renault. Altia Corporation, controlled by the Finnish state, has acquired the brand and some stock from Pernod Ricard for 10 million euro. (The acquisition is pending approval from authorities.) We are guessing that it is one of the brands that landed in the Pernod Ricard portfolio when they bought V&S Vin & Sprit from the Swedish government some years back. The main purpose of that acquisition was to get the control of Absolut Vodka. And that this sale is another step in cleaning up the portfolio from various brands and products that came with the acquisition. Altia has already previously taken of some such brands from Pernod Ricard. Read more www.decanter.com

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New Cru Bourgeois ”stamp” launched (4): Chateau la Tour de By renounces the Cru Bourgeois label

>> Thursday, November 04, 2010

The first reaction among the producers to the new Cru Bourgeois label has come quickly. According to a press release from Chateau la Tour de By (www.la-tour-de-by.com) they have been give the Cru Bourgeois stamp for their 2008 vintage (and they were classified as Cru Bourgeois Supérieur in 2002) but they have decided to renounce from using it and have chosen to (at least temporarily) leave l’Alliance.

Frédéric Le Clerc, who runs the chateau since 2005, says that the Cru Bourgeois label “no longer corresponds to a real quality”. In his view, the new system pushes the wine producers to produce wines that do not reflect a traditional respect for terroir. Instead it benefits producers of exceptionally concentrated and oaked wines that are not typical for the Médoc region. He sees it as something that will push the wine towards a uniform international style. Chateau la Tour de By is indeed a property with a good reputation and that they renounce the new system is interesting. What will the reaction be from the other producers? Already earlier this year some other producers pulled out (www.decanter.com)

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New Cru Bourgeois ”stamp” launched (3): and the winners in 2008 are…

>> Wednesday, November 03, 2010

The very first promotion of Cru Bourgeois labels have just been awarded – for the 2008 vintage. 290 chateaux were candidates but only 243 chateaux (84%) were passed the tests and the tasting. The whole list can be found on www.crus-bourgeois.com (but it is difficult to find and quite impossible to read – the site has a very slick design but is hopeless to navigate and information is difficult to find).

247 chateaux were in the 2003 Cru Bourgeois classification. Of those only 166 have the new CB stamp. The 243 chateaux who have been given the right to use the Cru Bourgeois denomination for the vintage 2008 (that label didn’t flow easily, did it?) represent all in all 44% of the 7200 hectares in the Médoc. In other words, CB is just under half of all the Medoc.

According to their site they had 270 members in the “Alliance” (that’s what the organisation is called: l’Alliance Cru Bourgeois) in 2009. How that fits with the 290 candidates for the CB label we do not know. Have twenty already left the Alliance?

What is your view on all this? Good or bad? If you’re a wine consumer or a wine producer, we’re interested in your view!

More info www.crus-bourgeois.com

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New Cru Bourgeois ”stamp” launched (2): How will it work? Will it work?

Will this be useful for the consumers? Very doubtful. On the other hand there are several questions: How will a wine consumer know if a wine (not a chateau) is CB or not? Will the producers be allowed to use “Cru Bourgeois” in their marketing communications, in spite of that they may not achieve CB every year? In practice it would mean that the chateaux can not write in e.g. their brochures that they are “Cru Bourgeois” since it varies from year to year… Or will the standards be set so low that everyone (who pays the fee to the Cru Bourgeois organisation) will be virtually guaranteed to pass?

Let’s say that the Chateau Xyz during a few years fail to get the CB label (perhaps because they make a wine in a style that is not liked by the tasting panel) will they then simply stop paying the fees to the CB organisation? Quite likely. Or, as a consequence, will the tasting committee have a tendency to be ‘co-operative’ since if they are not they will loose members?...

There are many questions around the new Cru Bourgeois label (not classification!) and we will probably not have the answers until it has existed for quite a few years. But the initial impression is that it will hardly make it easier for the consumer. And that one is rather trying to profit (with or without reason) from a classification that was created in 1932 and that has been annulled by the courts.

Read more on www.crus-bourgeois.com

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New Cru Bourgeois ”stamp” launched (1): new rules

>> Tuesday, November 02, 2010

In the olden times there was something called the Cru Bourgeois classification in Médoc (Bordeaux). But then, in 2003, they decided to review and modernise the classification. But unfortunately they hit on some road bumps. Some, who were left out of the classification were unhappy and thought that the procedure had not been fair. Eventually, the courts seem to have agreed and the new Cru Bourgeois classification was annulled. Rest in peace Cru Bourgeois. But now Cru Bourgeois has come to life again. But this time it is not a classification – classification is a very official term in French wine regions – but a “selection”. There are many difference compared to the old classification system. The biggest change is no doubt that the label does not apply to a chateau, but for a single vintage from a specific chateau and will be awarded, as appropriate, each year. It is only producers in the eight Médoc appellations that will be eligible for the Cru Bourgeois label. The awarding process is in three steps: 1) The property and the vinification facilities will be inspected at regular intervals (spanning several years). 2) Each vintage will be assessed by a tasting committee that will evaluate the quality and style of each vintage. 3) The wine producers can then for each vintage (two years after the harvest) apply to receive the label Cru Bourgeois (CB). Those who apply will be tasted blind and if certain set minimum requirements are attained they will be give CB – for that particular wine/vintage.

In other words: A chateaux can one year make a Cru Bourgeois wine and the next fail to attain CB status. It is indeed an unusual procedure for a wine region. It more resembles a traditional wine competition like the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles or then International Wine Challenge than a classification. They award medals for a particular wine of a specific vintage. If we understand it right the chateau can only use CB on the label for a particular vintage.

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Wine of the Month - Åsa's Pick: Dolcetto d’Alba, Bric Trifula 2009, Cascina Luisin

Dolcetto d’Alba, Bric Trifula 2009, Cascina Luisin

This is an elegant food wine at a very reasonable budget: Dolcetto d’Alba from the excellent winery Cascina Luisin in Barbaresco in Piemonte. Roberto, the son and also the current winemaker, talks about his wines as if they were persons. We’ll do as he does.

If Bric Trifula had been a person he/she would be calm but elegant, someone who did not really feel any need to brag and talk loudly; instead someone who’s individual and surprising in a quite positive way, especially if you give him a little time to get to know her better. With just a touch of perfume. Qualities that make you want to meet again. Goes excellent with a meal of pasta, even or quite fat food. Costing around 7 euro. They don’t have a web site but here’s the email and contact details: Cascina Luisin. Strada Rabajà, 34 - 12050 Barbaresco, (CN) ph. 0039 (0)173 635154, fax 0039 (0) 173 635154. Email: cascinaluisin (at) tiscali.it

Read more recommendations on restaurants and wine bars on my Restaurant and Wine Bar page.

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BKWine Pick: Coffele, Soave, Italy

>> Monday, November 01, 2010

Coffele, Soave, Italy

Soave is probably the most well-known white wine in Italy. The small and very pretty medieval town of Soave in situated in the region of Veneto, not far from Verona. In the town centre you will find a very interesting Soave-producer, Azienda Agricola Coffele, an estate that is run by Guiseppe Coffele, hans fru Giovanna Visco and their children Chiara and Alberto. In total the family has around 30 hectares of vineyards, mostly in Soave Classico but also in Valpolicella.

”Our aim is to make Soave more known for its quality wines”, says Chiara. “Too long the export market has considered Soave wines as simple, low quality wines.” If you want to know how a good quality Soave tastes, try the wines from Coffele. “Soave, in our opinion, should be a fresh and fruity wine with a lot of finesse, light in style instead of full-bodied. Their entry level Soave Classico 2009 is a very pleasant wine with floral aromas and some grapefruit in an easy-to-drink style. Ca’ Visco” Soave 2009 has a bit more body and Soave Alzari, with 100 % of garganega and 10 months of oak ageing, has a creamy structure, ripe fruit and a hint of vanilla. You’ll find finesse and elegance in all three wines.
Click here for address and more recommendations.

Read about more recommended producers on the site: Favourite Producers

Welcome to the BKWine Brief nr 87, October 2010

Harvest is soon over, but not quite yet. Some wine regions are still picking grapes and will continue into November. And even later for some sweet wines and of course for eiswein in Germany and Austria. In the South West of France the producers Les Vignerons de Plaimont tries every year to pick a few hectares of their Pacherenc de Vic-Bihl on December 31. Using various ruses they manage to save a few grapes from starving birds (that seems to be the biggest danger). The New Year’s Eve harvest gives grapes with a potential alcohol level of 19%. Not bad! They only get 5 hectolitres per hectare but the wine is silky smooth and honeyed.

Yes, it is a bit of a show, this New Year harvest, but so what? Let’s not take wine too seriously. A producer we met last week said “wine is a serious beverage that you should not take too seriously”. Quite right. Keep that in mind when you meet dreary wine snobs.

2010 is an interesting year in France. they seem to have had virtually every conceivable unpleasant thing in the vineyards: cold weather, frost, heavy rain (and perhaps even cats and dogs), grey rot, coulure, oidium and mildew. Sorting tables have made good service and is an investment that will have paid off this year. Yields are often below average. But in most cases the quality is excellent, at least when the wine maker is competent. They will have to work a bit harder in the wine cellar perhaps. It is not every year that “the wine is only made in the vineyard”.

We have also had a new chapter in the French classification chaos. (In French they have an expression that is “C’est un bordel”, which does not mean what you think but rather that something is completely confused, or confusing, and disorganised.) The old Cru Bourgeois classification has resurfaced. Only this time it is not a classification but a “selection”. Unfortunately many people in France, and sometimes elsewhere, seem to think that if they create a new classification (or appellation) their wines will magically sell better. All too often it results in something that is incomprehensible for the consumers and that more seems to be designed to reinforce the positions of the established producers, or is a war of words with the neighbours. Other examples: the classification in Saint Emilion, the proposed Grand Cru (or was it Grand Vin? No, both!) in Languedoc, various obscure micro-appellations that no-one has heard about and never will, Chaume Premier Cru in the Loire Valley (do you remember? No, I didn’t think so) etc. We wish that the wine producers spent more effort making better wines and communicating with consumers, and less on hoping to sell more by creating smokescreens or word magic.

And finally, do take a look at next seasons wine tours. We will soon launch the program, but already in this Brief we give you a sneak peek on the “public” tour to Bordeaux trip that we have planned for the spring. (Do keep in mind that we also do private and custom made tours. This year we will have organised around 30 wine tours in total.) More info below.

And as a very last thing we cannot help mentioning that we will have something very exciting to tell you in the next Brief. Don’t miss it!

Britt & Per

PS: Recommend to your friends to read the Brief or forward it to them ! More on wine:
Guest writers on BKWine.com
Wine videos: BKWine TV
Wine photography

Read it here!

We have won the prize for best wine book of the year!

>> Friday, October 29, 2010

We have just won the prize for BEST WINE BOOK OF THE YEAR for our book on wine growing and winemaking!! We are so happy and proud! Champagne coming at 19.00! On the book: http://ettvinblirtill.wordpress.com/english/
English edition next??

”It’s raining Swedes” in South Africa

>> Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Niel Pendock (twitter @NielPendock) thinks ’it is raining Swedes’ in his column in TimesLive.co.za. There are no less than three qualified sommeliers in South African restaurants: Josephine Gutentoft at Grande Roche, Joakim Hansi (”the dapper”) at the Round House in Camps Bay and Mia Mårtensson at Winery of Good Hope blogs.timeslive.co.za . As if that was not enough there was more rain recently in the form of two managers from the Swedish monopoly, Marie Nygren and Sara Norell, who came to talk about wine marketing to the south African wine industry. Everything has a reason of course: South Africa is the biggest supplier of wine to Sweden and Sweden is, if we remember right, South Africa’s third biggest export market. What they said (in addition to “we hope everyone will enjoy our work and do the world a bit better”): "Stieg Larsson and Systembolaget"

Belgium wins international wine tasting competition

>> Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Belgium emerged winner in the wine tasting competition organised by the French magazine La Revue du Vin de France. Curiously, the winner of the competition has always been the country in which the competition has been organised and this year it was in Atomium in Brussels. There was even a Swedish team that unfortunately did not reach the top. The teams are given twelve wines blind to taste and have to try and identify the origins and grape varieties as accurately as possible. The wines in this year’s competition were:

1 France, Champagne rosé, Pinot Noir, Bollinger Grand Année, 2002
2 New Zeeland, Marlborough, Sauvignon Blanc, St Clair, 2009
3 Spain, Rueda. Verdejo, Hermanos Lurton, 2009
4 Luxemburg, Ehnen Kaltenberg, Auxerois, Kohll-Reuland, 2009
5 France, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot, Chardonnay, Jadot, 2002
6 Belgium, Hesbay, Chardonnay, Chateau Genoels-Elderen, 2003
7 Italy, Sicilien, Nero d'Avola, Calatrasi Terre di Ginestra, 2007
8 Lebanon, Vallée de la Bekaa, Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah, Chateau Ksara Reserve, 2007
9 Australia, New South Wales, Petite Sirah, Deen de Bortoli, 2007
10 Chile, Limari, Syrah, Undurraga, 2007
11 France, Corbieres Boutenac, Carignan/Grenache/Mourvedre, Dom. Ollieux Romanis, 2007
12 Argentina, Menoza, Cabernet Sauvignon/Malbec, Bodega La Rural Rutini, 2007

Luxury DRC wines from 2006 to be released in Sweden at bargain prices on October 19

>> Monday, October 18, 2010

The Swedish retail monopoly Systembolaget has announced that they will release the long awaited lot of wines from the Domaine de la Romanée Conti on October 19. It is various cuvées from DRC from the 2006 vintage which have been resting in the monopoly cellars for quite some time. The top wine is the Romanée Conti 2006 which will retail at 24,495 SEK, which is far below the international market price. There are 24 bottles of this wine and a few hundred DRC wines in total that will be released.

The wines can be ordered from 10.00 AM on October 19 in the Systembolaget shops. Queues outside the shops are expected to be long, but only a few happy buyers will emerge. Most likely, the 24 bottles will be rapidly sent out of the country and the happy buyers can make a quick profit selling them elsewhere.

We find it strange that the Swedish monopoly should indirectly subsidise these kinds of wines by selling them below market prices (foregoing profit). We also cannot fathom in what way one can sell these wines in a “fair” manner, other than organising a lottery (or selling to the highest bidder). Can you?

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Domaine Turner Pageot in Languedoc goes video viral

Domaine Turner Pageot is a small wine estate in the village of Gabian not far from Béziers in the Languedoc. Karen Turner from Australia and Emmanuel Pageot from France first met in the cellars of Hugel in Alsace where they were both working for the harvest (quite) some years back. Both had a passion for (among other things) taste and good wine and the decided to join forces (as well as getting married). They have built up from scratch a small wine estate in the Languedoc, making original and character-full wines.

Earlier this year they contacted us at BKWine since they were interested in telling their story about the wines and the vineyards on video and wanted BKWine to produce the videos. The resulting videos are now available online! You can read more about the domaine on www.turnerpageot.com and you can watch all the videos (there are nine, some in English and some in French) on their YouTube channel www.youtube.com/turnerpageot

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New wine museum in Barolo

Earlier in September a new wine museum opened in Barolo in Piedmont. It is, not surprisingly, called WiMu. It has been designed by the famous architect François confine. More info on www.wimubarolo.it. Surely worth a visit if you are in the region.

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Languedoc wine auction on October 24

>> Monday, October 11, 2010

On October 24 there will be a great auction of Languedoc wines in Pic Saint Loup, one of the most interesting sub-regions in the Languedoc. There will be wines from the Pic St Loup itself and also from Terrasses du Larzac and Grès du Montpellier. Before the auction there will be a tasting of the wines on sale. The event is inspired by the auction in Burgundy at Les Hospices de Beaune. As in that case, the wines auctioned will still be in barrel. There will be a full week of festivities in the area before the auction. The intention is that this will be an annual event. More info www.automnalesdugrandpicsaintloup.fr Fun!

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