BKWine Brief nr 47, June 2007

Here in Paris we had a wonderful month of April. We sat on the balcony until late in the evenings enjoying 20+ centigrade. Then May arrived with the total contrast: cold and rain. In our building they turn of the heating on May 15 (no matter what) and we’ve rarely been freezing so much inside as this May.

In many parts of France the pattern was similar: wonderful April, horrible May. So, what does this has to do with wine? Well, the early heat and sun made the vines virtually explode with energy early on in the season. Some say the growth is two weeks early, other say the plants are a month or more ahead of time.

But then we had rain and cold in May that messed things up. The result? Poor flowering, uneven pollination, colure and other problems. This will probably lead to a small volume harvest and it will also be difficult to choose the right moment to pick the grapes. Grapes on the same bunch will have different maturity (due to uneven flowering) and ideally you should harvest in successive ‘tries’, like in Sauternes, only the ripe berries. But that will be too expensive. In other words, it seems to be a year when the work in the vineyard will be very important and when the skills at harvest time will make a big difference. We will see.

Slovenia – A new wine country to discover!

I was recently in Slovenia and it proved to be a very pleasant discovery, both regarding wine, food and beautiful countryside. A landscape that seems to be a mix between Tuscany and Austria (try and imagine!), an exciting and creative cuisine, and wines that we certainly of good quality and often original. Some of the whites you have to get a bit accustomed to – skin contact for six months is not unusual! – but once you’ve recovered from the first shock the wines are certainly very drinkable and interesting. And the world of wine could do with a few more surprising wines. Indigenous grape varieties coexist with the internationally well known. Even if Slovenia is best known for its white wines we found several reds that impressed, for example the Pinot Noir from Marjan Simcic and Rofosk from Uros Rojac. In this neat little country with 2 million inhabitants they are also very keen on growing their vines organically, or, as the dynamic Vesna Krisancic at Movia, even biodynamic. We will no doubt see more of it in the future.

Find out for yourself

Why not come and see for yourself how the harvest turns out? We have an exciting wine tour to Burgundy in September and a tour to Portugal in October. Register now for your autumn wine tour! More info: http://www.bkwine.com/wine_tours/wine_tours.htm

Book reviews

Just a reminder that you can find wine book reviews on our site. Perhaps good for some inspiration for summer reading or travel: http://www.bkwine.com/vininformation/wine_books.htm.

Britt