1. Luxemburg: 15.5 l
2. France: 14.8 l
3. Ireland: 13.5 l
4. Hungary: 13.4 l
5. Czech Republic: 12.1 l
6. Spain: 11.7 l
7. Denmark: 11.5 l
8. Portugal: 11.4 l
9. United Kingdom: 11.2 l
10. Austria: 11.1 l
12. Belgium: 10.7 l
13: Germany: 10.2 l
14. Australia: 9.8 l
16. Finland: 9.3 l
20. USA: 8.3 l
22. Italy: 8 l
26. Sweden: 7 l
27: Iceland: 6.5 l
28. Norway: 6 l
Source: OECD and nationmaster.com
But to tell the truth, Bolivia does produce ”real” wine too since a long time back. Unfortunately we have not (either…) had the opportunity to taste their wines. Since a few decades back they are trying to develop the wine production towards a quality profile. The vineyards are located near the Argentinean border at altitudes of between 1600 and 2850 metres! In total there are some 2000 ha (less than half of Chablis), planted with varieties such as malbec and cabernet sauvignon. Producers like Kohlberg and La Concepcion are spearheading the development. BBC Business and Wine Business Monthly
Read more...What else could one expect? 1000 bottles of wine were shipped from Bolivia, via Chile to Europe. When it arrived in Bulgaria it was seized by the police (cooperating with the US DEA). When they opened the bottles they found 700 litres of concentrated cocaine, worth some 10 million euro. reuters.com
Read more...Salvino Gorgone owns two hectares on one of the southernmost islands of Italy, Pantelleria, south of Sicily. He makes a wonderful sweet wine using the passito method (drying of the grapes for some time after the harvest) called Dietro L’Isola, “behind the island”. It has aromas of sun-ripened peaches, apricots and honey. It has an astonishing fresh acidity so that it is sweet without being cloying. The balance between sweetness, fruit and acidity makes this wine a wonderful example of a passito di Pantelleria. On the palate it is filled with figs and citrus fruit. It’s made from a grape called zibibbo. It’s a wine that is best drunk on its own, without any food. My suggestion is to simply replace the cheese or the dessert with a glass of Dietro l’Isola so that it can shine on its own. A half-litre bottle costs some 20 euro. Salvino Gorgone does not have a web site but can e reached on salvino.gorgone [at] libero [dot] it
Read more...Luc Menier is the sommelier and Sébastien Farré is the chef. Born and raised in the same village, in Chinon in the Loire Valley. Now they are both at the cleverly named and very nice restaurant Vin Chai Moi, just off Place de la Madeleine. They used to have a restaurant in the 20th arrondisement in Paris but in May they moved to this, much more central location. They are still putting the final touches to the decoration, when we were there the first time the parquet was not yet done on the first floor but the second time it was in place. They have three levels: a small are on street level which they will run as a small and elegant brasserie with just a few tables. The basement can be rented for private functions or tastings. One floor up is the restaurant and a small bar. A three course menu goes for 33 euro and if you pick and chose from the à la carte you can expect 40-45 euro. The ravioli de langoustine is a delicious starter with a creamy sauce, or try the foie gras de canard mi-cuit. As a main course you can try the file de bar (seabass) with penne and chanterelles mushrooms, a generous entrecôte with creamy mashed potatoes, or a souris d’agneu (literally, a smiling lamb, a very tender knuckle of lamb) with curry cauliflower. If you still have room for desert (please do) you can try their home made baba au rhum (sponge cake steeped in rum, but go easy on the rum, they’ll put the bottle on the table…) or a delicious Grand marnier soufflé. The wine list is quite extensive without being excessive, with several interesting bottles starting at 24 euro: a very good Saint Romain from Alain Gras for 36 euro (lots of pinot in that wine!) or a white Chinon (unusual!) for only 24 euro. (Open lunch and dinner. Closed Sundays and Mondays.)
Click here for address and more recommendations.
Pascal Jolivet, Sancerre
Click here for address and more recommendations.
Château d'Anglès, Languedoc La Clape
Click here for address and more recommendations.
What makes a good wine list in a restaurant? Various magazines and others have an annual prize for ”best wine list”. The most (in-)famous is no doubt the one from Wine Spectator who a year or two ago gave a prize to a restaurant in Italy that did not exist… (They were tricked by a scam devised by an Italian journalist.) But for us, personally, what makes for a good wine list? It is mostly a question of inspiration, intelligence and the joys of discovery. It is not a purpose in itself (or even necessarily positive) that the wine list is long. We’ve seen many long wine lists with, for example, an impressive number of different Burgundies, but all from the same depressing négociant house.
No, a wine list is excellent if you can find something interesting and exciting in each category, wines that match the food on the menu. It’s nice if the wines are a bit unusual and not necessarily the most well known, so that you have a chance to discover something new. It’s a big minus if the list only has Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne (in some markets this “boring wine selection” is replaced by e.g. southern Italy, South Africa and Australia). We’d much rather see a handful of inspired choices than a long list of “safe” names.
Having a selection of wines by the glass is of course also important. But that does not have to be very long either. It’s OK with a few inspired wines. What we definitely don’t like is when the wines by the glass are served in aquarium-sized glasses in portions of, say, a quarter of a litre. Too many restaurants / wine bars serve wines by the glass in so big portions that you’d hesitate to order a second glass. It is much better, we think, with reasonable glass sizes and it’s a big added plus if you can order small “tasting portions” of e.g. 8 cl, so that you can order several different wines to compare.
And then there are some basic “hygiene” aspects of the wine list: It must show who the producer is. A wine list that only says “Bourgogne Saint Véran” is really useless, just as meaningless as if it only said “Shiraz from Australia”. This is really a sore point on many wine lists! The vintage must also be indicated of course. And it should correspond to what is on the bottle… If, in addition, the wine list has a short description of the wine style and some words about the producer and about the wine region, then it is a very good sign! Those simple things will surely help the restaurant to sell more wines and give the customer a much better wine experience!
Britt & Per
PS: Recommend to your friends to read the Brief or forward it to them !
Read the full BKWine Brief #73 here!
Wine Politics
By Tyler Colman
Publisher: University of California Press 
Click here for more book reviews on my site. You will also find links to on-line book shops on that page.
Sometimes that is indeed the impression one can get. But the question was posed by Jancis Robinson when she made a presentation to the Wine Communicators of Australia. And her answer is, well, it does not look too bright with less wine writing in daily papers and very tough times for all the press. And if you (as a wine writer) have not yet discovered the internet, then you are in even more dire straits. Read her whole lecture here: www.jancisrobinson.com
Read more... 
Ulf Buxrud is a dedicated whisky fanatic. His latest (and second) book tells the story about Japanese whisky. It has been awarded third prize (sprits books) at the Gourmand World Cookbok Awards. His first book won first prize! Congratulations! You can read our book review here: Wine Book Reviews.
Read more...Many visitors to France have seen the Nicolas shops, but you will find a much more exciting selection of wines in the Repaire de Bacchus ‘cavistes’. RdB is a chain with 35 shops, primarily in the Paris region. It is owned by CL Financial who also owns ChateauOnline, on of the leading internet shops for wine in France. The President of ChateauOnline, Eric Brousse, now wants to sell the retail chain, according to the journal LSA. It is, he thinks, the only way to get access to additional capital needed to continue to develop the business. The online one, one assumes he means.
Read more... 
Country forecast 2008, ‘000 hl in %
Country forecast 2008, ‘000 hl in %
Country forecast 2008, ‘000 hl in %
World wine production in 2008 is estimated to be slightly down from 2007: 269 million hl, which is 0.4 Mhl less than 2007. The world’s biggest wine producer in 2008 will be Italy with almost 49 Mhl, followed by France (41 Mhl) and Spain (34 Mhl). There is a big gap to number four that is the US. China is moving up to 7th place. Europe accounts for a hefty 66% of the wine production, Asia only 5%, America 18%, Africa 4% and Oceania 5%. Source OIV:
Country forecast in ‘000 hl for 2008 in %
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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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