BKWine Blog

Champagne extends its AOC limits

>> Thursday, November 15, 2007

The Champagne region has approved 40 new communes as (potential) producers of champagne. Today, the Champagne region (the appellation) covers some 32500 ha and virtually all of it is already planted with wine. A project has already been running for a few year to extend the limits of the appellation in order to satisfy the growing demand. (They have already raised the limit for maximum yield to around 100 hl/ha in the same spirit.) Approving the 40 new communes is only a first step. Next phase is to evaluate which specific land plots will be included in the appellation. That is expected not to be finalised until 2017. One can imagine the difficulties in the project. One hectare of prime AOC land can be worth 1 million euro whereas a hectare of plain agricultural land has a more modest price tag…

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Seven new Masters of Wine

As we noted in the last Brief, Sweden now has it’s first MW, the highly respected British wine diploma. At the same time, six other candidates passed the tests and can now add the magic initials after their names: Craig Dumond, partner in Garland Wines in Australia, David Le Mire, marketing consultant and wine educator in Australia, Peter Mitchell, wine merchant at Laytons in England, Pierpaolo Petrassi, product manager at Tesco in England, Barbara Philip, wine educator and the first female Canadian MW, and Greg Sherwood of wine merchant Hanford Wines in England. A big congratulation!

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Denmark gets its first ”AOC”

Perhaps a slight exaggeration - Denmark has had approved four regional denominations for its wines. According to European regulations a “new” wine district must first prove its capability of producing quality wines before getting the right to use a geographically specific denomination (initially it is simply “table wine”). Denmark has now graduated from “table wine” to four regional denominations: Jutland, Fyn, Sjaelland and Bornholm. There are 26 registered wine producers sharing a grand total of 20 hectares. So one hopes that this promotion won’t cause a surge in demand, because there aren’t that much wine to go round… www.wine-business-international.com

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Yquem for 4.5 million dollars

Nils Stormby, the Swedish wine collector, recently sold most of his world famous Chateau d’Yquem collection at Zachy’s auction house in New York. The sale netted a very decent 4.5 million dollars.

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Good quality but small volume in Muscadet

In Muscadet this year’s harvest promises to yield very good quality but limited volumes. An early and warm spring kick-started the vegetation period. But a cold and humid summer caused problems with the flowering (limiting the quantity) and also led to some problems with rot (mildiou). But from the end of August the weather returned to sunny and warm and harvest began on September 10. Thanks to the very nice autumn the grapes were in good quality with good ripeness, but not very abundant.

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BKWine Tip: Villa Spicy

>> Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Villa Spicy, Paris 8e

Just off Les Champs-Elysées, on the avenue F Roosevelt, you find this pleasant restaurant with excellent food with a certain Provençal touch. It used to be called (simply) Spicy but have now (why?) changed name to Villa Spicy. Perhaps because of a total (successful) renovation – the atmosphere is now relaxed and cosy, service is friendly. They have a good-value lunch menu for 20 euro (two courses, e.g. with a superb pumpkin soup with chestnut crème, a very popular French autumn dish). Starters go for 9-14 euro, main courses are 14-28 euro. They also have a fixed price menu in the evening for 28 euro. A small (as often in French restaurants) selection of wines by the glass.

Click here for address and more recommendations.

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BKWine Tip: Domaine des Grécaux, Languedoc

Domaine des Grécaux, Languedoc
Isabelle and Alain Caujolle-Gazet

Alain and Isabelle Caujolle-Gazet settled to make wine in Montpeyroux in Languedoc in 1998. Today they have 11 hectares, 7 of which are on very poor soil (and thus good for wine growing) on the Montpeyroux plateau and this is the source of their cuvée Héméra. This is an excellent example of this peculiar Montpeyroux terroir, says Alain. Héméra is made from 75% Syrah and 25% Grenache. The style is densely concentrated with typical aromas of Syrah – charcuteri, spices and dark berries. Try it, or any other of the Grécaux wines, if you can find it!

Click here for address and more recommendations.

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Welcome to the BKWine Brief nr 52, November 2007

One of the things we really enjoy is looking for and discovering new wines. Drinking a very good Bordeaux or Burgundy (just to mention those two as examples) can be very satisfying but it is not necessarily much of an achievement – provided you have enough money to pay for these wines. It can be some added satisfaction if you have looked hard for the wine or if you think that you have found something that is yet to become famous – excellent wines at reasonable value. That is one of the reasons why it was such fun to write our new (our first!) book on the Languedoc wine region. It’s a region where you can find many good producers without paying a fortune. But you have to know where to look. So you should read our book as a guide. Unfortunately, it is so far only available in Swedish. (If you have an uncle who’s a book publisher please let us know! We’re looking for one. More on our book here.) The same thing can be said about many other wine districts, for example Portugal. We’ve just had two new books on Portuguese wines land in the mailbox, which we hope will be good guides to discover this “revived” wine country. (We will review them in the next Brief. They came too late for this one.)

But in a way, it is the same thing with the two “classics” I mentioned at the beginning. Bordeaux and Burgundy is easy if you can splash out money (and it doesn’t take much of a wine adventurer to do it). But if you go a bit beyond the obvious choices it becomes more exciting, say the Premières Côtes in Bordeaux or smaller family growers in Burgundy. That’s where you can find really interesting gems, sometimes a bit rough at the edges, but that gives you the extra satisfaction of experiencing something a little bit different.

That’s what we will try and show you on our early summer tour to “Three Classic French Wine Regions” to Champagne, Chablis and Burgundy. If you are only interested in Krug, DRC, Comte Vogüé and the likes, don’t bother with this tour. But if you are curious to discover some family Champagne growers and some smaller properties (making outstanding wines!) in Chablis and Burgundy, we think you should consider it… More info here.

Talking about wine tours – Next season’s first tour, “Truffles, Wine, Foie Gras and Duck” in Perigord is already getting quite a few registrations, so hurry up if you are interested, before it’s full! More info here.

And if we should also be a little bit socially conscious in these times of equitable trade and global warming (and public transport strikes in Paris! Come here if you want to know how it feels to be held hostage…) etc etc, to be honest the classed growths generally don’t need your money. They manage very well as it is, thank you. But many of the small growers are happy for every single customer they get, so why not spend your money with those who really need it and who need to work hard for a living? Which is certainly the case for many smaller growers or family producers.

In this Brief you’ll also have the opportunity to discover some really unusual wines: from Brazil, from Denmark and from Namibia… Britt PS: Recommend to your friends to read the Brief or forward it to them !

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Sweden’s first Master of Wine

>> Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Ulf Sjödin became Sweden’s first Master of Wine. His normal day job (when not working on the MW exam) is marketing manager at V&S Wine, the wine division of the government owned wine importer and spirits producer V&S Group. After three years hard work he passed the three hurdles: the practical exam (read: wine tasting), the theoretical exam and a paper to be written on an individually chosen subject (Ulf chose, not surprisingly, to write on wine pricing in Sweden). Congratulations! More info on MW here: http://www.masters-of-wine.org/

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New information source on Alsace

The Swedish wine enthusiast Per Warfvinge fell in love with Alsace wines and created a very interesting site on Alsatian wines, unfortunately only available in Swedish. After no doubt substantial work he has now translated the whole site to English. A gold mine for he who looks for information on Alsace: http://www.alsace-wine.net/

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More harvest news: great year for Châteauneuf-du-Pape

>> Monday, October 15, 2007

The summer has been exceptionally sunny and windy in Châteauneuf (as opposed to some regions further north). They have had a bit of rain during the harvest but it has not caused any serious problems (it was rather welcome after the very dry summer). The producers’ federation expects it to be an outstanding vintage (following on the also very good 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006). As Marc Perrin at Château de Beaucastel says: “The weather is fantastic. Very sunny and very windy. The grapes are very healthy and if things continue this way, 2007 will be a great vintage in the Southern Rhône.”

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Five bottles of cognac per second – a new sales record

Sales of cognac reached a new record last year: 160 million bottles, which is the largest volume ever since the appellation was created in 1936. Sounds like good news from a region that otherwise seems hard hit by competition from whiskey and more “trendy” drinks. Sales were up 9.3% (and +16.4 in the Far East). It is to a large extent the consumption of cognac as an aperitif (in mixed drinks) that is driving the progression.

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BBR Fine Wine Blog

Not content with launching a virtual wine course BBR continues with a Fine Wine Blog written by various BBR staff. Some headlines from the first posts: “Biodynamic Wine Production – hocus-pocus or genuine?” and “Champagne; too successful by half?” Seems interesting to follow what it will turn into and seems not too focussed on just selling their wines. http://bbrblog.com/

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Virtual wine course

Berry Bro:s & Rudd is perhaps the world’s oldest wine merchant, founded in 1698. It is headquartered in London at the same address as where it was originally started: 3 St James’s Street. This venerable heritage does not prevent BBR from being one of the most forward-thinking and technology savvy merchants, e.g. with an unusually contents rich and user friendly site (www.bbr.com). they have just launched a “virtual wine course”, a series of six videos to introduce you to wine. The series is hosted by Rebecca Lamont, head of their wine school. The wine course is available both on BBR’s site (www.bbr.com/virtualwineschool) and on their YouTube-channel.

PS: Don’t miss that BKWine also has a YouTube wine video channel: www.youtube.com/bkwine

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This months indispensable wine gadget: The key to Pontet Canet

>> Wednesday, October 10, 2007

It is of course a USB key – a computer memory with a 1GB capacity. The key has the shape of a bottle from Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac, Bordeaux). On the key there is a wealth of information about Pontet-Canet, including tasting notes, as well as a computer program to manage your wine cellar. Price: €33. We have not had the occasion to test it… www.bewineconnected.com

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Super premium tasting

In the US they categorise wines according to quality (price) level. The top category is Super Premium (or is it Super Super Premium?). The upcoming wine seminar at Sotheby’s could perhaps be labelled a super premium tasting albeit without American wines. Seven vintages of Château Margaux (back to 1983, including 2000 and 1990) and two of Pavillon Rouge. The tasting is led by Serena Sutcliffe, great Bordeaux connoisseur and director at Sotheby’s. Date: November 21 in London. Price: £375. Contact rebecca.frawley-at-sothebys.com for more info.

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Small harvest in Italy

Italy expects to make the smallest harvest for 50 years, partially due to bad weather in the south. In the south there has been frequent rain which has cause diseases in the vineyards reducing the yield. In the north, the weather has in contrast been very hot. It is expected that this will lead to rising prices on Italian wines. AP

Welcome to the BKWine Brief nr 51, October 2007

>> Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Most early forecasts for this year’s harvest has been moderate to pessimistic. A summer that has been in many places not very warm (to say the least) and humid has not meant ideal weather for the grapes. But – you should never cry foul too early. Since the beginning of September the weather has generally been very nice: sunshine, not much rain and good temperatures. This has given the grapes the extra push at the end to reach excellent maturity in good health and most wine growers we have talked with recently have sounded optimistic, or even very optimistic. A few week’s good weather at the end of the season can make a big difference. But… never cash in before the deal is done. Last week we were in Bordeaux. The weather was splendid and the early ripening Merlot grapes were being brought in. Cabernet ripens later and still needs a few weeks on the vines. And what happens? At the end of the week the weather unexpectedly changes and we get rain (the grower we visited say “I finished harvesting Merlot last night”…). If it is a short shower it won’t be a problem but if it keeps raining until the Cabernets are ready to be harvested it won’t be too good… Fortunately, the weather forecast mainly predicts good weather.

Perhaps the wisest thing to do for a wine grower is to say like Catherine Papon Nouvel at Château Gaillard: “I don’t worry about the weather. If I did I’d be a nerve wreck. The weather isn’t my responsibility and I can do nothing about it. What I do worry about is what happens in the vineyard and in the wine cellar. That’s my responsibility!”

BKWine in print

If you’re curious to know a bit more about BKWine (and the story of how I created it) you should take a look at Sterling Airways’ in-flight magazine Sterling Magazine. In the latest issue they have an article on me called Living Abroad: Paris Uncorked

BKWine on radio

I was recently “subject to” (it almost felt like that) a radio appearance too. Lynn Krielow Chamberlain, “The Wine Fairy” (www.winefairy.com) on Wine and Dine Radio interviewed me about the upcoming Truffles, Foie Gras and Wine tour. You can listen to the interview here on Wine and Dine Radio. I explain about the tour, about truffles and some other things.

BKWine on TV

Or at least almost. We have started to experiment with videos: interviews with wine makers, vineyard visits and more. You can find the very first experiments on our YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/bkwine. More will come. (Don’t be too harsh on us. It’s our very first adventure into moving pictures. But we’d love to hear your feedback!)

Spring wine tours

Do take a look at the spring 2008 program below. Two exciting tours on the schedule at the moment.

At the moment we’re almost constantly on the road (wine travel ‘oblige’). Therefore this Brief is a bit shorter. We’ll be back later in the autumn with the usual producer recommendations, restaurant and book reviews and more. Including of course new finds from our travel.

Britt

PS: Recommend to your friends to read the Brief or forward it to them !

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QmP becomes Prädikatswein

The German quality designation Qualitätswein mit Prädikat, often shortened to QmP, changes name to Prädikatswein from August this year.

Mosel-Saar-Ruwer becomes Mosel

Short and efficient? The German wine district Mosel-Saar-Ruwer (named after the three rivers that flow through the district) changes name to Mosel. The new name should be used starting 2007.

Donauland changes name to Wagram in Austria

The Austrian Donauland has had to sub-districts: Wagram (2450 ha) and Klosterneuburg (350 ha). The whole region will now change name from Donauland to Wagram. Klosterneuburg will still as a sub-region – a grosslage.

One bottle of Grange sold for $51,000

At a recent auction in Australia a single bottle of Grange 1951 (previously called “Grange hermitage”) sold for the record price $51,000. It was two Grange collections that were up for sale at the same time. They fetched a total of $308,000. wine-business-international.com

Beaujolais Villages trials mechanical harvesting

The traditional harvest is by hand in Beaujolais but since 2004 it has been allowed to harvest by machine in AOC Beaujolais. This year a new experiment is launched to also use mechanical harvest for AOC Beaujolais Villages and Cru. Mechanical harvest is generally more cost effective and can produce at least as good results as manual harvest – if done properly. One difficulty is that vines trained in e.g. Gobelet (as is the tradition in Beaujolais) cannot be harvested with machine. The vines have to be “re-trained” in e.g. Guyot, which is not a small task. vitisphere.com

New French Vin de Pays rejected by the EU

France recently created three new Vins de Pays: “de l’Atlantique”, “de Gaule” and “de France”. These have now been rejected by the agricultural commission at the EU. The reason is that, according to European rules, a Vin de Pays (and its name) should refer to a specific geographic place name and that this geographic area should be smaller than an entire country. None of the three new French VdP abide by these rule. France have now two months to argue its case. Wine Business International

The genome of the vine mapped

French and Italian researchers have mapped the full genome of the vine. It is the fourth plant after Arabidopsis, rice and poplar that has had its genetic fingerprint identified. The results were recently published in the scientific journal Nature. Le Figaro

New DOCG in Italy: Oltrepò Pavese

Oltrepò Pavese have been given DOCG-status (the highest rank for Italian wines) for its sparkling wines made from Pinot Noir grapes. wine-business-international.com

Mas de Martin vineyards, Languedoc, part 1

>> Monday, October 01, 2007

Mas de Martin vineyards, a tour of the vineyards, the soil and terroir, the winery, and interview with the owner and winemaker Christian Mocci. Saint Bauzille de Montmel, Languedoc, France. Language: French. By BKWine.

Crozes-Hermitage snapshot

With its 1430 ha it is the biggest appellation in the northern Rhône valley
- Annual production is 60,000 hl, 93% of which is red
- The appellation accounts for 50% of all wines from the northern Rhône
- Maximum yield is 45 hl/ha
- Grape varieties: Red Crozes is made from Syrah. The whites are primarily made from Marsanne but also Roussanne is permitted.
- 40% of all wine is exported. The biggest market is the UK.

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Provence snapshot

Provence in a few lines:
- Provence is the biggest producer of rosé wine. 42% of all French AOC rosé wine come from Provence
- Annual production is 140 million bottles: 84% rosé, 13% red, and 3% white
- Total vineyard plantings: 27,300 ha in the departements Var, Bouches-du-Rhône and Alpes-Maritimes.

Record harvest in Argentina

The 2007 grape harvest reached record levels – up 6.5% compared to last year. A substantial part of the grape production is used for grape juice rather than wine though. wine-business-international.com

Early harvest

Many wine regions will start the harvest exceptionally early this year, due to the warm weather early in spring. Champagne started harvesting on August 20. In Italy many regions are three weeks ahead of schedule and some started harvesting already by mid August. In Provence the harvest began on August 20, Alsace started on August 22, in Beaujolais the harvest began on August 25, 11 days earlier than last year, Burgundy on August 31, two weeks early... But quality wise the outcome is so far uncertain with some districts looking disappointing and others ready to produce excellent wine – according to this years unusual weather...

Giant winemaker Gallo changes importer in Sweden

One of the world’s largest wine producers, Gallo in California, has changed importer for the Swedish market. The will now be represented by Spendrups Vin instead of their previous importer, the government owned (but up for sale) V&S Vin & Sprit. Wine Business International

Wine sells – even sex?

But it is not only in South Africa where you sell wine with sex. In New York they try it too. Or perhaps it is the other way around: selling sex with wine? At Babeland, a shop for sex toys, they recently organised a wine tasting where the participants were offered to taste Seduction Cabernet, Foreplay Chardonnay and other wines. One of the organisers says to Decanter: “Wine and sexuality have one thing in common: people indulge in both, often don't have a clue what it's about, but like to appear as though they do”. They also organize something called Kinky Wine Tastings. We don’t want to know... Decanter

Chatea St Martin de la Garrigue

>> Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Saint Martin de la Garrigue, a visit to the winery, barrel and vat cellar and some old wine bottles. Languedoc, France. By BKWine.

Sex sells – even wine?

Perhaps not something that would catch on with most marketeers (and certainly not the advertising regulators) in Europe. But a South African wine producer has launched a campaign featuring lightly clad (actually, not at all) women and men (mostly women). The ads have been used in the South African magazine Food & Home Entertaining and at a wine fair. In South Africa the campaign has been well received according to the winery, Avondale, who uses as a slogan “Wines approved by mother nature”. Perhaps a way to emphasise the natural (naturist?) aspect of their wines? wine.co.za and Avondale

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German consumers buy wines according to taste

A survey of German consumer behaviour has shown that German consumers primarily buy wines according to taste and character (51.3%). Geographic origin was most important for 12% of the consumers, price for 9% and grape variety for 7%. Perhaps somewhat surprising results considering the reputation the German market has for being extremely price sensitive. Wine Business International

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This month’s silly rule: English wine bars not allowed to serve exclusive wines in small glasses

The Scandinavian monopoly markets don’t have a, ehrr, monopoly on silly rules…: Some English wine shops (e.g. The Sampler and Selfridges) have opened wine bars in connection with the shops to give the customers the possibility to taste some of the wines before buying. They have also sold some very exclusive wines by the glass to make it possible to taste otherwise prohibitively expensive wines by the glass. As an examples, curious wine drinkers could buy a tasting portion (25 ml) of Chateau Pétrus 1996 of £32, and thus did not have to fork out £950 for a full bottle. This has led to action by the British authority that controls serving of alcohol. In England there is a rule that “a wine glass” must contain either 125 ml or 175 ml. To serve smaller portions are illegal… So good bye to tasting exclusive wines in small portions. www.thesampler.co.uk and telegraph.co.uk

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Saint Emilion and satellites joins forces

The producer organisations (who represent the interests of the wine makers) for Saint Emilion, Saint Emilion Grand Cru and the two “satellites” Lussac St Emilion and Puisseguin St Emilion have merged the organisations, presumably in an effort to work more effectively. Two other satellites have chosen to remain independent: Montagne St Emilion and St Georges St Emilion. Wine Business International

►► Travel to Bordeaux with BKWine.

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The world’s best Pinot Noir

>> Tuesday, September 25, 2007

The tenth vintage of the world championship of Pinot Noir saw 1050 contestants – wines from many countries: France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Argentina, Chile, the United States, New Zealand,… Four wines were awarded Great Gold Medal: Vina Casa Marin, Le Abarca Hills Vineyard San Antonio 2004 from Chile; Domaine Philippe Bouzereau, Château de Citeaux Auxey-Duresses 1er cru ”Les Duresses” 1999, Bourgogne, France; Weingut Thomas Marugg, Fläscher Blauburgunder Barrique, Fläsch, 2005; and Cave les Deux Crêtes, Réserve Badrutt’s Palace Pinot Noir Tête de Cuvée, Valais, 2005, the two last were both from Switzerland. mondial-du-pinot-noir.com

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Moth new threat to Napa vineyards

A small moth called Western Grapeleaf Skeletonizer is the latest threat to Napa vineyards. One such moth was recently found in a trap in Napa Valley. The evil beast eats the leaves and the grapes and also causes fungal problems. They will now try and find out if it was an isolated moth that had lost its bearings or if that are many by putting many traps in the vineyard area where it was found. napavalleyregister.com

Torres establishes foothold in Rioja

Torres is almost synonymous with Catalonia. But now they have bought a small property in Rioja, not big, just some 5 hectares. Torres has since several years expanded to other countries: California and Chile. And also to other regions in Spain: Priorat, Toro, Ribera del Duero and Jumilla. And now also to the grandfather of all Spanish wines, the Rioja. They will produce wine mainly from bought grapes, it is said, and from newly planted own vines. The first vintage is expected to be 2009. Wine Business International

Cornas in the northern Rhône valley threatened by property development

>> Tuesday, September 18, 2007

According to municipal plans, 3.4 hectares in the appellation Cornas are set to be transformed into building plots. In this very small appellation 3.4 ha is a substantial piece of land. It concerns the three vineyard names Les Chaillots, La Côte, and Les Mazards. For more information, or to support the campaign to save the vines, contact Alberic Mazoyer at Domaine Alain Voge: alain-voge.com

BKWine Pick: Herdade da Malhadinha Nova, Beja – Alentejo, Portugal

Herdade da Malhadinha Nova, Beja – Alentejo, Portugal

2003 was the first vintage for the Soares family and it has been a running start. The two brothers, João and Paulo has in a few years developed the winery into one of the most dynamic and exciting in Alentejo. With organic farming and green harvest in June or July (removing sometimes 40% of the grapes) they produce excellent grapes. In 2003 they opened the super-modern winery, built in a slope so that minimal pumping of the must is needed. They have 8 lagares – open troughs to crush the wines by (real) feet. But they don’t stop at the wine. The Soares family wants to give the visitor more than that: they have a restaurant at the property (serving food made from crop and animals from their own farm. Wonderful black pig dry cured ham!) and are opening a hotel this year: Herdade da Malhadinha Nova Country & Spa.

Click here for address and more recommendations.

Read about more recommended producers on the site: Favourite Producers

Read more recommendations on where to shop for wine on my Wine Shop Page

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

BKWine Pick: Château de Lascaux, Vaquières, Coteaux du Languedoc-Pic Saint Loup

>> Monday, September 17, 2007

Château de Lascaux, Vaquières, Coteaux du Languedoc-Pic Saint Loup

In Pic Saint Loup, a short drive north of Montpellier in the Languedoc region in France, you can find many high quality wine producers. One of those is Ch Lascaux, a family vineyard run by Jean-Benoît Cavalier. The property covers 53 hectares, the soil is, as often in this region, very poor. The well balanced wines are characterised by an aromatic complexity and a refreshing acidity. They make several cuvées, for example the white Pierre d’Argent made from Vermentino, Rousanne and Marsanne. Or the red Les Secrets, made from Syrah and Grenache grapes with very low yield: spicy and full-bodied.

Click here for address and more recommendations.

It is soon time

>> Sunday, September 09, 2007

It is soon time.

Well, yes, it’s soon time for the harvest too. And in many places it has already started. An exceptionally early harvest that will probably yield not very large volumes and uncertain quality. Some regions have had great challenges with the weather and others have been much more fortunate. It will most likely be great variations in quality. But that was not the point.

It is soon time.

Time for what?

Well, for the launch of our book on the Languedoc region! We’re just finishing the final review of the text and images, squeezed in between this season’s first wine tours. The book will be available in October. It contains some sixty extensive producer profiles and in total around 130 producers are presented. We also explain the appellations, the terroir, the grape varieties and more. You can read more about it here, including sample photography and a few video interviews with producers:
http://languedocboken.wordpress.com/english/

But…. It is in Swedish…

So why do I tell you all this then? Well, first of all it is exciting to publish our first (!) book and I tell everyone about it. And secondly, perhaps you have a cousin or an uncle who is a book publisher and who just happens to be looking for a book manuscript on the Languedoc region… We’d love to have it published in other countries so do tell “your cousin” about it and we’d be delighted to discuss the project…

Promo video?

We have put our toe down in the oh-so-trendy world of video on the internet. A very first attempt of a wine tour video is now posted on the wine tour page: http://www.bkwine.com/wine_tours/wine_tours.htm. (Don’t be too hard on us – it’s our premiere on video.) If you’re interested in wine videos you can also see a few video interviews with winemakers in the Languedoc on the Languedoc Book site. The interviews are either in English or in French you wont be subject to the Swedish torture on the vids. See them here:
http://languedocboken.wordpress.com/video/
(And in the first video on the page you’ll see something that you’ve probably never seen in a vineyard before!)

Truffle, wine, foie gras – is that OK with you?

I almost forgot to remind you of the first wine tour of 2008: my Truffles, Foie Gras, Wine and Duck tour on February 13-17. It will be a very special (and luxurious) trip and I’m already starting to receive registrations. So don’t delay for too long to get in touch if you are interested in that trip.

Jubilee time!

And finally: it is perhaps time for a celebration. This is number 50 of the BKWine Brief. A big thank you to all readers!

Britt

PS 1: Recommend to your friends to read the Brief or forward it to them !
PS 2: Do you like pictures and photography? Take a look at our wine picture blog:
http://wine-pictures.blogspot.com/
(Licensing is available from Alamy and from Danita Delimont)

Wanted: Stolen wines

>> Tuesday, September 04, 2007

We’ve had a report of stolen wines that the owner would very much like to get back: “”2 Double Magnums Latour 1982, 9 Magnums Latour 1982, 12 bottles 1982 Latour, 12 bottles Margaux 1986, 3 Magnums Lafite 1986, Richebourg DRC 1988 1 Magnum, Comtes Champagne Taittinger 1973 rose 2 bottles Romanee Conti 2003 1 bottle La Tache 2003 DRC 1 bottle Montrachet 2003 DRC 1 bottle Quinta Noval Nacional 1963 1 bottle Talbot 1982 3 bottles and so on”. If anyone would happen to offer you such wines for sale contact us and we will forward to the thirsty owner.

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The World’s best Tempranillo

More and more grape varieties get their own competition. This year is the third for Tempranillo. The judgment took place in Shanghai (!) at the end of June. Two Great Gold Medals were Awarded: Carmelo Rodero TSM 2005 Bodegas Rodero, Ribera del Duero and Amarén 2002 Bodegas Luis Cañans, Rioja.
enologo.com/tempranillo/
and the results can be found here:
http://www.enologo.com/tempranillo/awards2007.pdf

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But ”Cru Bourgeois” will perhaps rise again

>> Tuesday, August 28, 2007

So it is forbidden to use the classification Cru Bourgeois. What to do? Why not create a “label” that could be called “Label Cru Bourgeois”? Then it wont be a classification but simply a label. Well, that is at least what the producers’ union (the owners of the Cru Bourgeois) are proposing, according to Frederique de Lamothe. She says further, according to Decanter, “we still need some mark of quality to reassure consumers”… Is this perhaps what the English call “smoke and mirrors”? What about letting the consumers decided for themselves what is quality and what is not? Too daring perhaps. decanter.com

”Cru Bourgeois” banned

The latest chapter in the classification carrousel in Bordeaux: DGCCRF (“La Fraude”), the French administration responsible for counteracting fraud (and other things), has issued a decreed to the effect that it is no longer allowed to use the name “Cru Bourgeois”. This follows on the court decision earlier this year that annulled the new Cru Bourgeois classification (se earlier Brief). In other words, we will no longer see “Cru Bourgeois” on the labels. It is likely to take effect for wines from the 2006 or 2007 harvest. decanter.com

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Bordeaux named World Heritage Site by Unesco

Large parts of the city of Bordeaux has been given World Heritage status by Unesco. It is primarily the old city centre and its river-facing facades that have been honoured. The city has for several years been undergoing massive restorations which have given the old city a new lustre and life. unesco.org and also decanter.com

Wine making as in roman times

An American wine producer has started making wine in huge terracotta amphorae – the way wine was made in roman times it is said. It is Del Dotto Winery in St Helena that has invested in earthenware instead of stainless steel, to get an added historical touch for the wines. 6000 cases are made. winesandvines.com
(PS: We can perhaps add that also Domaine Viret in the Rhône valley experiments with making wine in terracotta amphora (picture).)

Record early harvest in Italy too

The very warm weather, already early in the year, has led to that an exceptionally early harvest is expected – the earliest harvest for 30 years. Early ripening grapes (Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio) will be harvested already at the beginning of August, and late harvesting varieties (Cabernet, Nebbiolo) will be harvested in September and not in the customary October. wantedinrome.com

Dutch wine threaten by EU reform?

Dutch wine growers are worried that the proposed ban on adding sugar to the must will make it impossible to make wine in Holland. Virtually all wine made in Holland is chaptalised, since the vines themselves don’t produce enough sugar in the grapes this far north, according to Dik Beker from the Dutch Winegrowers Guild. But perhaps one can wonder why one should make wine at all in a place where the vines cannot ripen enough naturally… Oh, you didn’t know there was wine made in the Netherlands to start with. There are 135 growers who produce 800,000 litres of wine annually. We have tasted it… RadioNetherlands.nl

The main themes in the EU reform

Until then, here are the main themes of the reform:
- abolition of market management measures (e.g. “crisis” distillation)
- ban on sugar for enrichment (chaptalisation)
- grub up 200,000 hectares
- end planting restriction (by 2013)
- allow more (generally accepted) oenological practices, e.g. oak chips
- better labelling rules
- national financial envelopes (with national control)
- more marketing budget

More details on the reform here.

The EU wine reform

In early July the EU launched its proposal for reform of the wine sector. Today large amounts of money are spent on various measures, that may not always improve the competitiveness of the wine industry, for example financing distillation of wine that no one wants to buy. The proposal has of course generated a lot of reaction from the main wine producing countries in the EU, but perhaps less violent reactions than could have been expected. Mariann Fischer Boel is on a tour of Europe to promote her proposal. We will come back to the proposed measures when we’ve had a closer look. beveragedaily.com

Machine identifies corked wines

The restaurant Latour in new Jersey, has developed a machine (in collaboration with UC Davis) that can identify if a wine is corked or not – without opening the bottle! The machine takes a sample of the air around the cork and the capsule and detects traces of TCA. Much like some airport security machines can detect explosives through air sampling in your bag. winespectator.com

Bag-without-box

Otherwise, the latest packaging innovation is wine in plastic bags. Not the ones you carry home the bottles in of course. Many people are familiar with wine packaged in plastic bags: all bag-in-box wines are in reality package in plastic bags, only the bag is hidden inside the box. Latest packaging news is to dispense with the box (environmentally friendly!) and sell the wine in a nicely decorated bag with a tap. Why not?

Wine in plastic bottles

Sainsbury’s, the big British retail supermarket chain, will start selling wine in plastic bottles. One of the arguments is that it will reduce carbon dioxide emissions. And it is easier to handle for the retail chain too: lower weight and fewer broken bottles. If all wine in England was packaged in plastic instead of in glass it would equate to 28,000 fewer cars on the roads in terms of carbon emissions. guardian.co.uk

BKWine Pick:

>> Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Domaine Vincent Paris, Cornas

Vincent Paris made his first wine in 1997 and was soon mentioned as one of the future young stars in Cornas. Now it is perhaps time to remove future. Vincent’s uncle is the well known producer Robert Michel, maker of some of the finer Cornas wines, so he has some family traditions to build on. He was fortunate to inherit some very old vines, which, together with low yields and a meticulous work in both the vineyard and the winery makes for very full-bodied and concentrated Syrah wines.

Click here for contact details and more recommendations.

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BKWine Pick: Mas de Perry

>> Monday, August 20, 2007

Mas de Perry, Languedoc

Geneviève and Didier Ponson-Nicot and the two children manage this charming family property just north of Montpellier. Stéphanie, the daughter is responsible for the wine making and Olivier, the son, for the vineyards. They make a very good Grenache Blanc-Marsanne cuvée and a very unusual and interesting on 100% Ugni Blanc – late harvest (but it’s a dry wine) and 3 hectolitres per hectare… Mas de Perry is probably a domain that we will hear more of in the future.

Click here for contact details and more recommendations.

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BKWine Brief nr 49, August 2007

This is a summer when I feel very English: always talking about the weather. Will it change or not? For most people a summer like this year’s is disappointing but for wine growers it can have much more drastic consequences (as, of course, it has had for many non-wine growing people in England too). It is still far from certain if wine growers will face any such dramatic consequences this year. July has been very cool and rainy in many places in France, but if August and September turns out a little bit better there should be no grave consequences. So, let’s hope for the best.

It has become illegal to put Cru Bourgeois on the label in Bordeaux (read more below). The new Cru Bourgeois classification of 2003 was annulled and many people thought that they would simply revert to the old classification from 1932 (still much more recent than the still valid general Médoc classification of 1855). But no. Let’s hope that the chateaux have not pre-printed too many labels. And what will happen with the classification in Saint Emilion? They had a new classification in 2006 that also has been annulled by the courts (after complaints from some of the chateaux that were not included, just like with the Cru Bourgeois). And since the “old” classification in St E only was valid from 1996 to 2006 there is no more any classification on Saint Emilion. Or?... And what about Pessac-Léognan/Graves? They have been working on a new classification since a few years back. Will they dare go ahead with that in the current climate, knowing what it can lead to? We asked some time ago one of the wine growers in Graves how they would do a classification. He said that the only real "measure" to base a classification on is how much the consumers are prepared to pay for the wines. But for the consumer it is very easy to see how much a wine costs so why do we then need the classification(s)? Perhaps time to scrap them altogether?

Being summertime, this month’s Brief is a little bit shorter. But considering this summer, perhaps it is time to start thinking about next vacation.

I certainly recommend that you take a look at next year’s first wine tour, which actually is a wine, truffle and foie gras tour. The final and official program has just been released. It may sound luxurious, and that’s exactly what it is. On top of the gastronomic highlights we will stay at a very nice little chateau-hotel (I’m keeping up the British theme here – this is an understatement). If this trip won’t brighten up a dreary February for you nothing will. And I’m happy to say that it is also at a very affordable price. More info below.

In the last Brief I wrote some comments about wine scoring with some references to Wine Spectator that had scored the same wine very differently at two different occasion. Wine Spec’s Executive Editor Thomas Matthews wanted to clarify a what had actually happened and wrote us the following note:

“Just a point of clarification: The wine referred to in the San Francisco Chronicle article (not WSJ, as cited in the blog) on wine rating, which received different scores from Wine Spectator in two tastings, was not exactly the "same wine." It was a Chateau St. Jean Cabernet Sauvignon tasted on two occasions nearly 10 years apart. It's no wonder it received different scores -- as wine lovers know, wines change with age, and only the very best improve over such a long period of time. From our point of view, the two different scores show the integrity of our evaluation system, reflecting real differences not necessarily obvious, given the wine had the same label. I don't argue that wine ratings in themselves should be the only information wine drinkers use to choose the wines they decide to buy and enjoy. But using an expert's experience as part of a personal evaluation seems reasonable. We do it for many goods in many fields. Why not wine?
Thomas Matthews
Executive editor
Wine Spectator”

If you are curious you can read what our reply was in the blog here: http://www.bkwine.com/blog/2007/07/wine-points-pointless.html

Britt

PS: Recommend to your friends to read the Brief or forward it to them !

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