1. Australia 17.3%
2. South Africa 16.1%
3. Italy 15.5%
4. Spain 14.6%
5. France 9.2%
6. Chile 7.2%
7. USA 5.7%
8. Germany 4.7%
9. Hungary 3.1%
10. Argentina 2.2%
The bulk of Brazilian wine production is very simple wines made from American varieties and only sold locally. Wine that we need not spend many words on. But some ambitious producers make wines from Vinifera varieties and have replanting programs under way. One example is the Pizzato brothers (on brother is getting some international experience at Herdade Espoao in Alentejo in Portugal). They have specialised in Merlot. Pizzato is a small producer in Brazilian terms, having no more than 26 hectares. The family emigrated from Veneto in Italy in the 1880s and ended up in the Vale dos Vinhedos on the border to Uruguay. The Italian root in the Vale do Vinhedos is very obvious: you can eat superb pasta, many people speak Italian, there are even many signs in Italian. Some of the larger producers that are starting to become know internationally are Miolo, Salton and Casa Valduga.
Read more about Brazilian wines on www.winesfrombrazil.com
The first edition of “Bordeaux et ses Vin” (Bordeaux and its wines) was published in 1850. It is an extensive collection of (almost) all the properties in Bordeaux. It is often called ”Cocks & Feret” after the original publisher. The 18th extended and revised edition has just been published. www.vinomedia-publishing.com
Read more... 
Villa Spicy, Paris 8e
Click here for address and more recommendations.
Domaine des Grécaux, Languedoc
Isabelle and Alain Caujolle-Gazet
Click here for address and more recommendations.
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 !
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
- Try our new BKWine Brief Blog Update Service, now in beta -
- Try our new BKWine Brief Blog Update Service, now in beta - 
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
Read more...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.
Britt
PS: Recommend to your friends to read the Brief or forward it to them !
The German quality designation Qualitätswein mit Prädikat, often shortened to QmP, changes name to Prädikatswein from August this year.
Read more...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.
Read more...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.
Read more...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
Read more...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
Read more...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
Read more...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
Read more...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
Read more...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.
- 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.
- 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.
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
Read more...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...
Read more...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
Read more...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
Read more...Saint Martin de la Garrigue, a visit to the winery, barrel and vat cellar and some old wine bottles. Languedoc, France. By BKWine.
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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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