BKWine Blog

Vinsobres new AOC in the Rhône Valley

>> Saturday, December 03, 2005

Vinsobres becomes the fifteenth village in the Rhône valley to get an “appellation locale” (or “cru”). The wines will therefore become AOC Vinsobres instead of being Côtes-du-Rhône Villages. It will cover exclusively red wine made from at least 50% Grenache, plus Syrah and Mourvèdre. To these “principal” grape varieties some “secondary” grapes can be added (Cinsault, Carignan,…). The appellation covers 1200 ha. Basic allowed yield (rendement de base) is 38 hl/ha.
www.vinsobres.fr

Wine Evolution in Paris

Wine Evolution 2006 is taking place 30-31 January 2006, at the Palais des Congres in Paris. Wine Evolution is a two day conference focusing on the business side of wine, with a particular view to the international markets. It is organised by a Paris consultancy company called Skalli & Rein.
www.skalliandrein.com

Terrorist bomb damages Rioja Alta

The famous Rioja bodega La Rioja Alta was damaged recently by a terrorist bomb. The bombers claimed to represent the ETA. It cased minor property damage but no persons were hurt. Why Rioja Alta was targeted is not known.
www.berria.info

Application submitted: Vin de Pays de France

A group of producer organisations have submitted an application for a new appellation called Vin de Pays de France. The idea is that VdP de France would allow producers to make branded wines in large volumes, to compete better on the international market, while allowing the producer to give specification on the label on what is in the bottle, e.g. specifying the vintage or the grape variety. (Note: If a producer chooses to make wine in a way that is not according to the AC rules he can do so. But then it must be bottled as a Vin de Table and the problem with that is that on a VdT you are not allowed to indicate the vintage, the grape variety or any other “specifications” about the wine.)

Finland’s largest wine exhibition on March 15-18

Next ViiniExpo will take place in Helsinki on March 15-18, 2006. ViiniExpo is Finland’s largest (and only) wine and spirits show. It is open mainly for professionals, but on March 18 it is also open to the general public. The show also has many visitors from neighbouring countries (Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia…).
www.finnexpo.fi

Wine fights Alzheimer's disease

As reported in Scientific American: “A chemical compound in wine reduces levels of a harmful molecule linked to Alzheimer's disease. In a recent study, resveratrol - one of several antioxidants found in wine - helped human cells break down the molecule, which contributes to the lesions found in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. Fortunately for teetotallers, the compound is also found elsewhere.” Read the full article here.

Bidders for Lanson

As we have reported earlier, Champagne Lanson is for sale and the French press reports that there are several bidders lurking. Favourite is Champagne Boizel-Chanoine and the other two bidders are LVMH (who already is the largest producer of champagne) and a consortium made up of the bank Credit Agricole and the Rothschilds. However, a spokesperson for LVMH denies that the company is interested in the deal.

Hang time is hotly debated

A "hot" topic, these days, especially in California, is ”hang time”. hang time means how long the (ripe) grapes are left hanging on the vine before picking. Hang times influences several things: “ripeness” of course, which implies e.g. the phenolic ripeness (tannins), acid levels, sugar levels etc. But it also influences the water contents, thus the weight (longer hang time means loss of water). And since many grape grower are paid per tonne it can mean a substantial loss of income. (Often, in California, the grape grower and the winery/wine maker are entirely separate and independent.) It is also a debate about what taste characteristics it leads to: longer hang time means more powerful, heavier, and sometimes jammy wines. And the tendency today is towards longer hang time. Some also say that the longer hang time often used today sometimes leads to too concentrated must which leads to that the Californian winemakers have to dilute their wines with water…
Hang time: www.napavalleyregister.com
Water into Wine in California: www.economist.com/intelligentlife/

World’s sparkling wines

For the third time, the competition Effervecents du Monde was held in Dijon on November 17 & 18. Three Great Gold Medals were awarded: Pillitteri Estates Winery in Canada for the Sparkling Icewine Vidal 2004 (!) (www.pillitteri.com), Champagne Canard Duchêne Brut Cuvée Léonie (www.canard-duchene.com), and La Cave de Die Jaillance Clairette de Die Tradition (www.jaillance.com). 31 Gold Medals were distributed to wines from the following countries: Switzerland, Portugal, Italy, France, Spain, Chile, Brazil, Austria and Germany. Full results here: www.effervescents-du-monde.com
Photo: Effervecents du Monde.

André Lurton ”innovates” again

A very common affliction amongs wine producers (and others) is to create a web site that is too ”flashy”. As a visitor you are forced to watch a welcome page that moves around, maybe with music (and that takes ages to open), animated pages etc. And finally, there’s not much information anyway. Take Rothschild as an example: www.bpdr.com. Always very frustrating. So, again, André Lurton has proved to be an “innovator”: Lurton has launched a new web site that is easy to use, well structures, full of information about his 8 chateaux (e.g. La Louvière) and without silly animations. Visit it here: www.andrelurton.com

Argentine wine exports continue to grow

Over the first nine months of 2005 Argentine wine (and must) exports grew by 32% in value (24% in volume), achieving a total value of $307 million. But exports are quite “concentrated”: only 289 producers exported 1234 brands. The largest exporter was Peñaflor. The largest brands were Trivento (in volume) and Trapiche (in value). Malbec represented 27% of the total.

Romanée Conti leads to day long queues at the Swedish monopoly Systembolaget

The Swedish alcohol monopoly Systembolaget launched the Romanée Conti 2002 in November (28 bottles for sale) at a price of 13,495 kronor (1,425 euro). Swedish press reported that some people queued for a day before the wine was launched to be sure to get a bottle. According to some comments the wine is worth three times as much on the international market. In other words, the monopoly Systembolaget (controlled by a social democratic government) indirectly subsidises purchases of luxury wines by selling wine below market prices. So, that’s what we have a monopoly for?...

The Swedish monopoly Systembolaget parties for 14 million kronor (1.5M€)

The Swedish monopoly Systembolaget recently organised a staff party (and staff meeting Systembolaget underlines) for 14 million kronor (1.5M€). On the other hand 14M is maybe not much when you make a profit of almost 200M. The cost equates to 4000 kronor (422€) per person. World of Wine reports that one of the wines served was corked – possibly a step in the alcohol policy of Systembolaget who’s goal is to reduce Swedish consumption. Some commentators have been critical both to the cost and the timing, two days before the Systembolaget bribery scandal was due in court and in a time when Systembolaget is set to reduce staff with 90 jobs.

The Systembolaget launches an international political propaganda campaign

The Swedish monopoly Systembolaget has launched a new political propaganda campaign both in Sweden and in Europe. The campaign uses as a pretext a wish to inform the EU president Mr Barroso about the danger of alcohol. The managing director of Systembolaget, Anitra Steen, says that she is not worried about the future of the monopoly, on the contrary. The campaign is just there to make you think a bit. For 8 million kronor (845,000 euro): ad in the Financial Times (760,000kr), ads in some 70 Swedish papers (4.5M kr) and a propaganda film and a dedicated web site. It is curious that the Systembolaget AB is not just executing the policies that the government has decided but is actually doing its own political campaigning. Read a leader comment in The Local.

Alcohol consumption increases more in Sweden than in other countries: +12% (or +30% according to the FT ad)

Statistics from the OECD shows that Sweden is the country where alcohol consumption has increased the most (2000-2003). The survey covers 30 countries. Most successful in decreasing consumption, according to the stats, are Slovakia, Portugal, Italy, Mexico and Ireland where consumption has decreased with between 5% and 15%. Perhaps this could make one think of which type of alcohol policy seems to be effective? Here's some background data.

Four new Côtes-du-Rhône Villages villages

Four new villages have gained the right to use their names together with the Côtes-du-Rhône Villages appellation: Massif-d’Uchaux (Vaucluse), Plan-de-Dieu (Vaucluse), Puyméras (Vaucluse) and Signargues (Gard)...! They all make exclusively red wine. This brings the Villages appellation to a total of 20 villages.

Cazes in Bordeaux/Langudeoc expands in Portugal and in South Africa

(Correction) -- Jean-Michel Cazes, owner of Chateau Lynch-Bages in Bordeaux as well as a few other wine properties i Bordeaux and Languedoc (where he makes a wine called Circus), has established a collaboration with a producer in Portugal to make a wine called Xisto which recently was named one of the ten best wines in Portugal. Cazes also has a collaboration with Bollinger (25% each of the capital) and Brian Croser to make a prestige wine in South Africa called Tappanappa. (We mistakenly originally attributed this to (the equally dynamic) Domain Cazes in Roussillon. Apologies to Jean-Michel Cazes as well as to Domaine Cazes. A case of mixed Cazes? Many thanks to an attentive reader who spotted it.)

Oak record!

Do you happen to own an oak forest? Then you might be rich. A cooper in Bordeaux just paid 37,790 euro for a single oak. But it was not just any oak: it was 340 years old, so planted around 1660, 39 m high, a diameter of 1.3 m (not much compared to the Swedish Rumskulla oak (pictures here) oak that is 4 m in diameter), and a volume of 19 cubic meters.

Bordeaux prices sky-rocket thanks to British pensioners?

Prices for top claret is said to have gone up dramatically recently. The reason is not that retired Brits gulp down more Latour and Mouton than before. Rather, as often, it is a change in taxation and legislation that is the cause. From the beginning of next year British SIPPs (individual pension funds) will be allowed to invest in wine. (However, in spite of the name, it is not wine for drinking. The SIPP must be managed by a professional fund manager who is responsible to achieve maximum performance.) Some merchants believe strongly in this, e.g. Berry Brothers & Rudd, who have set up a special activity focused on SIPPs. Others doubt if fund managers will think wine a good investment. Some commentators say that the price rise is more a question of increasing demand from Asia. All according to various reports in Harpers, Decanter, OLN and the Circle Update.

BIG NEWS: Wine Tours in English and Finnish

>> Wednesday, November 02, 2005

I will launch two Wine Tours in English

Big news from us is that I will launch two Wine Tours in English the coming spring! I hope you will be many who are interested in this because it is two trips that promises to be very interesting indeed: one tour is “3 Classics” and goes to Champagne, Chablis and Burgundy, and the other tour is also a classic – to Bordeaux.

You can take a look at the full program on my site. You can find the link to the page below.

Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.

And why not give a Wine tour to someone as a Christmas present?

Wine Tours in Finnish

And in addition, I will also be offering Wine Tours in Finnish next season too! See more info on the site.

The Agenda

English Wine Tours

May 17-21, 2006: Champagne, Chablis and Burgundy - 3 Classic Wine Regions

Take a break for a long weekend and visit three of the most famous wine regions in France: Champagne, Chablis and Bourgogne! More info here!

June 8-11, 2006: Bordeaux

For a wine lover a trip to Bordeaux is a must! Here you find not only world famous châteaux and world famous wines but also a lot of new exciting initiatives. In this trip you will get to know both in detail. More info here!

For info, contact me on blog@bkwine.com or +33 (0)6 80 45 35 70 or check the site: http://www.bkwine.com/wine_tours/wine_tours.htm

Finnish Language Wine Tours - Viinimatkoja Ranskan viinialueille!

May 3-7, 2006: Champagne, Chablis and Burgundy - 3 Classic Wine Regions - "3 Klassikkoa"

Take a break for a long weekend and visit three of the most famous wine regions in France: Champagne, Chablis and Bourgogne! More info here!

March 29 - April 2, 2006: Bordeaux

For a wine lover a trip to Bordeaux is a must! Here you find not only world famous châteaux and world famous wines but also a lot of new exciting initiatives. In this trip you will get to know both in detail. More info here!

For info, contact me on blog@bkwine.com or +33 (0)6 80 45 35 70 or check the site: www.bkwine.com/suomi/viinimatkoja/viinimatkoja.htm

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