BKWine Blog

BKWine Pick - Domaine Viret, Rhone

>> Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Domaine Viret
Côtes du Rhône-Villages

Philippe Viret and his father Alain has been practicing something called “cosmoculture” since the early 1990s – a form of organic and bio-dynamic method of cultivation where they fetch inspiration from both Maya and Inca cultures and also ancient Egypt. The wine cellar has been constructed as a pyramid and the interior has well deservedly been described as a “wine cathedral” by Philippe. The different cuvées have names like La Cuvée Solstice, Renaissance, Emergence, La Coudée d’Or or Energie. All are very well made, often with a lot of elegance and spiciness, with good fruit and structure. Can be found at Lafayette Gourmet in Paris and in many other shops. (And many new pictures on the domaine in our photo galleries.)

Click here for address and more recommendations.

August wine

I hope you have had (or still have) a nice vacation. So far, we have not had much time for holidays ourselves but been busy with several projects.

The most exotic one is, no doubt, our wine trip a few weeks ago to Albania, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro. Yes, that’s right, we visited the four Balkan countries to visit vineyards and wine producers. There is a lot of new development and changes happening there now. You will read more about our trip in future issues of the Brief and also in other publications on wine, gastronomy, and travel. And perhaps we should put a trip to Albania and the Balkans on our wine tour program. What do you think?

We have also spent quite some time in the Languedoc. There are plenty of exciting things happening there now. You could read about one of the producers we visited in the last Brief and you will see more here soon.

If your vacation is nearing it’s end it is perhaps time to think about how to brighten up the autumn, for instance with a visit to wine country. Take a look at our travel program. What about the trip to Portugal? Some really exciting things happening there too.

But first it is my turn to go on vacation – two short weeks in Sweden. I will see you again soon!

Britt

Link Tips

>> Monday, August 28, 2006

Some wine sites that you might enjoy visiting:

About Max Schubert, the creator of the legendary Grange Hermitage (now called only Grange) from Penfold: The Living.Scotsman.com
The University of Missouri uses biotechnology to create grapes that are resistant against diseases USA Today
For and against plastic corks JancisRobinson.com
An American’s view of the fight between the giants, “The Paris Tasting” (or “The Judgement of Paris”) where California won again, 30 years later: Appellation America

Book Review - The Wines of the Northern Rhône

Book Reviews The Wines of the Northern Rhône
John Livingstone-Learmonth
University of California Press

I bought my first book about the Rhône valley wines sometimes in the early 1980s. It was the second edition of a book written by John Livingstone-Learmonth. So JLL is certainly no novice to the Rhône Valley, nor to writing about wine. As a matter of fact, there are probably few people who know more about Rhône vines than him. And that is well illustrated by his new book about the wines of the northern Rhône. It’s a brick of 703 pages. But if you are interested in Rhône wines this book is a must. JLL explains the history of the Rhône wines (that he knows since long) and speculates about the future. It is obviously not something that you read from cover to cover but more of a reference book. The bulk of the book is taken up by profiles of the vignerons (and the appellations), including tasting notes, and you will find all the details you can ever think of wanting to know. There are also some excellent, but simple maps of the vineyards. The only thing that perhaps is missing is a bit more photographs to give the reader more of a feeling of how the region and vineyards look – but that would have made the book even thicker! (Instead you can go to our photo galleries and take a look.) Now we are only waiting for the next volume on the southern Rhône…

Read some extracts from the book here:

Buy the book here.

Interested to know more about Rhone wines? Go an a wine tour with BKWine! More info here!

The Swedish wine market: The biggest Swedish importers

This is the top-ten list of wine suppliers (importers) to the monopoly Systembolaget (May 2006):

V&S Group 18,9 % (=2 273 990 litre) (Just as Systembolaget, V&S is owned by the Swedish government)
Fondberg & Co AB 10,6 %
Philipson & Söderberg 5,4 %
Oenoforos AB 5,3 %
Bibendum 4,0 %
Arvid Nordquist Vin och Sprithandel 3,6 %
Enosvezia AB 3,5 %
Stellan Kramer AB 3,2 %
Premium Wines Nordic 3,1 %
Giertz Vinimport AB 3,1 % (=368 429 litre)
Others 39,2 %

Total 12 022 294 litre

South Africa Day in Stockholm on October 13

Wines of South Africa (WOSA) organises a South African wine day in Stockholm in the restaurant Operaterassen (part of Operakällaren). More info will (we hope) be published on www.wosa.se

Rhône festival in Denmark on September 16

For the third consecutive year Dansk Vincenter near Copenhagen organises the great Danish Rhône Festival. On Saturday September 16 a large number of wines will be presented from the 2003, 2004 and 2005 vintages. More than 30 exhibitors (including wine producers) are expected. Entry fee 210 kronor, including a light lunch. More info www.rhonevinfestival.dk

Spanish researchers discover why wine is good for your cholesterol level

Grapes (and thence grape juice and also wine) contains large quantities of polyphenols. Polyphenols is a group of substances that are “anti-oxidants” and that has been shown to have beneficial effects against some cancer and heart diseases, e.g. cholesterol related ones. It has, however, not been quite clear why polyphenols have this positive effect. A Spanish research team, under the management of Alberto Dávalos at the University of Alcala, has identified what could be the mechanism behind the good effects of wine and grapes. Read more NutraIngredients.com

Two new Vin de Pays launched: VdP des Alpilles and VdP des Côtes de Meuse

Viniflhor, a French administration with responsibility for certain wine categories, has proposed two new Vin de Pays: Vin de Pays des Alpilles, after a mountain range in the southern Rhône valley, and Vin de Pays des Côtes de Meuse, by the river Meuse in northern France. You can find more information on Vin de Pays here. (The text is in Swedish but you have a list of the VdP and links to other info sources.)

Australian wines – on the other hand – reaches rock bottom prices

An interesting comparison with Australian wines: Australian Wine Grape Growers’ Association predicts continued falling prices. Spot prices for wine in Australia is expected to fall to $100-$150 per tonne (so you get quite a few Australian bottles for the top Bordeaux price of 300€ per bottle…). This is said to be below the production cost for the grapes, estimated at $200 to $800 per tonne. Read more The Advertiser

Ch Lafite first 1GCC to launch prices for primeur 2005: +275%!

>> Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Château Lafite was the first of the Premier Grand Cru Classé chateaux in Bordeaux to present the price for its 2005 primeur – a vintage that has been highly acclaimed critically (and with high expectations on the prices too). The “release price” for Lafite is 300€ (per bottle of course). That is the price that a négociant (wholesaler) can buy it for on the “place” in Bordeaux (in practice, from the chateau). On top of that comes margins for himself and downstream as well as taxes before the bottle arrives at the consumer… Decanter notes that it is a price increase with +275% since last year. Mouton-Rothschild has also released its wine – at 320€ per bottle. Decanter predicts Ausone to be the most expensive, according to trade sources, at around 500€ (still per bottle). However, this is just the first “tranche” that is released from the chateaux. Subsequent tranches are often higher priced. One can only assume that the chateau owners have a happy smile on the face all the way to the bank. (But as we have said before, if customers are ready to pay the prices, you can not expect the chateau to set the prices any lower, can you? But for those of us who think it is expensive … there are fortunately other wines.)

→ Don't miss this autumn's wine tour to Bordeaux. ??
More info here. Book now!

EU wine policy to be reformed

On June 22 the EU agricultural commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel presented a proposal to reform the cash-consuming wine support policies in the EU. The purpose is to improve the competitiveness of European wines and create more balance between demand and supply. The proposal contained e.g. changes in the system of planting rights, measurements to encourage grubbing up vines in areas with overproduction, an end to “market support” measures such as distillation (at subsidised prices) of excess production, modernisation of the technical rules governing the production, an end to chaptalisation (adding sugar to the fermenting must to increase the alcohol content) changes in labelling rules (allowing for example the mention of grape varieties on table wines) and much more. The proposal will now be discussed and a decision is expected towards the end of 2006 or beginning of 2007. Read more Journee-Vinicole.com, Jancis Robinson, Decanter

Parker writes for Business Week

Robert Parker, the world’s best known and influential wine critic, often referred to as ”guru”, will write a weekly column for Business Week magazine, starting on June 16. (BTW a famous economist, often referred to as “guru” commented that journalists had a habit of calling him “guru” because they could not spell to charlatan.) Other weekly magazines can perhaps be expected to follow suit and start a wine column. Here on BKWine we are anxiously waiting by the phone for the call from Time Magazine. Read more on PRNewsWire.com

The Australian government will not foot the $35 million requested by grape growers

The Australian government has rejected the call from the Australian Grape Growers’ Association (AGGA) to create a guarantee fund of $35 million to support producers in financial difficulties. “The government is in now way responsible for the wine crisis in Australia” said agricultural minister Peter McGuaran. “The Australian wine industry is not on its knees. [...] A government intervention in a sector that is continuing to expand is difficult to motivate”. Read more Vitisphere

French Castel plants vineyards in Azerbaijan

>> Monday, July 24, 2006

The French wine group Castel is planting new vineyards in Azerbaijan in collaboration with the local government. The plan is to plant 500 hectares, half of which is already planted. The wine is primarily for local consumption and will not be exported. Castel is a big French wine company that is both a négociant and retailer, controlling e.g. the chains Nicolas in France and Oddbins in the UK. We tasted an Azeri wine some time back and our impression is that Caste may have great potential to improve the quality. Read more on Vitisphere

→ Don't miss this autumn's wine tour to Azerbadjan. ??
No -But France and Portugal instead. Book now!

René Renou, president of INAO, passed away

René Renou, president of the INAO, died in his sleep during the night of June 19 while on a business trip to South Korea. He was only 54 years old but suffered from cancer. Renou came from the Loire Valley where he was wine producer in the sweet wine district Bonnezeaux. During his time as president of the INAO (the semi-governmental French control organisation for wine) Renou launched a number of initiatives to renew and reinvigorate French wine regulations. Decanter

Norwegian wins European Championship for sommeliers

The Trophée Ruinart, popularly known as the European Championship for Sommeliers, was won this year by a Norwegian: Robert Lie. Lie works at the luxury restaurant Bagatelle in Oslo. Second place went to Paolo Basso from Switzerland and third place to Eric Zwiebel from France.
(Photo: Ruinart/aperitif.no)

Wine and Business - International Wine Business Research Conference

The Third - International Wine Business Research Conference will take place in Montpellier on July 6-8. Around one hundred researchers will congregate to discuss marketing, business development, packaging, communications, etc – all with a business focus. The previous editions of the conference has taken place in California and Australia. This year a new publication will be launched: “Academic Wine Business Research” (AWBR). More info: www.agro-montpellier.fr

Black Dead Arm – now in France

It sounds scary and it is not the nicest thing to catch. Black Dead Arm (BDA) is a new kind of disease first discovered in 1999. It is a fungus disease that attacks the vine when it is pruned – vines are pruned all year round, not just in winter. During the whole growing season the vigneron has to cut back the branches, if not the vine would grow uncontrolled into long lianas. One of these prunings are technically (in French) called “épemprage” – when unwanted young shoots are removed; - and is sometimes done mechanically (with a tractor). It is this type of vineyard work that new research findings from the University of Nîmes (Bernard Mollot) has identified as the probable cause of Black Dead Arm. Vitisphere.com

BKWine Pick: Clos Marie, Coteaux du Languedoc-Pic Saint Loup

>> Thursday, July 20, 2006

Clos Marie, Coteaux du Languedoc-Pic Saint Loup

Christophe Peyrus loves the concept of “terroir” and the wild almost barren landscape around Pic St Loup in Languedoc. His property, Clos Marie, that he runs together with Françoise Julien, has almost from the very first vintage in 1994 been among the best wineries in Pic Saint Loup and the whole of the Languedoc. Christophe runs the vineyards according to bio-dynamic principles and has an unusually high planting density to get more concentrated wines, better balance, freshness and elegance. An example is the white 2005 Roussanne/Carignan Blanc/Macabeu blend giving a very good and flowery wine; the Metaire du Clos 2001 with lots of fruit, tobacco, and mint; or the softer 2000 Olivette with hints of violet and black and red currants. “They Musigny” of the Languedoc… according to Christophe.

Click here for address and more recommendations.

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