BKWine Brief Blog

The St Emilion circus continues…

2008-08-28T09:04:00.000+02:00

Well, you cannot call it much else but a circus… At the beginning of July a court decided that the ‘new’ Saint Emilion classification should be annulled. This was the third court to deal with the issue and was thought to be the final word. Not so. The French Senate has now decided that those chateaux that were classified in the previous classification will be allowed to use that classification “until such time as a new classification has been established”. Initially this is valid for the vintages 2006 to 2009. It is part of a package called “the law for the modernisation of the economy”. Believe it if you will. Perhaps they should care a bit more about the consumers instead of internal jockeying and questionable prestige labels. winealley.com

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UK retail chain Oddbins sold. Again

2008-08-27T09:02:00.000+02:00

Oddbins used to be a leading British retail chain known for a good wine selection and unusual shops. A few years ago it was sold, following a period of difficulty due to the tightening of the UK retail scene, to the French company Castel, itself one of France’s biggest wine producers. However, Castel have struggled to develop Oddbins and make it profitable. In a surprising move Oddbins has now been sold to Ex Cellars, an English company with currently only two wine shops. wine-business-international.com and winealley.com

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Pernod Ricard to sell wine assets?

2008-08-26T09:19:00.000+02:00

According to a report in the Financial Times, Pernod Ricard plans to sell large portions of its wine portfolio in a streamlining of its brands following its acquisition of the Swedish wine and spirits company V&S Vin & Sprit (including the Absolut vodka brand). Also the very long standing and traditional own-label cognac called Grönstedts is expected to be sold. However, analysts expect that PR will keep its Australian wine brand Jacobs Creek. Financial Times and Vitisphere.com

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French government launches unsuccessful anti-alcohol campaign

2008-08-25T09:09:00.000+02:00

The French government has launched a campaign targeting youngsters that wants to discourage young people from drinking. According to reports in Decanter, the reactions from youngsters seem to indicate that the campaign has had questionable success. They report reactions as ranging from ‘I have not seen it and I don’t care’ to ‘I have seen it and I don’t care'. The video shows a beach party that as the evening progresses degenerates into violence, rape, drowning and vomiting… Watch it here.

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Chateau Montelena in California to be sold to a Frenchman

2008-08-25T09:08:00.000+02:00

Michel Reybier already owns the famous Chateau Cos d’Estournel in Bordeaux. Now he is extending is chateau collection with Chateau Montelena in California’s Napa Valley. The vineyard covers some 80 hectares and is perhaps best know for having produced one of the American wines that were part of the “Judgement of Paris” tasting that took place in 1976 and where the two American wines came in front of many famous French wines. The price of the transaction is not known but is rumoured to be in excess of $100 million. pressdemocrat.com and SFGate.com and Vitisphere.com

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The world’s oldest Veuve Clicquot

2008-08-25T09:07:00.000+02:00

When Chris James bought the Torosay castle on the Scottish isle of Mull it came with the furniture. In a cabinet that had no key but that he eventually managed to open James found what is believed to be the oldest bottle of Veuve Clicquot. The vintage on the bottle was 1893. Vitisphere.com

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Italy may allow DOC in bag-in-box

2008-08-22T09:19:00.000+02:00

Italian authorities have decided to allow wines of the quality appellation DOC to be packaged in bag-in-box. The top level wines with DOCG designation will still have to be bottled in, well, bottle. New York Times

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Wine is good for your health – especially with food

2008-08-22T09:18:00.000+02:00

Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have discovered that wine is particularly good for your health if you drink it with food. It has previously not been quite understood why wine is good for you. Wine, in particular red wine, contains polyphenols, which are powerful antioxidants that can counteract cancer and heart disease. But why that is so has been a mystery since little of the antioxidants find their way into the bloodstream. The researchers, led by Dr Joseph Kanner, have discovered that the secret may be in the stomach. When you eat fat food, e.g. red meat, harmful oxidising toxins are released, in particular one called malondialdehyde (MDA). MDA is thought to contribute to various diseases, such as arteriosclerosis, cancer, diabetes and others. Dr Kanner's research has shown that if you drink wine at the same time as you eat this “bad” food (a juicy steak perhaps) the amount of MDA released is much reduced compared to if you don’t drink any wine with the food. Fruit after dinner has a similar effect. So it is in the stomach rather than in the blood that the wine does its good work. At least according to the experiments done on mice. As reported in The Economist.

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World’s biggest selling spirit brands

2008-08-21T09:07:00.000+02:00

- Smirnoff – 24 300 (thousand cases @ 9l) (ägs av Diageo)
- Bacardi – 19 200
- Johnnie Walker – 16 050 (owned by Diageo)
- Absolut – 10 730 (owned by Pernod Ricard)
- Jack Daniel’s – 9 075
- Captain Morgan – 7 800 (owned by Diageo)
- Baileys – 7 700 (owned by Diageo)
- Cuervo Tequila – 7 260 (owned by Diageo)
- Ballantine’s – 6 170 (owned by Diageo)
- Jim Beam – 6 140
(Source: The Drinks Business)

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World’s biggest selling champagne

2008-08-21T09:06:00.000+02:00

- Moët & Chandon – 2640 (thousand cases @ 9l) (owned by Moët Hennessy, LVMH)
- Veuve Clicquot – 1658 (owned by Moët Hennessy, LVMH)
- Nicolas Feuillatte – 750
- GH Mumm – 600 (owned by Pernod Ricard)
- Piper-Heidsieck – 588
- Laurent-Perrier – 571
- Taittinger – 458
- Lanson – 417
- Pommery – 417
- Perrier-Jouët – 200 (owned by Pernod Ricard)

Which means that LVMH, who owns the top two brands, sells more than all the others on the list put together.
(Source: The Drinks Business)

The top ten sellers add up to 100 million bottles. From memory (and this may not be entirely accurate - we're on vacation without library access), 300 million bottles are sold each year. If so, the top two LVMH brands (not counting other brands they own) account for 15% of all champagne sales.

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World’s biggest selling wine brands

2008-08-21T09:05:00.000+02:00

- Gallo – 19 250 (thousand cases @ 9l)
- Hardys – 11 000 (owned by Constellation)
- Yellow Tail – 11 000
- Concha y Toro – 10 465
- Beringer – 9 900 (owned by Foster’s)
- Robert Mondavi – 9 800 (owned by Constellation)
- Lindemans – 8 600 (owned by Foster’s)
- Jacob’s Creek – 8 200 (owned by Pernod Ricard)
- Blossom Hill – 6 400
- Banrock Station – 4 000 (owned by Constellation)
(Source: The Drinks Business)

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Welcome to the BKWine Brief nr 61, August 2008

2008-08-20T10:27:00.001+02:00

The sports hysteria is now in full bloom. The Olympic Games have just started… and what has that to do with wine, you may ask? Not much, but it serves as an excuse to talk about China and that it is becoming one of the world’s larger wine producers even if statistics are still quite unreliable. Some Chinese wines have even started to appear on the export market: Dragon Seal, Great Wall Winery and others. A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to visit several wineries in China when I was in Beijing to be part of the jury in a Chinese wine competition. Some were completely local organisations but many had Western involvement, either having a European winemaker or in some cases being part-owned by foreigners. The wines were still far from being world class wines but many were well made, showing that there may be greater things to come. So if you have the opportunity to taste a Chinese wine I can certainly recommend that you try it.

We had recently more opportunities to taste ‘Olympic wines’ when we were on a wine tour in Greece. We’re spending vacation this summer in Sweden and we’ve taken that as an opportunity to do a follow-up and go through the selection of Greek wines here in Sweden. They have quite a long list of Greek wines in the monopoly stores ‘Systembolaget’. Unfortunately when you want to order this or that wine it often turns out to be out of stock. They joys of a monopoly market. But we’ve managed to go through a decent selection of the Greek wines and some of them are certainly very good. Surprisingly, it is often the whites that have been most interesting. And it certainly is not retsinas! (As a matter of fact, during our ten days in Greece we didn’t taste a single retsina. Perhaps we should have…) If you can find some Greek wines at your local wine merchant now is certainly the time to try it. Why not organise an Olympic dinner. And you can enjoy some good food and wine and forget about the television.

One of the great joys of wine, at least for me, is to try new wines – wines that I have never tried before. I’ve never quite understood people who every day drink the same wine. Seems just a touch boring. Like eating the same food every day. Or always watching the same episode of a television program. On the first day of our vacation (that is soon over) we went to the local monopoly outlet and bought a box of wine – not the ‘box wine’ (bag-in-box that accounts for more than 50% of sales in Sweden) – but a real case, with 12 bottles. And not two bottles of the same wine in the selection. So this month’s recommendation from me is to buy a case of wine and make sure that every wine is different. And don’t worry too much about what some wine critics say about the wines or what their “rating” or “score” are. Just get what you think might be interesting or fun and see how it turns out. I am sure that you will get some pleasant surprises (and an enjoyable time).

Britt

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

Read the whole BKWine Brief here!

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Finnish wine and gastronomy fair in August

2008-07-23T09:10:00.001+02:00

For the second year in a row, Virpi Sorvisto organises a wine and gastronomy fair in Kokkola (Karleby) in Finland on August 15 and 16. Both days will be filled with interesting tastings and presentations. The Finnish chocolatier Jonas Hoffsten will present the exclusive Amedei chocolate and explain what to drink to it; the TV chef Aki Wahlman will have cooking presentations; and BKWine will do wine tastings on the Languedoc and on new trends in French winemaking (both in Swedish and English). And much more. There will be many wine importers there to present, and let you taste, their wines. A special section is dedicated to gastronomic specialities – that you also can buy at the fair. Not to forget the champagne tastings in the wine bar… For more information contact Virpi Sorvisto: www.vistovin.fi or phone +358 50 3380080.

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Does the cork breathe?

2008-07-23T09:09:00.000+02:00

This question has been more hotly debated since the screw cap arrived on the scene. According to a study at the faculty of oenology at the Bordeaux University the answer is yes. The study, made in collaboration with the cork producer Amorim, concludes that the cork gives a small but measurable contribution of oxygen to the wine, primarily thanks to what is trapped in the cork cell structure itself. An older study by the professor Jean Ribéreau-Gayon found that a bottle closed with cork had an addition of oxygen of 0.1 to 0.38 ml over the first three weeks and between 0 and 0.07 ml over the four following months. The cork advocates say that this is beneficial for the aging of the wine and that it reduces the risk of a “reduced” (as opposed to oxidised) character in the wine. Enthusiasts for the screw cap do not quite agree of course.

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Bordeaux primeurs 2007 finds a tough market

2008-07-23T09:08:00.000+02:00

The primeur season for the Bordeaux 2007s has ended and it seems to be, just like our summer weather, with a lot of clouds in the sky. The international market is notably less interested in the wines this year. Or at least, the reaction seems to be “it’s too expensive”. It is most of all the UK and the US markets that have lost interest (and that’s two big markets!). Even if the prices have gone down compared to last year (between 5% and 40%) the level is considered too high. But then one can keep in mind the fantastic prise hikes we have seen over the preceding years. The demand is a bit better from Japan, Switzerland and Belgium, and in particular from the French supermarket chains, but hardly enough to compensate for the UK and the US. Read more on Bloomberg and on AFP.

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Finnish wine threatens the EU CAP agricultural policy?

2008-07-23T09:07:00.000+02:00

Apparently, Mr Fredrik Slotte on the Finnish island of Aland in the Baltic Sea grows vines on a small vineyard. He hopes to soon produce some 100 bottles of wine. The problem is that this Finnish vineyard came to the attention of someone in the EU agricultural administration and made him think: “If the climate up there is warm enough to grow wine in Finland, why should we then pay a lot of money for agricultural support to Finland for agriculture in an artic climate?”... Is this true? We read it in the New York Times!

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Red sparkling Beaujolais?

2008-07-23T09:06:00.000+02:00

Perhaps it will be the saviour for the hard hit wine growers in Beaujolais who today have difficulties selling their wines? Sicarex in Beaujolais has has produced an experimental version of a red sparkling wine made from Gamay grapes. The vinification started with a high-temperature maceration before fermentation, to extract colour and soft tannins, followed by a pressing and fermentation of the by then coloured must. The base wine then underwent a second fermentation in bottle according to the méthode traditionelle. They made two versions: brut (dry, with 10 g/l residual sugar) and demi-sec (sweet, at 33 g/l). In a fit of inspiration they called the wine Red Bulle (bulle being French for bubble). We look forward to seeing (and tasting) this in real life… vitisphere.com

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Organic wine farming growing in France

2008-07-22T09:20:00.001+02:00

Organically farmed vineyards have increased substantially in France: up with 20% compared with a fall in the total surface of vineyards with 2.3%. But the total of 22,000 ha organic vineyards still only represent 2.6% of the total of French vineyards. Organic farming is most popular in the Languedoc-Roussillon region, where it is also comparatively risk free thanks to the hot and dry weather. vitisphere.com

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Chateau Vignelaure changes hands

2008-07-22T09:17:00.000+02:00

Chateau Vignelaure is one of the best known wine producers in Provence. It was recently sold to a Swedish-Danish couple, Bengt Sundström and Mette Rode Sundström. The seller was the Irish couple Catherine and David O’Brian. The property will now be run by the French oenologist Philippe Bru with winemaking experience not only from France but also from Australia, Spain and Chile. www.vignelaure.com

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Scandinavian Grand Slam in chef-Olympics Bocuse d’Or

2008-07-21T09:06:00.000+02:00

This year, for the first time ever, the Bocuse d’Or competition (the “World Cuisine Contest”) was held outside of Lyons in France. It took place in Stavanger in Norway. The Bocuse d’Or is a competition for professional chefs from all over the world. The winner in this year’s competition was Geir Skeie from the Sovold restaurant in Norway. Second place went to Denmark Jesper Kure) and third to Sweden (Jonas Lundgren)! 20 countries were competing for the trophy. bocusedor.com

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Meeting Wine – a meeting for those who look for Italian wines October 17-19

2008-07-21T09:05:00.002+02:00

Meeting Wine is a wine show/meeting place specifically targeting international buyers looking for Italian wines from Piedmont, Tuscany and southern Italy. Some 60 wine producers will be represented with opportunities to organise face-to-face meetings. Meeting Wine takes place in Florence on October 17-19. More info www.meetinginternational.it

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Norwegian wins Nordic sommelier trophy

2008-07-21T09:05:00.001+02:00

Meret Bøe took first place in the Nordic Sommelier Championship recently held in Norway. She is working as sommelier at the Bagatelle restaurant in Oslo. Second and third place was won by Sören Polonius (Sweden, Restaurant F12) and Susanne Berglund Krantz (Sweden, Gondolen). More info vinkelner.com

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Legendary Loire producer leaves his vineyard

2008-07-21T09:04:00.000+02:00

Jo Pithon, one of the producers who have put Anjou on the map for excellent dry and sweet whites from the heavily underrated chenin blanc grape, has left the vineyard carrying his name. A few years ago he sold 90% of his Domaine to Philip Fournier, a local businessman, but continued to be in charge of it. (We don’t know why Pithon sold in the first place. Perhaps the property needed capitals to continue develop?) Together they then bought the Chateau de Chamboureau, a leading property in the neighbouring Savennières appellation. But the happy marriage did not last forever. Jo Pithon has now left the Domaine Jo Pithon and rumour has it that he may be looking for another domaine.

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Saint Emilion classification, suspension in suspension in suspension

2008-07-17T09:07:00.000+02:00

The rules for the St Emilion classification (Grand Cru Classé) stipulate that every ten years the ranking should be re-done. At the latest re-ordering of the chateau some properties were pushed out and the owners of those chateaux were not very happy. The argued that the “jury” making the classification had been partial because, among other things, it had included some of the owners of the chateaux that were under scrutiny. So they took their case to court and won. The classification was annulled (or suspended). That ruling was of course appealed against and the higher court decided to annul the suspension. The case then went to an even higher court in Bordeaux which recently pronounced its decision: they ruled that the new St Emilion classification must not be used. So now, for the moment, there is no St Emilion GCC… Why not just simply scrap the classification and let the consumers decide what they think the wines are worth? decanter.com

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Europe’s first congress for wine educators held in Austria

2008-07-17T09:06:00.002+02:00

The recently created European Academy of Wine Education (EAWE) has held its first congress in Austria. Representatives from 16 countries participated in the meeting. One of the outcomes of the meeting was that the EAWE will transform into a formal association with the aim work on wine education issues across Europe. More info here. http://www.winesfromaustria.com/news/info_080618.html

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