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Swedish version available here (click this link).
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Welcome to the
BKWine Brief nr 43, January/February 2007 |
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Appellations and brand names?
Does it serve any useful
purpose to have appellations and classifications (by the way, do you
know the difference between the two?)? Not an easy question to answer.
Yes, it can be useful with some consumer guidance that helps to find a
good wine. But on the other hand it does not always function very well.
Take Burgundy as an example. It is clearly more important to choose a
good producer, and buy a simple “AC Bourgogne” rather than forking out
for a Premier Cru or Grand Cru from a producer that you know nothing
about. And you will save a few cents in doing it. Or take the most
classic example of all, the 1855 classification of Bordeaux. It might
not be entirely decisive for the price of a bottle but it does make a
world of difference in prestige (and price) if you’re among the top
tiers in the classification or if your at the bottom – or not even in it
(oh my god!). And if you take a look behind the scene? In reality, the
1855 classification is a ranking of brand names on not of much else. Oh
no, we here you say. It’s terroir. Well, no, it isn’t. Let’s take a
closer look. It is the actual chateau (the building if you wish) that is
classified “1/2/3/4/5 Cru Classé”. Not the vineyard. In other words, a
chateau can buy (or sell) land without it affecting the classification.
You could, for instance, buy land (within the same appellation) and
double the vineyard area. Where is then the “soul” in being, say, a
second Cru? Well, it certainly is not in the “terroir”. Some (clever)
winemakers have bought a chateau without vineyards (but that had
vineyards when the classification was made long ago). and then they have
bought land (with the right appellation, but not necessarily the land
that happened to belong to the chateau when it was classified) and all of a sudden
the have a wine producing classified chateau. Tradition? Terroir?...
Perhaps the most thoughtful
said about classification was what Laurent Cogombles (together with his
wife owner of Chateau Bouscaut and president of the Syndicat responsible
for reviewing the classification) told us once on the subject of the
reclassification of Graves. We asked how they will come to some
agreement on a new classification of the Graves wineries. He said that,
yes, it’s a very good and difficult question. But that perhaps the best
and truest answer to a ranking is finally what the customers are
prepared to pay for the wine. An unusually well formulated and customer
orientated comment in a wine district today. Which in a way brings us
back to 1855 and its classification, which was primarily a ranking based
on price.
But today, what could be
the real importance of the price those wines fetched in the first half
of the 19th century? And if it is the price that is the main factor,
what good is then the classification? Isn’t it easier to just read the
price tag?
Worth thinking about!
Our wine tours
We are putting a big effort
this year into developing our English language wine tours and our tours
with more educational focus. If you are interested in our tours,
or if you have some ideas or suggestions on the tours, or if you might
be interested in some kind of collaboration around wine and food tours -
we want to hear from you!
So we’re really glad to be
able to introduce to you Kay, a new member to our team. Kay Steggles has
joined us to help with the organisation of our growing wine tour
business. Kay has been working hard on our summer tour to Bordeaux June
6-10 and has already posted
a new one page printable flyer with all the
relevant details for those interested in joining us. In the coming weeks
you can expect to see further information regarding our complete English
language tour programme for 2007. Please feel free to contact Kay for
further information on the tours or, if you have a suggestion of your
own for a wine tour we are happy to discuss a tour specially designed
around a specific requirement. Contact kay.steggles at bkwine dot com
(you know, it’s this thing called spam we're trying to avoid…). Or you
can of course contact me too, as always!
Click on
the blog ranking!
 BKWine
Brief is on the list of the top wine blogs on LWE (Local Wine Events).
At this very moment we’re on 24th place with 123 votes. We’re very glad
for that and say thank you to all readers who have voted on us so far.
But if all readers put a vote for us we would leave the competition far
behind! (First place is held by a blog with 2304 votes and the BKWine
Brief has some 15,000 subscribers now.) What does it matter? Nothing
much really. But it’s fun to get more votes! And the higher up on the
list we are the more new readers we will get. And the more we will be
motivated to continue writing for you. So please vote for us! You can
even vote for us once every 24 hours! Click on the button to the right!
Britt
PS: Recommend to your
friends to read the Brief or forward it to them ! |
All images are clickable!
All previous
issues of the Brief are here:
Archive |
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News from BKWine |
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 Wine Tours
 |
 June
6-10: Bordeaux
For a wine lover a trip to Bordeaux is a must! Here you find world famous
châteaux and world famous wines but also a lot of new exciting initiatives
(less famous but maybe more important for the future of Bordeaux!) and
young enthusiastic wine makers.
More info
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| In the autumn there we are
planning some really interesting trips... Perhaps Bordeaux, Bourgogne,
Rhone, Italy,... More info coming soon. Or get in touch and tell us
what you would like! One thing is already settled:
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| October 17-21 : Portugal
– Alentejo
More info soon. |
 Finnish
Wine Tours - Viinimatkoja Ranskan viinialueille!
 Tours
on the schedule (in Finnish):
For info, contact
winebrief@bkwine.com
or +33 (0)6 80 45 35 70 or check the site:
http://www.bkwine.com/wine_tours/wine_tours.htm
You can find the pictures on
www.bkwine.com/wine_pictures/photo_galleries.htm |
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Recommendations |
| A selection of
what we have tried, tasted or visited recently.
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Producers
Château Belingard, Bergerac
Laurent de Bosredon took over this family property in the mid-80s. He had,
and has, one target in mind: to raise the quality of, and the consumer
interest for, the two appellations Bergerac and Monbazillac. He started
practicing the methods developed by the oenologist Denis Dubordieu,
researcher in Bordeaux. For example, a few hours skin contact for the white
wines and some oak aging on the lees for both the reds and the whites. Or
the importance of measuring the phenolic ripeness of the grapes to be able
to decide on the best time to harvest. Chateau Belingard was originally best
known for its Monbazillac wines but Laurent’s improvements in winemaking and
quality have given the dry white wines a more prominent place: fresh, appely,
with no or very little oak for Chateau Belingard (“tout court”) or the oak
aged Blanche de Bosredon, named after Laurent’s grandmother. And the reds
should not be forgotten either!
Click here for address and more recommendations.
  
Château Saint-Cosme,
Gigondas
Louis Barruol is owner and wine maker at Château Saint Cosme in Gigondas. He
has 15 hectares of old vines that grow on very heterogeneous and complex
soil in a cool micro climate. He practices low yields and crafts wines with
lots of character and personality. He does not filter and uses sulphur very
sparingly. His Gigondas is dominated by Grenache while his Côte du Rhône is
made primarily from Syrah.
Click here for address and more recommendations.
  
Read about more recommended
producers on the site:
Favourite Producers
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Wine Shops
Levallois-Perret / Paris:
A Table, Levallois-Perret
You find “A Table” in one of the “proche-banlieus” (near-suburbs) in Paris,
Levallois-Perret, just north-west of the centre. In an area dominated by
modern office buildings they offer an ambitious cuisine but in a relaxed,
modern bistro type atmosphere. For example very good oysters and an
excellent seafood risotto. Three course menu for 34.50 euro. Open every day,
including free WiFi access!
Click here for address and more recommendations.
Växjö,
Sverige:
Restaurang PM & Vänner,
Växjö
It used to be that only the big cities had top quality restaurants in
Sweden, but such is no longer the case. PM & Vänner (PM & Friends) in the
mid-sized provincial city of Växjö is an excellent example. A high class
cuisine that emphasises local products and a very ambitious wine list makes
this a restaurant you should not miss if you are in this part of Sweden.
Price level is 500-900 kronor for a full menu. There’s also a more relaxed
bistro section in the restaurant. Some picks from the wine list: Cornas
Granit from Vincent Paris, Beaune 1er Cru Theurons from Louis Jadot, Pinot
Gris Classic from Josmeyer, Wiebelsberg Riesling Grand Cru from Marc
Kreydenweiss, Gevrey-Chambertin “Vieilles Vignes” from Sylvie Esmonin and
Domaine de l´Oratoire Saint Martin, (Côtes-du-Rhône Villages Cairanne).
Certainly nothing to be ashamed of… (And worth noting, this year of the 300
year celebration of his birth, is that this is the home country of Carl von
Linné, or Linnaeus. And it is also here that the Swedish glass blowing
region begins.)
Click here for address and more recommendations.
Read more recommendations on
restaurants and winebars on
my Restaurant and Wine Bar page. |
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News from the Wine World |
Organic wine
fair Millésime Bio attracts more visitors
Millésime Bio, the “organic wine fair” recently held in Narbonne saw visitor
numbers grow with 33%. England and Germany were the two foreign countries
best represented. World production of wine from land under “agriculture
Biologique” is 365 000 hectolitre, up 12% from last year. (NB: there is, in
principle, no “organic wine”, only “wine produced from grapes grown
organically”)
- Argentina 1700 hl, 21 ha
- Spain 63 720 hl, 1505 ha
- France 212 169 hl, 4 973 ha
- Italy 18 552 hl, 311 ha
- Portugal 300 hl, 50 ha
- Switzerland 800 hl, 11 ha
- Négoce 67 500 hl
(Source: Millésime Bio,
www.millesime-bio.com)
New Swedish (!) wine shop on
Costa del Sol
 Jens
Nielsen is actually Swedish (even if the name suggests one of the
Scandinavian neighbours) but he lives on the Spanish south coast. Going
shopping for wine in Marbella he was always disappointed by the poor
selections. So he decided to start his own wine shop with a better
selection! And now it’s done. WineMe is the name of the business. There is a
web site and wine club where you can order wines and Jens has also opened
“real” shop with a small wine bar: Wineme, Avenida Miguel De Cervantes No
20, Local 3, 29660 Nueva Andalucía, Marbella. The selection includes, of
course, a lot of Spanish wines, but also many interesting wines from around
the world!
www.wineme.es
Danish sommelier-chef-duo
wins Sherry prize
Chef Jakob Mielcke Hansen and sommelier Alexander Berntsen, both from
the restaurant Jan Hurtigkarl in Denmark won first prize in a recent
competition in Jerez, the capital of Sherry, on the best combination of
sherry with wine. The Danes won in the dry sherry category. Read more in
Vinavisen.dk
The world’s largest wine
tasting
5095 person participated in what was, according to the Guinness Book of
Records, the worlds largest wine tasting. The tasting was held in Aranda del
Duero in the Spanish wine region Castilla y Leon and was organised by the
wine producer Abadia Retuerta.
www.abadiaretuertablog.com
More luxury Champagne
 Champagne
is one of the few districts today that has no problems at all to sell its
wines. The problem they have is rather to satisfy demand. There is virtually
no possibility to increase production. All AOC land is already planted. The
trend today is instead for the champagne producers to move towards even more
exclusive brands: prestige cuvées, vintage champagnes and other luxury
wines. With higher prices and higher margins. According to a recently
published report the value of champagne shipments (sales measured in value)
will rise with 40% between 2004 and 2008, but sales measured in volume will
only go up with a bit more than 5% over the same period. So expect more
strain on you purse if you’re a fizz lover.
www.emediawire.com
South Africa has 581 wine
cellars
Some interesting statistics on South Africa : There are 581 wine
cellars. (As a comparison, that is about the same number as there is in St
Emilion and Pomerol.) Total grape production: 900 million litres, of which
630 million litres was for wine. Budget price wine (wine bought in
supermarkets and consumed within 12 hours of purchase) accounts for 80% of
production and grows strongly.
South Africa’s wine districts (percentage of acreage):
- Worcester (19.3 %)
- Paarl (17.7 %)
- Stellenbosch (17.3 %)
- Malmesbury (15.1 %)
- Robertson (13.2 %)
- Olifants River (9.7 %)
- Orange River (4.9 %)
- Little Karoo (2.9 %)
Five most planted grape varieties (of total)
- Chenin Blanc (or Steen) (18.8 %)
- Cabernet Sauvignon (13.4 %)
- Colombar (Colombard) (11.3 %)
- Chardonnay (7.8 %)
- Sauvignon Blanc (7.5 %)
(Source: Business Report,
Business Report)
Wine featured on the cover
of Fortune Magazine
The latest issue of Fortune Magazine carries a feature article (and
cover photo) on the beneficial effects of wine and Resveratrol against e.g.
aging and overweight. “Can red wine help you live forever?”
money.cnn.com
New permitted grape
varieties in Rioja: Chardonnay, Sauvignon and Verdejo
 Three
new grape varieties have been approved for blending in white Rioja wines:
Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Verdejo. The three varieties must not make
up more than 49% of the blend in a wine though. The rest must be made up of
the “traditional” white Rioja grapes: Maccabeu, Malvoisie and Grenache
Blanc. OIPVR (Organización Interprofesional del Vino de Rioja) have approved
the varieties as of the 2007 harvest.
www.vitisphere.com
USA the world’s biggest wine
consumer?
 According
to a recent report from the Wine Market Council, Adams Beverage Group and
Merill Research USA is currently the world’s third largest wine consuming
nation, beaten only by France and Italy. Consumption have gone up
consistently during the last 12 years and the authors predict that by 2008
the USA may become the worlds biggest wine consumer. They also say that wine
is now produced in all 50 states so you can forget the trick question “Which
American state does not produce wine?” (Ice wine in Alaska perhaps?) Another
interesting detail: 41% of wine consumed in restaurants is sold by the
glass! Perhaps something to take up by restaurateurs in France, England, and
many other countries.
The Wine Enthusiast and
pressdemocrat.com
Wine contributes $813
million to North Carolina
In our series on unusual American wine producer the turn this month has
come to North Carolina. There are 55 wineries today, three times more than
in 2000. The acreage under vine has doubled during the same period. The wine
sector contributes $813 million to the state economy and generates 5700
full-time jobs.
triad.bizjournals.com
Journal of Wine Economics
The new and scientifically orientated Journal of Wine Economics has
published its second issue. There you can read about: “Growers vs. Merchants
Bargaining on the Price of Champagne Grapes and the Role of Contracts when
Bargaining is Unbalanced”, “Spatial Variations in Weather Conditions and
Wine Prices in Bordeaux”, “The Paris 1976 Wine Tastings Revisited Once More:
Comparing Ratings of Consistent and Inconsistent Tasters”, “What Determines
the Future Value of an Icon Wine? New Evidence from Australia”, “Price
Formation in the California Winegrape Economy”, “Tales from the Crypt:
Auctioneer Bruce Kaiser Tells Us about the Trials and Tribulations of a Wine
Judge”, “Price and Quality in the California Wine Industry: An Empirical
Investigation”
http://www.wine-economics.org/
Life is being a chef...
 One
of the hottest segments in the internet industry today is “social software”.
It covers anything from the teenage virtual world of MySpace to professional
networks such as LinkedIn. If you’re in the restaurant trade there’s a new
social software networking site just for you:
ChefsLife.com
Strong result for V&S Vin &
Sprit in 2006
V&S Vin & Sprit, the international spirit producer and wine importer
owned by the Swedish government, published strong numbers for last year:
Operating profits up by 10% to SEK 2.2 bn, and net sales up by 8% to SEK
10.3 bn. The spirits branch V&S Absolut Spirits contributed 84% of the
profit and 57% of the sales. Perhaps that may make other (private) importers
on the Scandinavian market to think (hope?) that V&S might as well quit the
wine business since it contributes comparatively little... (But it is
perhaps interesting to keep in mind that several large wine importers in
Sweden are actually owned by the Finnish government!) The chief executive of
the government owned company says: "Increased sales of the Group's largest
brand, Absolut Vodka, are a result of our strategy of increasing efforts on
the US market while focusing on a number of prioritized markets.” We wonder
how that fits with the government’s strategy to decrease alcohol
consumption?
Moueix buys share in Belair
 The
Moueix family has acquired 31% of Château Belair. Moueix is best known for
being the owner of Château Petrus. Chateau Belair is owned by Pascal Delbeck,
a very ambitious winemaker who at a very tender age became “famous” for
being appointed responsible for Chateau Ausone, one of the two top
properties in the whole of Saint Emilion. Delbeck sells a minority share in
Belair in order not to loose it entirely due to French inheritance taxes.
Belair has, since Delbeck’s arrival after having left Ausone, become one of
Saint Emilion’s best chateaux.
Have a news
item you'd like to see here or have a news tip? Send me an email:
winebrief@bkwine.com |
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Some More Reading Perhaps? |
| We’re starting an
occasional series on wine magazines – recommended reading for those of you
who want to know and read more. First out is…
 Decanter
Magazine
Decanter is no doubt competing with Wine Spectator for first place in
being the internationally best known wine mag and we’re not going to make
any judgement here on who we think is on top. Even though it is published in
the UK it has a very wide international readership. Many famous wine writers
have written in Decanter and several do it on a regular basis. It does
obviously have a bit of an English slant on things which is a drawback when
it comes to articles on what is on sale in British supermarkets but which is
an advantage in that they are very un-focussed on numerical ratings.
Certainly a good read for the wine lover.
www.decanter.com |
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Book Reviews |
Wine Travel
Guide to the World
By Robert Joseph
Footprint
 A
very ambitious book: a travel guide for he who wants to visit vineyards
covering the whole world. And perhaps even over-ambitious. The book contains
lots of excellent recommendations – of growers to visit, shops with a good
selection, hotels and restaurants, sites etc. All with personal, well
written recommendations by Robert Joseph, who no doubt is one of the most
well travelled wine writers (and founder and previous editor of the English
wine magazine Wine International). But it is perhaps trying to bite of a too
big piece of the cake. If, for example, you want to visit the upper Loire
Valley (Sancerre, Pouilly and other appellations) is it really enough with
just one producer recommendation? We hope for a sequel (or several) that
will cover in a bit more depth specific wine regions.
(Sometimes it is fortunate that
you read the fine print in the contract and sometimes you’re glad that you
actually did not skip the introduction to the book. We were very surprised
(and flattered) when we read in “Acknowledgements” in Robert Joseph’s book
this sentence: ”I also owe a particular debt to the online efforts of Jamie
Goodie (www.wineanorak.com), Jancis Robinson (www.jancisrobinson.com),
Bertrand Celce (www.wineterroirs.com) and Britt Karlsson (www.bkwine.com).”
Many thanks!)
Buy the book:
Amazon.co.uk |
Amazon.com
Click here for more book reviews on my site. You will also
find links to on-line book shops on that page. |
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Link Tips |
Some wine sites
that you might enjoy visiting:
| EVWG.blogspot.com –
try remembering that URL. but if you know that it’s East Village Wine Geek
it might be easier. If you need some motivation why blogs are fun and wine
blogs in particular you should read this EVWG post. A true enthusiast. And
geek.
East Village Wine Geek or
this one (you have to read it the headline in pure English to get the
point…) |
| Food Wine and the Arts
– sounds interesting doesn’t it?
Copia, The American Centre for Wine Food and the Arts |
| Winecast – a wine
blog and podcast (or wine internet radio for non-nerds):
www.winecast.net |
Send us suggestions on sites to
be included here:
winebrief@bkwine.com |
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Agenda |
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- -
France:
- -
Sweden:
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13/10, 2007, Östersund:
Munskänkarna's wine fair, glenn (at) makenzius (dot) se (NEW)
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- - UK,
Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Denmark,...:
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7/2, Copenhagen: Wine
Australia Tasting,
www.wineaustralia.com (NEW) |
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9-10/3, Valby (Denmark):
Viniditalia Wine Fair
www.viniditalia.dk (NEW) |
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15-17/3, Helsinki:
ViiniExpo,
FinnExpo.fi |
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18-20/3, Düsseldorf: ProWine,
wine and spirit fair,
http://www.prowein.de |
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29-30/3, Mainz: Weinboerse
2007, trade fair
http://www.vdp.de |
Wine auction
agendas:
Something we've missed? Send us suggestions for events to be added here:
winebrief@bkwine.com |
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Post Scriptum |
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 Copyright
©
Britt Karlsson, BKWine
www.bkwine.com
info@bkwine.com
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