New guest
writing on BKWine.com: Lebanon, Israel, Germany…
First, we have the pleasure of welcoming a new guest writer, Per W Stryger,
who is both a wine importer (vinum-bonum.dk)
and an airline captain, as well as a wine writer. On the guest writer page
he writes three articles on German wine, on drinking wine, and on combining
wine and food.
Read Per’s articles here.
We also have new articles from two of our established guest writers: Ester
Laushway writes about an interesting and unusual producer in Provence
(certainly an unusual love story!), and David Furer writes two articles on
wine from Israel and on wine from Lebanon.
Read Ester's och David's articles here
Sneak release: truffles in
February
It's
not officially released yet, but we can give you a sneak preview. On
February 13-17 we will organise an exclusive Truffles Hunting, Wine and
Gastronomy tour (including foie gras) to the Perigord district in South West
France. We'll go "hunting" for truffles with specially trained truffles dogs
and we'll end the morning with a magnificent all-truffles lunch... An we'll
also visit a number of interesting wine producers in the region of course.
You'll soon find more info here:
bkwine.com/wine_tours/wine_tours.htm
New VDP: Vin de Pays du Val
de Loire
On May 11 the official text for the new Vin de Pays du Val de Loire was
published. It covers the departements Allier, Cher, Indre, Indre-et-Loire,
Loir-et-Cher, Loire-Atlantique, Loiret, Maine-et-Loire, Nièvre, Puy-de-Dôme,
Sarthe, Vendée, Vienne and parts of Deux-Sèvres. White grapes: sauvignon
blanc, sauvignon gris, chardonnay, chenin, grolleau gris, pinot blanc, pinot
gris, melon. Red varieties: cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, gamay noir,
grolleau noir, grolleau gris, pinot noir, merlot, pineau d’aunis. The grape
variety (varieties) can be mentioned on the label. The previously used VDP
du Jardin de la France is thus abolished.
Read the full text.
Austria bets on organic wine
Austria aims to become the leading producer of organic wine. There are today
467 organic wineries in the country, representing 4% of the total
production. In 2006 the produced volume of organic wine reached 652,000
hectolitres.
harpers.co.uk
Water in the vineyard
Is it permitted to irrigate the vineyard? It depends on where and when. Many
believe that it is forbidden in e.g. France. However, that is not the case.
Even in France it is allowed in some districts and under some conditions (at
certain pre-defined periods during the year). Usually not for the better
wines though. After the extremely dry 2003 there’s been a lot of discussion
about a more liberal attitude towards irrigation in France. In the New World
the situation is sometimes the opposite. There are no restrictions on
irrigation (as a matter of fact, some wine districts would not exist without
it). But there are some arguments raised that perhaps it should be used
less. Read more about that debate, primarily on the US west coast, in
SFGate.
Napa Valley officially
recognised by the EU
The
European Union has recently officially recognised the denominations “Napa”
and “Napa Valley” for wine in a way similar to the European appellations of
origin for wine. The president of Napa Valley Vintners comments “It is a
significant victory in the permanent fight to protect the name Napa around
the world”. Not that we believe that there were many producers in Europe who
called their wine “Napa”…vinimarket.com,
decanter.com,
napavalleyregister.com
Record harvest in Argentina
The
harvest volume in Argentina 2007 is expected to increase with 6.5% compared
with 2006. It will be the largest volume since 10 years. A contributing
factor is that many new plantations in the Mendoza region this year produces
wine for the first time.
vinimarket.com
Record (small) harvest in
Australia
In contrast, in Australia this year’s harvest will be the smallest since
2000 – only 560,000 tonnes (~400 M litres of wine). It is almost 30% less
than last year. Perhaps not entirely unwelcome though, since Australia has
had large surplus volumes of wine recently.
wine-business-international.com
500 wineries in Washington
Sweet Valley Wines in Walla Walla claims to be the 500th winery in
Washington State. The state has 31,000 acres of wine (13,000 hectares).
Production has grown steadily from not more than 20 wineries in the 70s.
winemag.com
Great uncertainty (and
apprehension?) re. prices on Bordeaux primeurs
What
will happen with the prices on the primeur wines (“release prices”) from
Bordeaux? Many people, both buyers and sellers, seem to look at it with a
certain concern. And many chateaux seem reluctant to announce the prices.
The prices will certainly be below those for the 2005 vintage that were
extremely high. But how much lower? Some (Mr Parker among them) predict that
it is a vintage that will not much interest the American market. For
economic reasons and because fo the weak dollar. First to release the price
was Léoville-Barton who announced a price that was certainly lower than for
2005 but still quite high according to some observers. Other chateaux seem
to wait (hesitate?) with the prices… Is it the beginning of market reaction
on the very high prices of recent years? We will see. Read more:
decanter.com
The world’s best sommelier
is Swedish
Andreas
Larsson recently won the title as the world’s best sommelier at the
championship in Greece. His daily job (or perhaps nightly) is at the
restaurant PM & Vänner (PM and Friends) in the small Swedish town of Växjö.
www.matodryck.se
EU launches propaganda
campaign for wine? Outside Europe...
Agricultural commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel will present the project
for wine sector reform om July 4. One of the elements in the project is a
proposal to invest substantial amounts in a marketing campaign to promote
European wines. But only outside of Europe. Fischer Boel says that it may
involve “very significant figures … people will be very surprised”.
financialexpress-bd.com
Wine poetry?
Feeling your writing soul needs to get the opportunity to express itself?
The American magazine The Wine Enthusiast has launched a wine Limerick
competition. You can submit your entries until July 1. Judging from their
samples, the competition is not too stiff.
winemag.com
I’m a spirits drinker from my
youth
Who’s often been called very uncouth
If the wine is too young
Too tannic on my tongue
I simply add a spritz of vermouth
The world’s most powerful
brands
The magazine The Drinks Business makes a yearly review of the world’s
most powerful brands, weighing in things like brand recognition as well as
sales volumes. Here are this year’s top 10 brands.
- Smirnoff
- Bacardi
- Johnnie Walker
- Martini
- Stolichnaya
- Hennessy
- Absolut
- Jack Daniel’s
- Chivas Regal
And here’s “the wine list”, the
list of the top ten wine brands (overall ranking in parenthesis)
- Gallo (17)
- Hardys (21)
- Concha y Toro (24)
- Robert Mondavi (36)
- Yellowtail (43)
- Jacob’s Creek (47)
- Lindemans (50)
- Sutter Home (56)
- Blossom Hill (65)
- Rosemount (80)
One can perhaps note that none
of the wine brands originate in Europe, although Jacob’s Creek is owned by
the French company Pernod Ricard.
World’s best Syrah
The wine competition Syrah du Monde recently honoured 36 wines with the
Gold Medal. Wines from all over the world participated in the competition.
Here is the list of winning wines:
syrah-du-monde.com
Why do it the simple way
when you can make it complicated
The
Swedish monopoly retailer Systembolaget (who also likes to take on a
particularly responsible attitude when it thinks that the citizens are not
quite up to it) has a project to introduce level indicators on Bag-in-Box
wines so that the consumer can see how much is left in the plastic bag
inside the box. Unfortunately, as they note in their latest newsletter “the
proposals that have so far been presented have all incurred a substantial
cost for the packaging”, but they continue their quest. Perhaps they don’t
think that the consumers are willing to pay a substantial premium to get the
gauge on the box. Which seems entirely reasonable, considering that you can
check the level by simply lifting the box and feel its weight. For no extra
cost. But why choose a simple solution?...
Cognac with tea?!
So-Yang
is a newly launched drink that is a blend of cognac and green tea. It was
originally created by a French woman in her kitchen in Cognac. It is
actually much better than what it might sound, I must admit. You serve it as
a refreshing drink or aperitif, simply on some ice cubes. Light, refreshing
and pleasingly aromatic. Actually a quite elegant mix of cognac and tea
aromas, mixed with a hint of citrus and peaches. It’s just launched so
you’ll have difficulties finding it in a shop near you (unless you live near
Drugstore Publicis Etoile), but they’re looking for distributors
internationally.
so-yang.com
Allegrini buys vineyards in
Montalcino
The Veneto-based Italian wine producer Allegrini has just bought two
vineyards in Montalcino in collaboration with their American importer:
Poggio San Paolo and Montluc. They will merge the two vineyards under the
name Poggio San Paolo. The total surface will be around 21 hectares. They
mainly produce Brunello di Montalcino but also some Rosso di Montalcino and
two “super Tuscans”. The price tag has not been made public but it is
estimated to around 10 million euro. (The price per hectare in Montalcino is
around 375,000 euro…)
winespectator.com
Amber Ridge Vineyard in
Sonoma sold to Nickel & Nickel
Meanwhile in California… Amber Ridge Vineyard is located in the Russian
River district in Sonoma and covers 12 hectares. They grow Pinot Noir,
Chardonnay and Syrah. Nickel & Nickel, a winery in Napa, recently paid $4.1
million for it (3 million euro). It’s the highest price ever paid for a
vineyard in this area and computes to around $300,000 per hectare (240,000
euro/ha).
winespectator.com
Vin de Pays d’Oc celebrates
its 20th anniversary
Vin
de Pays d’Oc was created in 1987 and there will be a big celebration at
Vinexpo this summer. Some facts:
- VdP d’Oc is the biggest exporter of French wine, ahead of e.g. Bordeaux
- is also the biggest exporter of varietal wines (and totally dominant of
the French production of “vins de cepage” making 90% of all varietals)
- is in fourth place internationally for varietals, after Australia, Chile
and USA
- made 4.5 million hectolitres of wine in 2005
Abundant year for English
vineyards
2006 was a very good harvest for England and Wales too. They produced in
total 3,369,000 bottles, which is the third largest harvest since records
began. The planted surface grew over the year from 793 hectares to 923 ha
and 16 new vineyards were created, bringing the total to 362 wine producers
in England and Wales. (A curious comparison with South Africa, who has 581
“wine cellars”. When will England+Wales overtake South Africa?)
Richard Smart introduced
into the New Zealand Wine Hall of Fame
The Australian viticultural researcher and consultant Richard Smart has been
elected into the New Zealand Wine Hall of Fame. The nomination is based
primarily on his work to improve vines and rootstocks after the Phylloxera
invasion and for his work on canopy management.
Wine fair in Finland
On August 10 and 11 there will be a wine and gastronomy fair in Karleby
in Finland. The theme is wine and food in combination. Visitors will be able
to buy small portions of food (à 2 euro), prepared by the Professional
Chef’s Association of the region. 13 wine importers will be there to present
their wines to go with it. They will also have cheese presentations and on
other gastronomic themes (e.g. by Aki Wahlman), tutored wine tastings, and
presentation of other gastronomic specialities (e.g. from Rougie). We here
that there are also a few spaces left for a additional wine importers to
exhibit. More info: virpi-punkt-sorvisto-snabela-kolumbus-punkt-fi or
vanhatullipakkahuone.com
Spittoon innovation
Spittoons
are perhaps not what you put on your wish list for Christmas but they are
very useful (well, essential) in many wine tastings. The French company
Oenocom, who produces a clever, time-glass-shaped spittoon called
Oenosablier, has just launched a new, smaller spittoon. It is smaller and
lighter than their flagship Oenosablier, just 1 litre and made in Bordeaux
coloured plastic. Easy to carry with you and does not take much space on a
wine tasting table or a wine show stand. More info:
http://www.oeno-com.com/
The EU court rules that
internet sales of wine and spirits should be allowed into Sweden
It
has taken the EU court five years to finally rule on an intriguing issue
regarding internet sales from the EU into Sweden. The Swedish government has
always claimed that it is illegal for individuals to buy wine and spirit
from other EU countries through the internet (or any other distance sale,
e.g. mail order). Sweden has obtained an exception from EU rules that has
allowed it too keep the monopoly on wine and spirits retail sales, through
the government owned chain of shops "Systembolaget" - claiming that it is
vital for the public health and for the good of the youth to keep the
monopoly. (No doubt, the Swedish monopoly supporters can see how in the rest
of Europe vast swathes of the population are alcoholics and the youth is
entirely decadent.) (Interestingly, though, in spite of the monopoly, the
government shops have less than 50% market share. The Swedes have a larger
supply from restaurants, from travelling abroad, and from illegal imports
and home brewing). As a consequence of this monopoly, the government has
claimed, Swedes should not be allowed to buy wine and spirit from other EU
countries.
In spite of the government
claiming that internet sales were illegal several internet sites have
appeared specifically targeting the Swedish market (usually with
exceptionally poor selections, but cheap). The merchants claimed that it was
against the EU principles of free movement of goods (which it is, but, you
know, Sweden had this monopoly derogation). Several cases where people have
bought online and had their goods confiscated at the border have gone to
court. Some cases have gone along government lines whereas other court
decisions have gone against the government. Undeterred, the customs officers
have more and more tightened the control and have recently confiscated all
parcels they have found.
One court case has gone to the
supreme court. However, instead of taking a decision, the supreme court
asked the EU court for advice on how the EU regulations should be
interpreted - a normal procedure when country regulations seem contradictory
to EU rules, but a procedure that takes time. It is this ruling from the EU
court that has now been pronounced.
The conclusion is that the EU
court considers that it is an unreasonable restriction for Sweden to limit
such imports and that it does not serve the stated purpose of protecting the
youth. The EU conclusion is therefore that Swedes should be allowed to buy
wines and spirits over the internet. This was actually an unexpected
decision since preliminary notes from the EU have indicated the opposite and
a ruling late last year that said said that a Dutch resident who had
bought duty paid wine in France and had it shipped to Holland would have to
pay Dutch duties on it, in spite of it already having been taxed in France.
In the mean time, several of
the companies involved in the business have closed down and at leas one has
gone bankrupt, as a consequence of the government's previous (erroneous)
interpretation of the rules. More comments in
the IHT.
Have a news
item you'd like to see here or have a news tip? Send me an email:
winebrief@bkwine.com
En français
Finnish
Wine Tours - Viinimatkoja Ranskan viinialueille!
