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Welcome to the
BKWine Brief nr 58, May 2008 |
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To paraphrase Dinah
Washington – What a difference a month makes. 31 little days. A month
ago I was complaining about the snow storm that hit us going back from
Chablis. Today I'm sitting on the balcony under the parasol in summer
heat. The vines are busy developing leaves and extending new shoots.
I've heard that when they are at their most vigorous they may grow 30
centimetres each day. But later this week the weather gods have promised
rain in the Languedoc just when we're going there. I am not very happy
with that since we have planned for a barbeque in the vineyards! But the
wine growers are probably happy. They have had very little rain over the
last two years. When I was there in February they even introduced
emergency restrictions to save water.
The
AIPFFV
In France they love
abbreviations. The longer the better it sometimes seems. So maybe you'd
like to join the AIPFFV? It's a brand new association (I just started
it) that reads out Association Internationale Pour le Fruit et la
Fraicheur dans le Vin, or the Internationonal Assoication for Fruit and
Freshness in the Wine. I am often asked by wine lovers "so how long
should I keep this wine?". There's nothing intrinsically wrong with that
question. Many wines need aging. But often I am inclined to answer
"drink it now, it's wonderful as it is!". It seems there are quite a few
wine lovers who are convinced a wine must be "old" for it to be good.
There are even some point systems, used to rank wines in wine tastings,
that allocate specific points to how many years there are until the wine
is ready to drink. So, the less drinkable the wine is today the more
points it gets. Logical?
I would even be inclined to
say that requiring bottle age is not a purpose (or a quality) in itself
for a wine. Some wines certainly do require some aging to develop to
their full potential – many great wines do. Any many others benefit from
some (bottle) age. (Just like some people.) But wine making technology
and skills today make for wines that are often excellent to drink
already when young. Most modern wines have plenty of ripe fruit and ripe
tannins that make them drinkable sooner than what used to be the case.
If we go back in time things were perhaps different. They did not have
the same technology, resources and skill as winemakers generally have
today and harvesting was often earlier giving harsher, more tannic wines
which were much less pleasant to drink as young.
I once met a wine
enthusiast who said "I don't think any wines less than 15 years old are
worth drinking". He misses a lot of wonderful wine experiences. One
example: We recently did a big Priorat tasting with some 50 wines from
the region. Generally very powerful, compact alcohol-rich wines. Lots of
fruit, lots of alcohol and tannins and (often) plenty of oak. One wine
was from 2000 but most of the others were from 2004 to 2006. The 2000
certainly stood out from the crowd. It had much more character of dried
fruit, almost a touch of sweetness and a slightly oxidised tone (quite
natural for an aged wine). You might think that wines in this style,
from Priorat, should benefit from or even require quite a bit of bottle
age – at least 8 years. But overall my feeling was that then younger
wines, with more fruit and more fresh acidity and even a bit of bite in
the tannins were nicest to drink. And often that style of wine goes
better with food too. But, of course, all this is a matter of taste.
There are wine-necrophils and there are those who would swear by a
Beaujolais nouveau (albeit few). Who knows, perhaps I should start the
AIPFFV? At least it will give us some reason to discuss the wines.
It is
soon autumn
Yes it is, even if it
doesn't quite feel so at the moment. Now is the time to think about this
autumn's wine tours. Take a look at our program: Bordeaux, the Douro
Valley in Portugal and Champagne. You'll find more details below. I hope
you'll find something of interest to you. And book now!
BKWine on television
We were recently travelling
in the south west of France with a wine tour group. One of the visits
were to Chateau Montus in the Madiran district. Montus, and the sister
property Domaine Bouscassé, is run by the energetic Alain Brumont who
has contributed more than most to put Madiran and all of the Sud-Ouest
on the wine map. When we arrived, to our surprise, there was a film team
on site from the French television channel France 3. They were making a
reportage about the group of foreigners (that was us) who came to visit
the winery. So in the evening issue of the local news program (not so
local – all of south-western France) there were slurping and wine
tasting in foreign language on the French television. Fun. Unfortunately
not (yet?) available on YouTube.
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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Autumn 2008
program
 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 on the Bordeaux wine tour!
 Douro
is one of the world’s most famous wine rivers. Here, in this dramatically
beautiful landscape in northern Portugal, grapes are grown on steep,
terraced slopes. The climate is dry and hot and the grapes are picked
perfectly ripe. These grapes are made into port wine and increasingly into
a full bodied, tasty red table wine.
More info on the Douro wine tour!
 Champagne...
Luxury, celebration and of course excellent wines. But champagne is not
just wines. There is also an outstanding gastronomy that we will pay
special attention to on this trip. We will visit some world famous
champagne houses and some small high-quality family producers. And we will
enjoy the Champenoise gastronomy at our dinners (in a one-star
restaurant!) and at the lunches, some of which will be with, and as guests
of, champagne producers. Is drinking champagne all through a meal a good
idea? Decide for yourself!
More info on the Champagne wine tour!
Finnish
Wine Tours - Viinimatkoja Ranskan viinialueille!
Tours
on the schedule (in Finnish):
 | 3.-7. syyskuuta 2008:
Pohjois-Rhônen-laaksoon
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 Nauti
pidennetystä kesästä ja tutustu samalla Syrah- rypäleen salaisuuksiin.
Täällä Pohjois-Rhônen –laaksossa tuotetaan lähinnä punaviiniä, saamme myös
tilaisuuden tutustua alueen kukkaisiin Viognier- viineihin sekä
täyteläisiin Marsanne/Roussanne-viineihin. Lisätietoa !
More info here!
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.
□
Producers
Ermitage de Pic Saint Loup,
Languedoc
 An
excellent producer in the beautiful Pic St Loup area a bit north of
Montpellier. The Ravaille family owns the property since a few hundred years
back. The current generation is the fifth with the tree brothers Jean-Marc,
Xavier and Pierre in charge. They have 35 ha with a great variety in soil
types giving added complexity to the wines. Two of my favourites are the
Cuvée Classique made from grapes grown on red clay and gravel. The wine is
concentrated with a bouquet of red berries and garrigue (herbs, thyme,
laurel…), and the Cuvée St Agnès, grown on limestone with some rocks, giving
a dense, concentrated wine with lots of herbs and minerality and a spicy
finish. All their wines are very well structured.
Click here for address and more recommendations.
Cellier des Dominicains,
Collioure, Roussillon
 A
quality-oriented co-operative (especially in recent times) in the middle of
the very picturesque village of Collioure. The winery is in what was
previously a Dominican monastery from the 13th century. They have put in
place a system that encourages the growers-cooperatuers to improve the
maturation and quality of their grapes. As everyone in this region they do a
Vin Doux Naturel (fortified wine) under the Banyuls appellation but they
also make some "normal" red cuvees, e.g. the Colline de Matisse (2007 for
7€), a decent, easy-to drink red wine with good freshness, or the Les
Culottes (2006, 9.50€), a well made fruity wine with aromas of ripe berries.
Click here for address and more recommendations.
Read about more recommended
producers on the site:
Favourite Producers
□ Wine
Bars and Restaurants
Paris:
Le Taste Monde, Paris 8
A new TasteMonde has opened next to Place de la Madeleine. Their first
restaurant opened several years ago in Issy-les-Moulineaux but now they've
opened a second location more centrally. Unusual for Paris restaurants the
focus is on non-French wins (although they do have some champagne too). And
quite an extensive selection too. The cooking is very good and quite French
in style, in spite of the wine list selection. Two courses for 29 euro and 3
courses for 38 euro (lunch and dinner). Closed Saturday lunch and Sunday.
(On Saturday afternoon, between 3PM and 6PM you can go there and taste a
selection of wines by the glass for a very humane 1€ to 2€ per glass.)
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 |
Champagne
exports
 France
drinks a bit more than half of all the champagne sold (53%). The biggest
export markets are:
1. UK, 11%
2. USA, 7%
3. Germany, 3.4%
4. Italy, 3%
5. Japan, 2.7%
Followed by Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Netherlands, and Australia.
(Source: Drinks Business/CIVC)
Argentine wine exports
 Wine
exports from Argentina are increasing steadily. Between 2005 and 2007 it
grew from 11.8 million cases to 16.2 M cases. Over the same period the
average price per exported litre of wine increased from $ 2.33 to $2.76. The
largest export markets:
1. USA
2. UK
3. Brazil
4. Canada
5. Netherlands
6. Denmark
7. Russia
8. Sweden
9. Mexico
10. Germany
(Source: Caucasia/Drinks Business)
Champagne Utopia and other
quotes
 "We
are working in a Utopia at the moment. The increase of the permitted yield
and the setting on place of the individual reserve (up to the equivalent of
8,000 kilos of grapes per hectare) are two recent measures that are great
for growers. […] We must reflect on how we go forward." – Patrick Le Brun,
president, Syndicat General des Vignerons
"The consequences of global warming have been very beneficial to Drappier.
Pests and diseases have been eliminated during the last 40 years, and now we
only use natural fertilizers and gentle pruning inn our vineyards. […]
Higher yields and earlier harvests provide the right balance in our
Champagnes and the success of Drappier Brut Nature is just one example of
the positive benefits from the warmer climate." – Michel Drappier, CEO,
Drappier
"We are not about selling as much champagne as we can. We want to build up
the Moët brand in a long-term way – trough investing in people, in
marketing, in advertising and in promotion." – Frederic Cumenal, President
and CEO, Moët & Chandon
(Quotations from a champagne special feature in The Drinks Business.)
World wine consumption up, a
bit
 We
drink more and more wine in the world. OIV (Organisation International de la
Vigne et du Vin) estimates that consumption in 2007 reached 240 million
hectolitres. That's approximately the same level as 2006 but follows a
series of small but steady increases since 2003 when consumption was 237 M
hl.
World wine production down
and the wine lake is perhaps dying up
The world wine production contracted with 6.9% in 2007 to 267 million hl
according to estimates from the OIV. This is a substantial drop since the
peak year 2004 (300 Mhl) and on the level of 2003 and 2001. This led to a
substantial decrease of the production surplus: in 2007 production exceeded
consumption with "only" 26 Mhl. According to Federico Castellucci, Director
General of the OIV, this means that there is a shortage of low grade wine
for industrial use (industrial distillation).
Sweden and Ireland are
biggest growth countries for wine in EU
 Wine
lovers in Sweden and in Ireland contribute to emptying the EU wine lake
(statistics from EU-15, the 15 countries the OIV gives statistics for). They
are both in absolute numbers small consumers of course, but the growth
numbers are impressive, in particularly for Sweden with +9.4% - no doubt a
result of the successful Swedish alcohol regulations with a monopoly
retailer. Ireland is far behind with "only" 3.6% growth. Here's the ranking:
1. Sweden, 9.4%
2. Ireland, 3.6%
3. UK, 3.4%
4. Greece, 3%
5. Austria, 2%
6. Germany, 1.6%
7. Finland, 1.1%
8. Netherlands, 0%
And the countries where consumption decreased:
9. Denmark, -0.3%
10. Italy, -1.6%
11. Spain, -1.8%
12. Portugal, -1.9%
13. France, -2.5%
14. Belgium with Luxemburg, -3.1%
(Source: OIV)
Wine chemists' conference
 "In
Vino Analytica Scientia" is an international symposium focusing on wine
chemistry and sensory analysis. The next edition will take place on 2-4 July
2009 in Anger in the Loire Valley. They will be calling for papers on
related themes: chemical and biochemical reactions and analysis,
authentification and traceability, sensors and chemometrics, sensory
analysis,… More info:
www.angers.inra.fr
Some press clippings
Our latest BKWine wine tour launches have attracted some attention in
various places. We are very glad for the mentions. Here are some:
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Vagablond
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Luxist
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WineLoverCentral.com
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BurgundyToday.com
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Modern Agent / Travel Pulse
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GoEurope.com / James Martin
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TravellingMom.com
The influence of the moon on
wine racking
Is it important that you rack the wine in the "right" moon phase? Is
wine and cheese the perfect combination? These and ten other "truths" are
discusses in an opinionated article on WineMakerMag.com. Read it and decide
for yourself.
http://winemakermag.com
The five factors that
determines a successful vintage
 According
to professor Denis Dubordieu at the wine university of Bordeaux there are
five main factors that determines the quality of a vintage: 1) a rapid and
early flowering; 2) moderate lack of water during early summer (at "nouason",
grape set); 3)end of shoot growth towards veraison (change of colour of the
grapes) so that the energy goes to ripening the grapes; 4) dryness and
moderate heat during maturation of the grapes; and 5) good weather during
harvest (not rain and humidity). Read more about this and how it turned out
in 2007 on
NewBordeaux.blog.co.uk.
350, 600 and 400 years old
vines
 Some
time ago we wrote about some very old vines in Bordeaux.
Vinavisen.dk, our Danish colleague, has picked up on the story and has
found one that is 350 years old in Alto Adige in Italy, at Schloss
Katzenzungen in Prissian. That ancient vine was also well know to one of our
readers. She even has a bottle with a certificate of origin in her wine
cellar and according to her it is believed that the vine is even 600 years
old. The grape variety is called Versoaln which is thought to have been
named after Versailles outside Paris. The owner of Schloss Katzenzungen is
Ernst Pobitzer. He also owns Pian dell'Orino in Montalcino where wine is
made from a bit more recent vines. But according to Guinness Book of Records
the oldest vine is one found in Maribor in Slovenia which is more than 400
years old! (So planted in the late 16th century.) And they also still make
wines from its grapes.
"Reasonable culture" – new
wine competition for almost-organic wines
"Culture raisonnée" is a form of vine growing that is not quite organic,
but almost. They try and reduce the use of pesticides and other substances
as much as possible but they do treat in very difficult conditions, when
otherwise the grapes would be spoilt. The first (to our knowledge)
competition for culture raisonnée was recently held and the results were
announced on the world earth day in April. Four white wines won gold medal:
Champalou (Vouvray), Domaine Guinand (VdP d'Oc), Chateau Magneua "Julien"
(Graves) and Domaine Corsin VV (St Véran). Three rosé wines were awarded
gold: Bruno Ménard (Cabernet d'Anjou), Chateau Camplong (Corbières,
Languedoc), and Emmanuel Rybinski (rosé Troteligotte, VdP du Lot). Also
three reds won gold: Domaine du Colombier/Vigenrons de Laudun (C de Rhône),
Château Franc Couplet (Bordeaux), and Domaine de la Roche Cattin (Jarlotiers
(Beaujolais). More info here.
More info here.
New counter measures against
counterfeit wines
In parallel with exclusive wines becoming more and more expensive
counterfeit wine bottles are becoming a more frequent problem. Much fake
wine is no doubt never found out but sometimes you hear stories about a fake
bottle of Pétrus in a London restaurant, or a counterfeit old Lafite at a
dinner in Hong-Kong etc. Two companies that have recently started offering
solutions are HP and Kodak. HP proposes a "memory spot" that can be attached
to any surface, e.g. the label. Kodak has chosen a different route with a
counterfeit-proof printed label. Read more about the solutions on
MSN.com
Vinexpo 2009
Vinexpo is the world's biggest wine show. It takes place every second
year. The next edition will be on 21-25 June 2009.
www.vinexpo.com
JF Quenin new President in
St Emilion
 Conseil
des Vins de Saint Emilion has elected a new President: Jean-François Quenin
at Château de Pressac. Quenin has an earlier career in retail and home
electronics behind him before acquiring one of St Emilion's most imposing
chateaux in the 90s. No doubt it will be a good thing with some outside
business experience in his new job.
decanter.com
EU wine reform agreed
The hotly debated reform of the wine scheme within the EU agricultural
policy has finally been agreed. Albeit a substantially weaker reform than
originally proposed by commissioner Mariann Fischer-Boel it is still a step
in the right direction. There will be a voluntary plan to uproot (grub up)
175,000 ha of vines to reduce the wine surplus, much less than the proposed
400,000 ha. Subsidies for distillation of surplus wine will be phased out
and a budget will be allocated to promoting the consumption of European
wines (outside of Europe of course…). Chaptalisation (addition of sugar),
however, will not be outlawed as opposed to what was originally proposed.
Read more:
decanter.com,
and on
vitisphere.com
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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Book Reviews |
Les Zinzins du
Zinc - Le guide des meilleurs bars à vin de France
Egmont Labadie
Fleurus
 If
you know a bit of French and like travelling in France and tasting wine,
then this book is for you. Egmont, who wrote the book, travelled around
France for a year visiting wine bar after wine bar (hard work no doubt) and
the best have been collected in this book. Each wine bar (many of them also
serving food) has a detailed description with notes on their specialities,
types of food served, prices and opening hours. It also contain plenty of
photographs to give you a feeling of the atmosphere in each place, as well
as the often colourful owners. Certainly a very good read for the
Francophile. There's even an accompanying web site for updates:
http://zinzinsduzinc.over-blog.com/
Buy the book.
More book reviews.
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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Agenda |
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France:
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Sweden:
- - UK,
Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Denmark,...:
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31/5-2/6, Vienna: VieVinum
Austrian wine festival,
www.vievinum.at |
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30/6-2/7, Stavanger, Norway:
Bocuse d'Or,
www.vinoteca.no |
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30/6-2/7, Stavanger, Norway: Nordic
Sommelier Championship,
www.vinoteca.no |
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14-16/8, Oregon: Wine
Economists Conference,
www.wine-economics.org |
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20/9, Copenhagen: Rhone Festival,
www.rhonefestival.dk |
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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©
Britt Karlsson, BKWine
www.bkwine.com
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