|   
 - Hem  |  Home
 - Sök    |  Search

Vad vi gör | Our Business
 - Vinresor | Wine Tours
 - Kurser, provningar
   |  Courses, Tastings
 - VinNytt | BKWine Brief

 Information
 - Artiklar | Writing
 - Restos, barer, butiker
   |  Restos, Bars, Shops
 - Producenter | Producers
 - Böcker | Books
 - Länkar | Links

 - Gastronomisk ordlista
   | Food dictionary

 - Vinbilder | Wine Photos
    (more than 6000 images)

Autumn 2008 program

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!

Spring 2009 program

Here are the dates. Detailed programs will be available soon.

Finnish Wine Tours - Viinimatkoja Ranskan viinialueille!

 Tours on the schedule (in Finnish):

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!

 □  Producers

Domaine Marc Kreydenweiss, Alsace
Marc Kreydenweiss is one of our big favourites in Alsace. He’s an outstanding winemaker and with biodynamic agriculture and low yields (in a region where producers often harvest 80 hl/ha) he produces excellent, complex wines with a depth that few others achieve. You find him in the small village Andlau a short distance north of Colmar, along the very beautiful route de vin. He has a modest 10 ha around the village in some of the best locations, e.g. Grand Cru Moenchberg and GC Kastelberg where he makes a supreme Riesling. Kreydenweiss, together with his wife Emmanuelle, also makes excellent red wine in the Domaine des Perrières property in Costières de Nîmes in southern Rhône. Click here for address and more recommendations.

Château Pey La Tour, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur
A biggish and well-maintained property with 170 ha of vines in the heart of Entre-deux-Mers. Since 1990 it belongs to the négociant CVBG-Dourthe-Kressman and they have put a substantial 4€M of investments into it. They have increased the planting density, lowered the yields, are monitoring water stress with GPS etc and all has contributed to improving the quality. According to Dourthe, the size of the property means that there are several different soil types and micro climate variations that contribute to the complexity of the wines. The wine is primarily made from Merlot – 82% of the vineyards are planted with that variety. In spite of the large volume, more than 1 million bottles, they maintain a very good quality, starting with the Bordeaux “tout court” for some 4€ to their Bordeaux Supérieur for around 10€.
Click here for address and more recommendations.

Read about more recommended producers on the site: Favourite Producers

 □  Wine Bars and Restaurants

Paris:

Sorza, Paris 4
Strolling along the river on the Ile Saint-Louis is something that both tourists and Parisians love to do. A relatively new restaurant on the main street (almost the only street…) is Sorza. It is not big and it fills up quickly so booking is recommended. The walls are red and the tables are black and art hangs on the walls. And the food is beautifully presented on the plates. It is an ambitious cuisine with distinct Italian influences. We do recommend the parmesan soufflé. Excellent risotto with gambas, tender and succulent veal chops, to mention a few things. The wine list is short… but well chosen. Count on around 30€ for lunch and a bit more for dinner.
Click here for address and more recommendations.

But there is actually much, much more than that in Greek wines! Not least in northern Greece, in Macedonia. There you find high mountains (very high!) and sometimes rough climate, both promising well for quality wines. The “only” thing that remains is to convince people that that’s the case. Stellios Boutari at the Kir-Yianni winery (one of the best) says that their biggest problem today is an image problem - the stereotypes people have about Greece: “We don’t have any easy-to-remember catch phrase. And we have too many (difficult-to-remember) local grape varieties”. But these grape varieties are perhaps what might be Greece’s best weapon he thinks. But it’s not easy to introduce grapes with unpronounceable names to an international market. Yannis Voyatzis, chief oenologist at the much bigger Boutari company, is less hesitant: “The future is the Greek varieties. Who needs another Chardonnay? The Greek varieties have plenty of character”.

And that is certainly true. The white Assyrtiko and the red Xinomavro give us new and different flavours and treated well these varieties have definitely a potential to be a success on the export markets. Like for instance the white wine from Domaine Gerovassiliou made from Assyrtiko and Malagousia with lots of spices and herbs. Evangelo Gerovassiliou spend 23 years at Chaâteau Carras in Halkidiki, the winery that was perhaps the first pioneer for Greek wines. Here are a few northern Greek wineries to keep a lookout for: Kir-Yianni, Alpha Estate, Biblia Chora, Tsantali, Pavlidis, Boutari, Wine Art Estate, and Amyntaion Coop.

New Zealand grape varieties
New Zealand is best known for its very fragrant sauvignon blanc wines, with much ”SB” typicity, yet full-bodied. But all is not sauvignon in Kiwi land. This is the split between different grape varieties according to statistics from the New Zealand Winegrowers:

- Sauvignon blanc 76%
- Pinot noir 7%
- Chardonnay 5%
- Merlot 2%
- Cabernet (incl cabernet blends) 1%
- Pinot gris 1%
- Riesling 1%
- Other 3%
- Sparkling 3%

South African exports grow
The exports of south African wine continue to grow. In 2007 the sales increased in all but two of the top ten export countries, the two exceptions being the Netherlands and France. 49% of exports is white wine, 45% is red, and 6% is rosé. The biggest growth markets were New Zealand (+236%, but from a small base) and Germany (+43%).
UK 82 million litres
Germany 59 Ml
Netherlands 29 Ml
Sweden 26 Ml
Denmark 13 Ml
Canada 13 Ml
USA 11 Ml

Europe’s first congress for wine educators held in Austria
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

Saint Emilion classification, suspension in suspension in suspension
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

Legendary Loire producer leaves his vineyard
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.

Norwegian wins Nordic sommelier trophy
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

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

Scandinavian Grand Slam in chef-Olympics Bocuse d’Or
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

Chateau Vignelaure changes hands
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

Organic wine farming growing in France
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

Red sparkling Beaujolais?
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

Finnish wine threatens the EU CAP agricultural policy?
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!

Bordeaux primeurs 2007 finds a tough market
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.

Does the cork breathe?
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.

Finnish wine and gastronomy fair in August
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.

Angels, Thieves and Winemakers
By: Joseph Mills
Publisher: Press 53

This is actually a poetry book and not a traditional wine book! Joseph Mills has previously written a wine guide to the wines and wineries of North Carolina (!). But he has a PhD in American literature so one can understand that the subject inspired him to some more esoteric texts – the just over 50 poems found in this book. So if you have had enough of grape varieties, planting density and micro-oxygenation this will make for a nice change. A sample from the beginning of the poem titled Aging: To speak of a wine’s future / is to speak of our own desires, / how we hope as we age / that we’ll become more / harmonious, less acidic, / that our tannins will mellow.

Buy the book | More book reviews

The Wine Diet
By: Roger Corder
Publisher: Sphere

The author is professor of Experimental Therapeutics at the William Harvey Research Institute but also a wine enthusiast. The book tells us how we can live a healthier, better life with a daily, moderate consumption of wine. It is not just a technical review of what substances in wine are good for you. It also explains a bit about the history of wine and health, various research that has been done, about other foodstuff that can have a positive impact on health (fruit, berries, chocolate…). He also gives us some recipes as well as suggestions for healthy diets. And he recommends which wines are particularly good for you! He has a special section dedicated to the wines of Madiran in south-western France, that he considers produces particularly healthy wines. One of the chapters is called “Eat well, have fun – and improve your health” which certainly sounds like a good catchphrase for the book. Certainly an entertaining read for anyone interested in health or medicine.

Buy the book | More book reviews

- - France:

- - Sweden:

- - UK, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Denmark,...:

Wine auction agendas:

Unsubscribe: There is an unsubscribe link at the bottom of the page.

Change of email address: Register your new address under Subscribe. Unsubscribe your old address above.

Copyright © Britt Karlsson, BKWine
www.bkwine.com
info@bkwine.com