We didn’t win the Louis Roederer International Wine Writers Awards 2012 but instead the In Vino Amicitas Grand Prix Lalau pour L’Amitié entre les Vins Congratulations to Andrew Jefford and Michael Fridjhon and several others for winning the Louis Roederer International Wine Writers Awards 2012. A great achievement to very deserving writers. There are the awards [...]
Tag Archives | fun
Murder in the vineyard? BKWine appears in a detective novel
Gute Winery’s gold medal winning grappa plays role in Swedish crime book I was sitting lazily reading a Swedish crime novel on the balcony the other day. The book was “The Alchemy’s Eternal Fire” by Anna Jansson (my translation). I read it in Swedish but I’m sure it is translated into English as most Scandinavian [...]
There’s a competition for just about everything, malolactic fermentation for example!
“The Lallemand Malolactic Fermentation Wine Competition 2012″ – This is probably the most original wine competition that we have heard of. It was organized for the second time by chemical company Lallemand in Madrid in February this year. The idea behind the competition is to make people (wine makers) aware of the importance of controlling [...]
World première: “trim the vines with tractor” simulator
Try rognage: Sancerre launches the world’s first simulation machine for canopy management! It is called rognage, when you trim or prune the canopy (the leaves) off the vines in summer to remove excess leaves. It is often done several times during the growing season. The purpose is to have a good balance between leaves and [...]
Red wine turns iron into a superconductor
Japanese scientists have discovered that red wine can turn certain iron compounds into superconductors, according to PopSci.com. A superconductor can transport electricity without any significant electrical resistance which for instance means that it can be transported indefinitely without losses. The Japanese researchers discovered that certain liquids contributed to the super-conductive properties and decided to try [...]
Christmas Quiz – guess the French appellation! Question number 5
Test yourself or your loved ones. See at which score you can guess the French appellation (AOC)! If you guess right on 5p you get, well, five points, etc. There are five questions, one each day, with the last one coming on Christmas Eve. The correct answers will be published on December 31… Christmas riddle [...]
Christmas Quiz – guess the French appellation! Question number 4
Test yourself or your loved ones. See at which score you can guess the French appellation (AOC)! If you guess right on 5p you get, well, five points, etc. There are five questions, one each day, with the last one coming on Christmas Eve. The correct answers will be published on December 31… Christmas riddle [...]
Christmas Quiz – guess the French appellation! Question number 3
Test yourself or your loved ones. See at which score you can guess the French appellation (AOC)! If you guess right on 5p you get, well, five points, etc. There are five questions, one each day, with the last one coming on Christmas Eve. The correct answers will be published on December 31… Christmas riddle [...]
Christmas Quiz – guess the French appellation! Question number 2
Test yourself or your loved ones. See at which score you can guess the French appellation (AOC)! If you guess right on 5p you get, well, five points, etc. There are five questions, one each day, with the last one coming on Christmas Eve. The correct answers will be published on December 31… Christmas riddle [...]
Christmas Quiz – guess the French appellation! Question number 1
Test yourself or your loved ones. See at which score you can guess the French appellation (AOC)! If you guess right on 5p you get, well, five points, etc. There are five questions, one each day, with the last one coming on Christmas Eve. The correct answers will be published on December 31… Christmas riddle [...]
The dangers of inviting your friends over to share a bottle of wine
Sub-title: The Life of a Vigneron. We suspect that it is actually a so called viral video that tries to market the wines of Domaine Mazet de Croses, a vineyard in the Languedoc. But it does not matter. It is so fabulous so we just have to share it! The video is actually called La [...]
Addictive wine? (fun game)
It is not the wine itself. It is the game. Vignobles de France is an online game where you should place French wine appellations as close as possible to the correct location (in a limited time). The closer you get the more points you score. Some are easy but some are really hard. Pessac-Légonan is [...]
The 2012 calendar with sexy winemakers launched
Sorry ladies, it is not handsome vineyard farmers looking for spouses (does that TV program exist elsewhere?). It is twelve young female wine growers who have made a calendar, the Jungwinzerinnen Kalender. Each month in the calendar is illustrated with a lightly (very) clad grower, dressed in nothing but lace underwear. The idea, one assumes, [...]
New papers from the Wine Economists? Do we seek solace in alcohol or is it the other way around?
The Association of American Wine Economists has published two new intriguing papers. The first is about the development of economic thinking and viticulture. The second is on a more unexpected subject: it is a study on the correlation between monogamy and alcohol consumption. It turns out that in societies that move from polygamy to monogamy [...]
Yoga for wine lovers
If you feel the need to exercise or get away from your sedentary life-style, perhaps you should try yoga. The cartoonist pair behind Harold’s Planet has developed a particular kind of yoga for wine lovers. Watch the video here:
A wine with a certain body? That will keep in the Wine Rack?
If you didn’t fall for the sexy underwear made from cork (see elsewhere in the Brief) you should perhaps consider a bra that makes second duty as wine storage. The bra is called The Wine Rack (not too difficult to come up with that). It gives some added curves to the wearer and a handy [...]
Who is Günther?
Since you read the Brief you may now have come to realise that bag in box wines are immensely popular in Sweden (and in the rest of Scandinavia). More than 50% of all wine is sold in the plastic bag in the carton. There is a magnificent spoof music video singing the praise of the [...]
Promote local grape varieties (2)! The Wine Century Club
There’s actually a club for people who have tasted more than one hundred grape varieties: the Wine Century Club. To become member you have to have tasted at least 100 varieties. And if you have been seriously bit by the wine bug (the wine louse?) you can even become double, triple, or quadruple member. The [...]
Jazz and wine in the Languedoc
Each year in August there is the Jazz à l’Hospitalet festival in the Languedoc. It is the dynamic winemaker Gerard Bertrand (and ex-rugby star) that since several years arranges the festival at his vineyard at Château l’Hospitalet. This year the jazz festival takes place on August 5 to 9. And it’s an impressive list of [...]
Today’s scoop
We read in The Guardian a long (it feels) article about a wine expert called Tim Hanni who, according to what the Guardian says, recommends that wine consumers should ignore what the wine critics say and drink what they like themselves… And where is the news item? Read more about this revolutionizing opinion: www.guardian.co.uk
More on Worcester Sauce
We’ve been writing about the wine blog called Worcester Sauce, written by Stuart George, since some time now. The big question has been, why is it called The Worcester Sauce Blog? The latest suggestion is that “Nobody knows what on earth goes into this stuff”. May we add that this suggestion comes from a fellow [...]
Wine trends for 2010 – our predictions
Ten predictions for wine trends for 2010 Wine Trend 2010 #1, environmental issues #1, eco-friendly wines It’s been a trend for some time now but we think it will continue and perhaps accelerate in 2010. We consciously say “eco-friendly” and not organic wines since there is a big group of producers who work with so [...]
Wine Trend 2010 #10: China grows in importance
In a longer term this will have a big impact but even in the short term it will be noticeable. It is above all on the consumption side that it will have an effect – the Chinese demand for wine will grow. It will primarily be more expensive wines that will sell rather than budget [...]
Wine Trend 2010 #9: More protectionism in the EU
This is the trend that we most hop that we will be mistaken on. Over the last few years the EU agricultural policy (the CAP) regarding wine has mad quite a lot of progress towards a more open and market oriented regulation. This is largely thanks to the outgoing agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel and [...]
Wine Trend 2010 #8: Cheaper (less expensive) champagne
Champagne is probably the wine region that has prospered most during the past decade. They have rather had a shortage of wine (or grapes) and steadily growing prices. But there’s a risk that this is over. Sales in 2009 have probably dived by more than 25% (we don’t have any final numbers). In spite of [...]
Wine Trend 2010 #7: More demand for lesser known grape varieties
In Bordeaux they grow more and more petit verdot and sauvignon gris. Marselan has been approved for AOC Côtes du Rhône. We will see more and more wines with unusual grape varieties that previously were known only locally. If even. Are consumers tired of chardonnay and merlot? Why not try a tannat or a malbec? [...]
Wine Trend 2010 #6: Good time for budget wines
2009 was the year of The Crisis but it didn’t make people stop drinking wines. Instead, consumers moved towards less expensive wines. This, we think, will continue in 2010. There will be a focus on value for money. Expect good times for wine producers who make budget (not to say cheap) wines with lots of [...]
Wine Trend 2010 #5: Less oaky wines #2
When talking to producers it is much more clear: they frequently say that they want to emphasise the fruit and avoid masking it with oak. They cut down on the portion of new oak used. So, on the producer side this is a clear trend. Perhaps a contributing factor, a year like this year, is [...]
Wine Trend 2010 #4: Less oaky wines #1
We think this is a trend but we’re not quite sure. Many people talk about this: less oak in the wine, but …. when you make a show of hands after a wine tasting to see which wine was most appreciated it’s usually then one with oak character that comes out on top. So perhaps [...]
Wine Trend 2010 #3: Balance
We will want less beef and punch in the wines and more balance and elegance. It is less important to reach a high alcohol level and more important to find an equilibrium between fruit and the other components in the wine. Wineries will experiment with yeast that produces less alcohol (yes, there is), grape varieties [...]
English
Svenska 
