Our pick of organic wines in the range at Systembolaget, the Swedish alcohol monopoly At some journalist tastings the organic products sometimes receive quite a bit of a beating. Sometimes it seems as if organic wine start on the track with minus points from the outset. Yes, there are some dull wines among the organic. [...]
Tag Archives | organic
Faulty is not natural, says Michel Chapoutier
Chapoutier in the Rhone Valley was first among the larger producers in France to go organic and biodynamic. Now the head of the firm, Michel Chapoutier, is disturbed by the fact that some wines that call themselves natural are simply defective. Their volatile acidity is too high and they are infected with Brettanomyces. This is [...]
World’s second best book for drinks education: Wine and the environment
The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards is the Academy Awards (Oscar ceremony) for food and drinks book. Both happened on the same weekend recently. The GWCA is perhaps not quite as star studded as the AA but the ceremony at the Louvre in Paris was quite impressive. We are very proud to say that our latest [...]
Is it time to say that it does not matter if a wine is organic? | Britt’s Friday Column
It is best to judge organic wines on their quality, not by a philosophy Do wine consumers have greater expectations when they drink organic wines? Sometimes it feels that way. They should not. It is always the skill of the producer / winemaker that determines how the wine will taste and how high the quality [...]
Press release: The new book on organic wines by Britt and Per Karlsson wins Swedish and international awards
“Wine and the Environment, Organic, Biodynamic, and Natural”, the latest book by Britt and Per Karlsson (of BKWine), has won two prizes. It was first named “Best Wine Book for Professionals” in Sweden. Then it was awarded silver, second place, in the category “World’s Best Educational Wine Book 2012”. Both awards were given by the [...]
Environmental friendly electro-dialysis?
There have been more reactions to the EU rules for organic wines. The French company Oenodia is upset about the fact that the rules ban organic wines from using electro-dialysis. Oenodia specializes in the treatment of wine with membranes, including electro dialysis. The company says that electro dialysis is a natural technique that does not [...]
Organic food and biodynamic wines in Tuscany
The Fattoria Poggerino is one of the few organic and biodynamic wineries in Chianti. It is run by Piero and Benedetta Lanza, brother and sister. Piero runs the wine cellar and Benedetta runs their agriturismo as well as being a very talented cook. This autumn we stopped by on our “Super Tuscan” wine tour for [...]
One more classified biodynamic chateau in Médoc: Château Durfort-Vivens
Château Pontet-Canet in Pauillac was the first and Château Durfort-Vivens in Margaux will probably be the second Grand Cru Classé in Médoc to become biodynamically certified. Durfort-Vivens was made as second growth (deuxième grand cru classé) in the Bordeaux classification of 1855. Owner Gonzague Lurton has worked biodynamically on part of the vineyard since 2009. [...]
A selection of interesting producers of ”natural wines”
“I have approached natural wine with a certain healthy (in my opinion) scepticism. But after a recent tasting of natural wine courtesy of wine importer ‘Vin & Natur’, I must say I was pleasantly surprised”, says BKWine reporter Magnus Reuterdahl. Here is his pick of the best producers from a wine tasting organised by the [...]
Strong demand for organic wines
Both the demand for and the production of organic wine continues to experience strong growth, according to the latest numbers from Millesime Bio. Over seven percent of the French vineyards are now working according to organic principles! The three biggest producers of organic wines are Spain, Italy and France. Read more about the recent trends [...]
Organic wines in fancy restaurants
74% of the gastronomic restaurants (which means that the bill, without wine, is at least 45 euro) in France have organic wines on their wine list. Many of them are also planning to expand its range of these wines. The restaurants indicate two major reasons to have organic wines on the wine list: These wines [...]
Cooperatives make demands on organic wines
The cooperatives produce almost 50% of all French wines so their opinion matters. They have recently, according to La Vigne, sent a letter to the French Minister of Agriculture with demands relating to the production of organic wines. They do not agree with some of the rules that were established this year for the work [...]
Best wine book in Sweden! Again! Nominated to World’s Best!
Good news! We have just learned, hot off the presses, that our new book has won the award “Best wine book in Sweden for professionals” in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards! The book is called Wine and the Environment, Organic, Biodynamic, and Natural (or in the original language, Vinet och miljön, ekologiskt, biodynamiskt, och naturligt. [...]
Our new book has been launched! Wine and the Environment
On August 30 we launched our new book in Stockholm: Wine and the Environment, Organic, Biodynamic and Natural. The book is so far only published in Swedish so the real title is Vinet och miljön, ekologiskt, biodynamiskt och naturligt. We explain what all these different terms and principles are about, what the rules are, what [...]
Recaredo: a cava producer in Catalonia with wines worth discovering
Tasting with an original producer of sparkling wine Recaredo is a small family-owned cava producer with big ambitions and wines that are somewhat different that the usual. They are organic and even biodynamic and make wine without any dosage. Ton Mata Moliner was recently in Sweden to lead a tasting of his wines. Magnus Hoffstein [...]
Demand for organic wine continues to grow, as does production
We just received some new statistics on organic wines, the production and the consumer demand (than you Millesime Bio). Both organic wine production and the appetite from customers for organic wines continue to rise. Here are some numbers for France: Organic wine production: 61,055 hectares of organic vineyards in 2011, an increase with 21% on [...]
Book launch, our new book: Wine and the Environment
On august 30 we launched our new book in Stockholm: Wine and the Environment, Organic, Biodynamic and Natural. The book is so far only published in Swedish so the real title is Vinet och miljön, ekologiskt, biodynamiskt och naturligt. Just as the book title indicates it is a book about all the different types of [...]
Au Nouveau Nez: an excellent Paris wine bar & shop with natural, organic and biodynamic wines
We made a very pleasant discovery in the 20th arrondissement in Paris the other day. It is a wine shop/wine bar called Au Nouveau Nez. You are greeted by Agnès, who runs the place, and you instantly feel at home. It is open as a wine shop all day and from 6 pm you can [...]
Organic wines even in Champagne: from Champagne Benoît Marguet in Ambonnay
Benoit is one of many extremely interesting small producers in Champagne. He is the kind of producer that you rarely find, unless you know exactly where to go. Benoît also belongs to the small number of growers in the region that have started to grow vines organically. He has actually been doing it for a [...]
COS, a famous wine producer in Sicily with amphora and cow horns
“The vineyard is our bank savings so we must protect it,” says Giusto Occhipinti at COS winery in Sicily. He founded COS with two friends in the early 1980′s and now runs it together with his daughter Arianna Occhipinti. COS is located in the south-east of Sicily, 10 kilometres from the town of Vittoria. The [...]
Au Nouveau Nez, “natural” wine shop / wine bar in Paris | BKWine Pick
We made a very pleasant discovery in the 20th arrondissement in Paris the other day. It is a wine shop/wine bar called Au Nouveau Nez (which is a play with words, the name means “ the new nose”, but also, if you spell it a little bit different, but pronounced the same, “the newborn”). You [...]
COS – biodynamics and amphora in Sicily
“The vineyard is our bank savings so we must protect it,” says Giusto Occhipinti at COS winery in Sicily. He founded COS with two friends in the early 1980′s. “I had to go to school again and learn how to make wine. We took over an old cellar from the 1880s. In those days there [...]
“Sustainable” and “Fair Trade”. What is it? Does it make sense?
Fair trade, sustainable, organic,… Is it perhaps a meaningless terminology? “Sustainable” is actually quite a curious terminology. Not least for wine. Sometimes it is used as some kind of “super category” embracing everything that is organic, environmentally friendly and sometimes even “ethical”. At other occasions it is used to describe a more narrow type of [...]
Château Margaux in an experimental mood
More on Bordeaux. They have been doing some interesting experiments at Château Margaux reveals The Wine Sleuth, an interesting wine blog. At a tasting in London Paul Pontallier, director and wine maker at the chateau, talked about his experiments with organic and biodynamic wine growing on part of the estate. The participants tasted blind three [...]
Mesdames-Messieurs Restaurant, Montpellier | BKWine Pick
The focus of Mesdames-Messieurs is clearly on the wine. And on organic – and similar – wines in particular. They call themselves “bar à vin dînatoire”, essentially a wine bar with something to eat too, and that is a fair description. Mesdames-Messieurs Restaurant is not quite a fully fledged restaurant. The wine selection, which is clearly [...]
Soon we will have organic wines
On February 8 the EU agreed the rules for organic vinification paving the way for “organic wine” The member countries in the European Union have finally (on February 8 ) voted for an agreement concerning which rules should apply for an organic wine. As from the vintage 2012 we will se “organic wine” on the [...]
Three Faugeres wines from Domaine Binet Jacquet
Domaine Binet Jacquet is a small organic and biodynamic wine producer in the Languedoc. It is in the sub-region called Faugeres that is inland, close to the Cevennes mountains. It is a remote an empty landscape and the soil is dominated by schist (slate). Magnus Reuterdahl, who writes for BKWine Magazine, recently had the opportunity [...]
Millesime Bio 2012, statistics from the organic wine fair
It is actually the 19th yearly edition of the Millesime Bio organic wine show that has just finished. Amazing that it has been going for almost 20 years. Some numbers about the show: around 3600 visitors in 2012, which is 400 more than last year (+12%). 23% of the visitors are international (= not French). [...]
Millesime Bio – what a great source to find good wine producers | 17 good producers
If I had to choose one single wine show to go to I would have a hard time choose between Millésime Bio and Vinisud. But since Millésime Bio has just finished I must admit that it is at the top of my mind, at least at the moment. It has some great advantages. Fore example: [...]
Buvons Nature, wine show for ”natural wines” in Paris 9-11 December
Buvons Nature (~ drink natural) is the name of a wine show for “natural wines”. “Natural wines” is a rather vague denomination for a philosophy that wants to reduce (but not eliminate) the intervention / treatment in the vineyard and in the wine cellar. Sometimes they are touted as more healthy wines, with often quite [...]
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