Neusiedlersee is the latest addition to the Austrian “appellations”. In Austria they are called DAC, or Districtus Austriae Controllatus. On March 28 the Austrian agriculture ministry approved the promotion of Neusiedlersee to DAC. The Neusiedlersee DAC can be used already from the 2011 vintage so we will soon see bottles appearing on the market. Interestingly, [...]
Tag Archives | regulations
Independent Swedish internet wine merchants – a new sales channel for producers?
Internet wine shops can today sell directly to Swedish consumers and bypass the monopoly. The Swedish wine market is dominated by the monopoly retailer, Systembolaget (just like Alko in Finland and Vinmonopolet in Norway). Since a few years back there are a number of independent internet-based wine merchants selling directly to Swedish consumers. A interesting [...]
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 [...]
Low alcohol wines are good or bad?
Less is not always more when it comes to alcohol in wine Apparently there is a huge interest in the world for wines with low alcohol contents. On www.decanter.com we read about a report by Wine Intelligence, made on behalf of ProWein, the big wine fair in Düsseldorf, which opens at the beginning of March. [...]
Independent Swedish internet wine merchants – a new sales channel
Internet wine shops can sell directly to Swedish consumers and bypass the monopoly The Swedish wine market is dominated by the monopoly retailer, Systembolaget (just like Alko in Finland and Vinmonopolet in Norway). Since a few years back there are a number of independent internet-based wine merchants selling directly to Swedish consumers. A interesting new [...]
The Bordeaux Grand Cru Classé 1855 classification
The Bordeaux Grand Cru Classé 1855 classification is old but still going strong. What ever feelings you have about the fact that a classification that was made more than 150 years ago is still valid, you have to admit that it is an achievement. I doubt that the people of the Chamber of Commerce in [...]
Latte wine?
New rules for labelling and additives in wine All pre-packed food products must state on the label if they contain possibly allergenic products. So far, wine has been exempted from this rule. But only for another six months. According to Le Journal du Vin, the EU has, on the recommendation of The European Food Safety [...]
Primitive French zinfandel?
According to Vitisphere the French CTPS (Comité Technique Permanent de la Sélection) recently published a new list of permitted grapes varieties in France. New on that list is Primitivo, the star grape of Apulia in southern Italy. It is being recommended for Languedoc-Roussillon which seems reasonable. A few years ago they approved the Spanish Tempranillo. [...]
Champagne in Beaujolais? Are the Champenois crazy?
We all know that Champagne is protecting its name with an almost fanatical intensity. God help the non-champagne-producer who puts the name of Champagne on the label. We read in the French wine magazine La Revue du Vin de France that the latest region to experience the wrath of the Champagne producers is Fleurie, one [...]
Maestro, a (not so) new champagne closure by Duval Leroy and Alcan | BKWine TV
Curiously, this has not previously been published on BKWine Magazine even though it is one of our most viewed videos and dates back to 2009. It shows the launch of a new champagne closure called Maestro. However, after the launch the new cork (capsule actually) was ruled illegal by the authorities since the rules says [...]
Grand Cru and Bordeaux wine from California? Easier than from the Languedoc!
From what it seems the silly initiative to create Languedoc Grand Crus have failed. In California things are much simpler. You just put Grand Cru on the label and voilà, you are a Grand Cru. At least, that is what Bob Davids has done at his Sea Smoke vineyards in Santa Rita Hills in Santa [...]
How to sidestep the law on moderation in alcohol advertising
In Sweden advertising for wine must be very restrained, as in many other countries (France for instance). In principle, you are only allowed to show the product in the ad i.e. the packaging. In recent years it seems that the rule may have been slightly relaxed so that you are allowed to show a glass. [...]
Sex and wine: when is the packaging too suggestive?
A while back we wrote about a wine that had been banned from the Systembolaget shelves in Sweden (the monopoly retailer) because of what was judged an offensive packaging: pouting lips on the label and the name “Wacky Chicks”. Poor taste no doubt, but so bad that it should be banned? Recently we happened to [...]
Sexism and equality in wine packaging
What do you think is most suggestive? Stylised pouting lips and the name “Wacky Chicks”, or A young girl with a flimsy skirt (petticoat?), with a wistful man with a flower, and the name “Untouched”? A while back we told you the story of a Swedish wine importer that had had his wine banned from [...]
Champagne raises yields with 20%
Champagne is one of the few wine regions where the permitted yield is modified almost every year. This is done in an effort to manipulate supply and demand and the prices that champagne sell for. The control organism, the interprofession Comité interprofessionnel des vins de champagne (CIVC), recently decided to raise the maximum yield for [...]
Canada’s LCBO to introduce weight limits on bottles
According to a report in Decanter the Canadian province of Ontario will introduce an upper limit for how much an empty bottle of wine may weigh. Decanter refers to a letter written by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) that specifies an upper weight limit for bottles of 420 grams for wines retailing at [...]
New appellations in France – VDQS on its way to extinction
A number of French wine regions were recently ‘promoted’ to Appellation Contrôlée by a decree by the INAO: Saint-Mont, Tursan, Saint-Sardos, Côtes de Millau, Vins d’Estaing, Vins d’Entraygues et du Fel and Coteaux du Quercy. This is as a consequence of that the VDQS category (Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieur) will cease to be (go [...]
Wine and sex: don’t be fooled by pouting lips. You may be fined.
The Swedish monopoly retailer Systembolaget has cancelled sales of a wine brand called Wacky Chicks whose label is covered with pouting lips or lipstick prints, according to www.wownews.se. The monopolist considers the label to be in violation of current marketing regulations: “The combination of pouting lips and the name gives the impression, in our opinion, [...]
Vine planting rights: a return to protectionism?
A few years back all EU countries agreed to a reform of the agricultural policies concerning the wine sector. One element was to abolish the existing system with planting rights, that decrees that a grower has to ask for strictly controlled planting rights from the authorities. One consequence is e.g. that a successful producer cannot [...]
The strange story of the proposed Languedoc classification
Is the purpose of a classification to benefit the consumer or to benefit the producer? That is one of the questions one can ask when reading about the new (yet to come) classification in the Languedoc. It was recently launched officially at a trade event in the Languedoc. The answer to the question seems to [...]
Freedom to the vines? Should planting rights be abolished?
A few years ago the EU countries agreed a big reform of the wine production sector. A big part of this was the abolishment in time of the “planting rights” system. (It was also suggested that chaptalisation, adding sugar to increase the alcohol level, should be forbidden but winemakers protested too much.) The planting rights [...]
”Methode provençale” to make sparkling wines?
Since quite a few year it has been forbidden to use the expression “methode champenoise” on sparkling wines made with a second fermentation in the bottle. In the future we may instead see “methode provencale”. Provence is enjoying the popularity of rosé wines but researchers have now developed a “new” method to make bubbly that [...]
Can a Swedish resident import wine for personal consumption, without having to go through the monopoly?
“Can a Swedish resident import wine for personal consumption, without having to go through the monopoly, or is it completely out of the question?” This is a question that pops up quite often, both from Swedish residents and from wine producers / wine sellers. This is a first version of the answer, perhaps not 100% [...]
VinNet: An exciting new news site about wine? Or is it illegal marketing?
It is exciting to have a new site about wine in Swedish; a site which writes news about wine and which comments and recommends wines. There are not too many sites to choose from. ” VinNet is a news site about wine, which is run by wine lovers “- as they describe themselves. “Wine news [...]
Bordeaux Crus Artisans is back?
Last month we talked about the revived (and strange) Cru Bourgeois classification-but-not-classification in Bordeaux. This month it’s time for the no-one-knows-it-exists classification Cru Artisans. Cru Artisans exists since some 150 years back but during the latter half of the 20th century it fell out of use (or perhaps even earlier) and became virtually unknown. In [...]
French wine TV relocates to Luxemburg
Edonys is the cryptic name of a new television channel that will be entirely dedicated to programs about wine. The channel was created about a year ago by an entrepreneur who has specialised in creating very niche focused TV channels. But Edonys has now received a definitive “no” from the CSA (the French authority who [...]
New Cru Bourgeois “stamp” launched – new rules, winners & losers
In the olden times there was something called the Cru Bourgeois classification in Médoc (Bordeaux). But then, in 2003, they decided to review and modernise the classification. But unfortunately they hit on some road bumps. Some, who were left out of the classification were unhappy and thought that the procedure had not been fair. Eventually, [...]
Languedoc to introduce Grand Cru…
Some areas in the Languedoc, that fulfil certain criteria, will be classified as Grand Cru according to a new proposal from the producers association, the CIVL. They want to have two levels: Grands Vins du Languedoc and Grand Cru du Languedoc. Grands Vins will include Minervois, Corbières, Saint Chinian, sparkling Limoux, Malpère, Faugères, Cabardès, muscat [...]
EU puts organic wine on ice
There will be no new rules on what is meant by organic (biologique / ecologic) wines in the EU. Today, the only thing that a wine producer formally can say is that his wine is “made from organically grown grapes”. There is, formally, no such thing as “organic wine” in the EU. Rules exist for [...]
New trials with genetically modified grape vines
The French agricultural research institute (INRA) has – again – planted an experimental vineyard with genetically modified vines. Out of the 500 vines in the test vineyard 70 have been genetically modified to see if that can counter-act the dreaded fan leaf virus disease (court noué). “Again”, since the started a similar trial a few [...]
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