BKWine Brief nr 246, February 2024
— Terroir or Not Terroir? — One word that stands out in all wine communication today is “terroir”. Wine drinkers claim to find it in the wine, and winemakers strive to express it in their
— Terroir or Not Terroir? — One word that stands out in all wine communication today is “terroir”. Wine drinkers claim to find it in the wine, and winemakers strive to express it in their
— How many fruits, flowers and adjectives do you want? — It is quite difficult to describe flavours so that others can understand. Flavours, especially when it comes to wine, are mostly described with similes.
— Not yet time to abandon the New World — In the US, the big news from the wine world this week has been that the American Court of Master Sommeliers is said to have
— All the strange things that you can find on a wine label — The other month, we wrote in the Brief about rules and regulations in the wine industry. The other day, I had
— Contrasts, people, experiences — Our heads are spinning right now from all the impressions from the autumn wine tours, the wine regions we visited and above all the many growers we met. The Loire
— Rules, rules, rules… — Rules are helpful, but some of them are unnecessary. Sometimes, we are asked if there is a lot of cheating among winegrowers. Our answer is no. Besides the fact that
— How do you choose wine at a restaurant? — Much has been written about the anxiety one feels when having to choose a wine at a restaurant. How do I avoid choosing the “wrong”
— Are we drinking too little wine? — History always repeats itself. Now it is time for crisis distillation again in Europe. It has been a while since the last time. We remember Languedoc’s overproduction
— Working with wineries in Ukraine on wine tourism — Over the past few weeks, I have been working on a project on wine tourism for the winemakers in Ukraine. I am immensely impressed that
— What does my wine contain? Read the ingredient list! — It will soon become a reality, what some have been waiting for a long time for and which some will not care about at
— Many more grape varieties are coming to a vineyard near you — A long time ago, when I started doing wine tastings for groups, I noticed some strange perceptions among the participants about certain
Are you a wine expert? At what point can you be considered a wine expert? Is it when you have such good “theoretical” knowledge that you can place Bordeaux chateaux on a blind map and
— Time flies. Where does it go? — This is a short Brief. There’s a reason for that. This very day, we also have a deadline for the manuscript for our new book, so we
— Is the “New World” outdated? — The Old World and The New World. The wine industry has lived with these expressions for quite a few years. And it is convenient. It was natural to
— Does umami exist? — Waiting for the umami moment. — Will you taste umami in your Christmas food? For sure, if it’s savoury. And it often is. I recently learned that umami means savoury.
— Sustainable, yes. But what kind of sustainability? — Sustainability is important. But sustainability is a vague concept. And what is considered sustainable or not can quickly change. This became apparent to wine producers that
— Eating the cake and having it when making wine — Two months of wine tours to different European countries have given us many opportunities to talk about the laws and regulations in various wine
— What kind of wine taster are you? — Wine is basically a luxury product. It’s not vital. In the past it was probably more vital, when the water that was available was not always
— When was the last time you met a tomato grower? — It is easier to compare the price of a kilo of tomatoes than of different wines. Too many factors affect wine pricing. This
— Weighty arguments for lighter bottles — Reducing the world’s carbon dioxide emissions is a gigantic task. Making wine bottles lighter is a drop in the ocean. But everything counts. Every industry needs to take
— Summer wines and innovative wine producers — In the summer, we leave our most prestigious wines in the cellar. At least for dinners on the balcony. If you drink wine outdoors, it can be
— Olive trees and vines, an inseparable duo — Say Andalusia and I’ll start thinking about olive trees. There are an estimated 70 million olive trees in Andalusia on just less than two million hectares.
— Wines with style: “style wines” — There was a time when people were worried that wines would become uniform, taste the same, become streamlined. What instead happened was that wines that had been on
— The world is much bigger than one thinks! — We were in Hungary last week, and it was a reminder (if we needed one) of how big the wine world is, how many wines
— Origin or grape variety or traditions? — I recently read that wine investors are buying a lot of wine at the moment. They fear that the specific character of various wines will soon be
— Can’t they just ban everything dangerous? — A colleague in the industry that I spoke to the other day said when we discussed spraying the vineyards, “Can’t they just ban everything dangerous?” Yes, that
– Holiday issue with extra reading. Every little detail matters Every little detail matters, whether it is for the environment, the taste of the wine or the sales figures. We have heard it many times
“Sustainability”, the flavour-of-the-month? It seems everyone is talking about sustainability these days. We’ve recently been in at least three webinars on sustainability. Wine regions are announcing sustainability programmes. Wine producers and other wine industry companies
The importance of wine tourism is not that it can be a tool for producers to sell more wines. Although you sometimes get that impression when wine tourism is discussed. It is often talked about
The Importance of Wine Tourism The importance of wine tourism is not that it can be a tool for producers to sell more wines. Although you sometimes get that impression when wine tourism is discussed.
— Terroir or Not Terroir? — One word that stands out in all wine communication today is “terroir”. Wine drinkers claim to find it in
— How many fruits, flowers and adjectives do you want? — It is quite difficult to describe flavours so that others can understand. Flavours, especially
— Not yet time to abandon the New World — In the US, the big news from the wine world this week has been that
— All the strange things that you can find on a wine label — The other month, we wrote in the Brief about rules and
— Contrasts, people, experiences — Our heads are spinning right now from all the impressions from the autumn wine tours, the wine regions we visited
— Rules, rules, rules… — Rules are helpful, but some of them are unnecessary. Sometimes, we are asked if there is a lot of cheating
— How do you choose wine at a restaurant? — Much has been written about the anxiety one feels when having to choose a wine
— Are we drinking too little wine? — History always repeats itself. Now it is time for crisis distillation again in Europe. It has been
— Working with wineries in Ukraine on wine tourism — Over the past few weeks, I have been working on a project on wine tourism
— What does my wine contain? Read the ingredient list! — It will soon become a reality, what some have been waiting for a long
— Many more grape varieties are coming to a vineyard near you — A long time ago, when I started doing wine tastings for groups,
Are you a wine expert? At what point can you be considered a wine expert? Is it when you have such good “theoretical” knowledge that
— Time flies. Where does it go? — This is a short Brief. There’s a reason for that. This very day, we also have a
— Is the “New World” outdated? — The Old World and The New World. The wine industry has lived with these expressions for quite a
— Does umami exist? — Waiting for the umami moment. — Will you taste umami in your Christmas food? For sure, if it’s savoury. And
— Sustainable, yes. But what kind of sustainability? — Sustainability is important. But sustainability is a vague concept. And what is considered sustainable or not
— Eating the cake and having it when making wine — Two months of wine tours to different European countries have given us many opportunities
— What kind of wine taster are you? — Wine is basically a luxury product. It’s not vital. In the past it was probably more
— When was the last time you met a tomato grower? — It is easier to compare the price of a kilo of tomatoes than
— Weighty arguments for lighter bottles — Reducing the world’s carbon dioxide emissions is a gigantic task. Making wine bottles lighter is a drop in
— Summer wines and innovative wine producers — In the summer, we leave our most prestigious wines in the cellar. At least for dinners on
— Olive trees and vines, an inseparable duo — Say Andalusia and I’ll start thinking about olive trees. There are an estimated 70 million olive
— Wines with style: “style wines” — There was a time when people were worried that wines would become uniform, taste the same, become streamlined.
— The world is much bigger than one thinks! — We were in Hungary last week, and it was a reminder (if we needed one)
— Origin or grape variety or traditions? — I recently read that wine investors are buying a lot of wine at the moment. They fear
— Can’t they just ban everything dangerous? — A colleague in the industry that I spoke to the other day said when we discussed spraying
– Holiday issue with extra reading. Every little detail matters Every little detail matters, whether it is for the environment, the taste of the wine
“Sustainability”, the flavour-of-the-month? It seems everyone is talking about sustainability these days. We’ve recently been in at least three webinars on sustainability. Wine regions are
The importance of wine tourism is not that it can be a tool for producers to sell more wines. Although you sometimes get that impression
The Importance of Wine Tourism The importance of wine tourism is not that it can be a tool for producers to sell more wines. Although
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