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VinNatur, natural wines with rules and regulations, invites you to a big wine tasting in Veneto in June (not April)

VinNatur is an Italian association for, as the name implies, producers who make natural wines. The big difference compared to...

Focus Santa Barbara: Sideways Relaxed, or has California changed gear?

California Wines had invited to a master class on the theme of "Going Sideways for Santa Barbara" under the leadership...

South Africa’s grape growers succumb when big importers demand too low prices

We have just returned from this year’s wine tour in South Africa and as usual we have tasted fantastic wines...

The best or the most practical terroir? | New Brief out, #199 | The Wine & Wine Travel Newsletter

The best or the most practical terroir? The world’s classic wines come from places, usually in France, which have been...

BKWine Brief nr 199, March 2020

The best or the most practical terroir? The world’s classic wines come from places, usually in France, which have been...

Moët Hennessy bans herbicides in their own vineyards

Big headlines is a given when a giant like Moët-Hennessy announces that all of their vineyards in Champagne from 2020...

Flash pasteurisation soon allowed for organic wines

In 2012, the EU introduced rules for organic vinification, 21 years after the rules for organic farming were established. Small...

International Sparkling Festival in Frankfurt in June

For those of you who love bubbles, we can announce that the fourth “International Sparkling Festival” will take place on...

BKWine on instagram

We are now on instagram: BKWine on Instagram. We share photos and videos from some of our trips on our...

Finally, a big international wine fair in Paris

The last two years have seen a lot of commotion in the French wine fair world. World leading Vinexpo has...

This post is also available in: Swedish

VinNatur, natural wines with rules and regulations, invites you to a big wine tasting in Veneto in June (not April)

By Britt Karlsson on April 5, 2020 in News

VinNatur is an Italian association for, as the name implies, producers who make natural wines. The big difference compared to other natural wine associations is that VinNatur has strict regulations on viticulture and vinification and puts a big emphasis on the wines’ technical and sanitary qualities. The association has around 200 members. It is an […]

Focus Santa Barbara: Sideways Relaxed, or has California changed gear?

By Carl-Erik Kanne on April 3, 2020 in Wine Regions

California Wines had invited to a master class on the theme of “Going Sideways for Santa Barbara” under the leadership of Gavin Chanin, who represented both his own company Chavin Wine Company and several other producers in Santa Barbara. The subject is close to my heart as I am fascinated by the efforts to make […]

South Africa’s grape growers succumb when big importers demand too low prices

By Britt Karlsson on April 1, 2020 in News

We have just returned from this year’s wine tour in South Africa and as usual we have tasted fantastic wines that show the ambition that exists in the country. But we should not forget the difficulties facing the South African wine industry. A large number of the country’s grape growers struggle financially and have a […]

Moët Hennessy bans herbicides in their own vineyards

By Britt Karlsson on March 30, 2020 in News

Big headlines is a given when a giant like Moët-Hennessy announces that all of their vineyards in Champagne from 2020 will be managed without herbicides (weed-killers). The announcement was made at Vinexpo, which took place in Paris on February 10-12. In addition, their vineyards in Cognac, a region that has not yet distinguished itself for […]

Flash pasteurisation soon allowed for organic wines

By Britt Karlsson on March 27, 2020 in News

In 2012, the EU introduced rules for organic vinification, 21 years after the rules for organic farming were established. Small changes have been made since then with regard to (mainly) additives. In 2021 further changes will be made to the regulations. Currently, the organic rules allow the heating of must or wine to a maximum […]

International Sparkling Festival in Frankfurt in June

By Britt Karlsson on March 25, 2020 in News

For those of you who love bubbles, we can announce that the fourth “International Sparkling Festival” will take place on June 14, 2020 in Frankfurt. Over 160 sparkling wines, made using the traditional method (with a second fermentation in the bottle), will be presented by around 60 different producers. There will be growers from Germany, […]

Finally, a big international wine fair in Paris

By Britt Karlsson on March 19, 2020 in News

The last two years have seen a lot of commotion in the French wine fair world. World leading Vinexpo has long been firmly rooted in Bordeaux. So, the decision to move Vinexpo to Paris this year surprised many. Just as surprising was Vinisud’s decision in 2019 to move from Montpellier in Languedoc to Paris and […]

Danie Steytler Jr at Kaapzicht in Stellenbosch, South Africa

Harvest 2020 in South Africa looks promising

By Britt Karlsson on March 18, 2020 in News

All producers we met on our wine tour in mid-February were, so far, happy with the quality and most of them also with the quantity. After the drought the quantities are now again back to more or less normal. The drought the past three years is over but water is still a scarce resource and […]

Grape varieties in Torres' vineyards in Catalonia

The Torres family celebrates its 150th anniversary

By Britt Karlsson on March 17, 2020 in News

A few months ago we wrote about the 40th anniversary of Torres Chile. Today we congratulate the Torres family again, because this year the Spanish company is celebrating 150 years as winemakers. It was in 1870 that brothers Miguel and Jaime Torres Vendrell founded Casa Torres y Compañía in Vilafranca del Penedès, Catalonia. The company […]

Ultrasound gives more aromas in the wine

By Britt Karlsson on March 13, 2020 in News

The latest technology to obtain more aromas in the wine is to use ultrasound. The method will probably soon be approved for winemaking. Ultrasound can be used on both white and red grapes in order to quickly extract aromas and other components from the grape skins. The de-stemmed and lightly crushed grapes are subjected to […]

Organic wines at Canet Valette in Saint Chinian

Consumers demand more organic wine

By Britt Karlsson on February 10, 2020 in News

Organic wine continues to increase its sales and market shares. Now, consumer demand drives the three largest wine countries, Italy, Spain and France, to increase their organic surface at a quicker pace, according to a report by Millésime Bio, an organic wine fair that takes place in Montpellier at the end of January. Not least, […]

Can you tell which grape variety is which in the vineyard? Homage to an ampelography pioneer

By Britt Karlsson on February 8, 2020 in News

People sometimes wonder how you can tell the difference between one grape variety and another in a vineyard. After all, they look pretty much the same. And the truth is that it’s not easy. Pierre Galet, who passed away on December 30 at the age of 98, could tell them apart without a problem. He […]

Beaujolais genius Georges Dubœuf dies at 86

By Britt Karlsson on February 7, 2020 in News

The greatest of them all in Beaujolais, Georges Dubœuf, has passed away. Beaujolais has lost a great promotor. Of course, his wines will continue to thrive through his son Franck. Georges Duboeuf was born into a winemaking family and he was only 18 years old when he started working full time with wine. He successfully […]

Criolla, Argentina’s unique grapes

By Britt Karlsson on February 5, 2020 in News

Criolla is the collective name of the grapes in South America that were either brought here as seeds or cuttings by the Spaniards in the 17th century or which are the result of spontaneous crossings that took place in South America between these European grape varieties. Listán negro, listan prieto, moscatel de alejandría and pedro […]

Not a sharpshooter, just another insect (grasshopper?)

New grape varieties in California to combat severe disease

By Britt Karlsson on February 4, 2020 in News

Pierce’s disease affects vines especially in California and the rest of the United States. But it exists also in South America. The disease is spread through insects called sharpshooters. It is difficult to cure and the vines usually die within five years. Now, the University of California Davis has released five new grape varieties that […]

The OIV 2019 Awards Ceremony when our book received the OIV Prize

By Per Karlsson on February 3, 2020 in Languedoc-Roussillon, the book

Sometimes you get tied up in things, so this has been a long time coming. Last year we were very honoured and proud to receive the OIV Book Award for best book in the category “Discovery and presentation of wines” for our latest book “Languedoc-Roussillon, the Wines of Southern France”. OIV is the International Organisation […]

View over the vineyards from Quinta da Gaivosa

8 of our favourites in the Douro Valley | Britt on Forbes

By Britt Karlsson on January 15, 2020 in Wine Regions

It is inevitable to be wow-ed when you come to the Douro Valley. It is one of the world’s most spectacular wine regions. These days they make both excellent “table” wines and the famous fortified port wines. We are frequent visitors to the Douro Valley. The Douro is one of our most popular travel destinations […]

Vineyards, a winery and mountains in Franschhoek, South Africa

Platter’s 2020 South African Wine Guide launched

By Britt Karlsson on January 15, 2020 in News

The 2020 edition of the excellent wine guide “Platter’s South African Wine Guide” was launched in November. A total of 125 wines and one brandy received the coveted 5 stars. “Editor’s Award Winery of the Year” went to the well-known Boekenhoutskloof in Franschhoek. “Best newcomer of the year” was Pieter Ferreira Cap Classique. Pieter Ferreira […]

David Cvach, French ambassador, and Per Karlsson

Our book “Languedoc-Roussillon” named “Book of the Year, Drinks” by Gourmand Awards

By Per Karlsson on January 14, 2020 in Languedoc-Roussillon, the book

Our latest book “Languedoc-Roussillon, Wines From The South of France” (Languedoc-Roussillon, södra Frankrikes viner) has been named Drinks Book of the Year 2019 (it actually happened a couple of months ago). Not the best wine book as such, but the best book in Sweden about any kind of drink, wine, spirits, tea, coffee, water. So […]

Bottles of organic (ekologiskt) wine in a shop

Does it cost more to be organic?

By Britt Karlsson on January 14, 2020 in News

What does it really cost to convert to organic farming? It is sometimes said that “certification is expensive so the producer X works organically but does not certify”. That’s not correct. The certification is a marginal cost. But what about the rest? A French report from consulting firm CerFrance Gard tries to work it out. […]

Eco-friendly cork wins award

By Britt Karlsson on January 13, 2020 in News

Every year, over 2 billion Diam corks are sold, so chances are you will now and then pull one out of your wine bottle. Diam Bouchage is a French company that 12 years ago introduced a technical invention that eliminates the molecule responsible for the annoying cork taste (2,4,6-trichloroanisole, TCA) from cork granules. Diam could […]

Swedish Wine Producers’ Association Chairman misquoted in the New York Times

By Britt Karlsson on January 11, 2020 in News

In the November Brief, we wrote about an article on Scandinavian wines in the New York Times. We recounted, among other things, a quote by Sveneric Svensson, chairman of the Swedish Wine Association, uniting many of the Swedish wine producers. Sveneric sent us an email immediately after he read the newsletter to refute this quote. […]

A grape name on the label sells better

By Britt Karlsson on January 10, 2020 in News

How much does a grape name on the label really mean? A lot. At least some people think so. During the international Chenin Blanc congress that took place in Angers in July, there was much talk about the importance of providing consumers with information on the label and what added value it provides. The still […]

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