What is the best qualification to have when drinking wine? Well, curiosity. Not a good nose or amazing taste buds. It is worth much more to be curious at what other producers are doing, in
It caused a certain brouhaha when an ”investigative” television program on wine was aired recently in Sweden, Kalla Fakta (Cold Facts). Several wine producers and wine importers appeared in the program in a way that
In Piedmont, there are always new things to discover. It could be new grape varieties, new gastronomic specialities or, not least, new winemakers. In late November I had the opportunity to try a number of
Now in winter time, maybe the wine produce can slow down a little and recuperate? Hardly. Now begins the season for la taille, the winter pruning. An extremely important task that requires special skill so
There are lots of good Bordeaux wines in the medium price range. All too often one tends to focus on either the very exclusive, and prohibitively expensive, or on the very simple volume wines. This
Often we hear wine producers in France saying, not without a certain pride in their voice that their wine is certainly not sold in supermarkets (grande surfaces). I wonder why this would be so terrible.
Côte and Coteaux, we see these words everywhere: Côtes du Rhône, Coteaux du Languedoc, Côte des Blancs, Côte de Beaune, etc. It is an old French tradition to call wine regions located along rivers or
Maison Louis Chèze is a young wine producer in the northern Rhône Valley who makes excellent wines with a lot of varietal character. Drinking his wines when they are young is not a sacrilege or
South Africa makes very good sparkling wine. Since a few years back they call their sparkling wines made from the traditional method that is with a second fermentation in the bottle, MCC, Methode Cap Classique.
“The wine condom” will protect your wine once the bottle has been opened, it claims. Proper protection for your wine is indeed a good tag line. This new wine-related Kickstarter “wine condom” project had me
A few weeks ago I was in Portugal, mainly to taste wine and port. Port wine is something I to connect with Christmas (and all other days too). To sit and sip a glass of
France is the world’s most popular travel destination. More than 80 million visitors (!) come to France each year. When you travel around France it is easy to understand why; landscape, climate, people, gastronomy, wine
Young port vs. old port? What about the tawnies? And why are most port wine houses named after ancient Englishmen? Jorge Ramos straightens it all out with a little bit of help from Taylor’s range
It has been awhile since I drank a Rioja. This wine I was served blind and I did not guess that it was a Rioja (I will not humiliate myself by telling you my guesses).
A bit of a mouth-full, wine / travel blogging competition… Great Wine Capitals is an association of some of the world’s great wine regions. Their mission is to spread the word that these wine regions
Michel Laroche is a legendary wine producer in Chablis. He built up his wine business from scratch to a major wine producer with vineyards and wineries on three continents. And then he sold it all.
Vinisud is the second biggest wine show in France (after Vinexpo), and in many ways the most interesting. At the next edition of Vinisud, in February, BKWine, Britt, has been asked to lead a wine
Some people find a vintage chart with year ratings invaluable. Others think it is unnecessary. If you want a small, convenient and reliable vintage chart you can do worse than to try the one published
If you are interested in wine, grapes and statistics, then you are in for a treat. The University of Adelaide has published a book by Kym Andersson and Nanda R Aryal called Which Winegrape Varieties
Internet videos on wine tend to be shaky footage of vineyards, someone drinking wine in front of the camera blabbering on about fruit and body, or sometimes a winemaker who talks. This one is different:
It seems that the wine harvest in Austria was a difficult one but that in the end it can give some good wines, albeit with high acidity (good ageing potential?), and some excellent sweet wines.
I don’t know why the Belgians should be most prone to this, but according to this campaign that is how it is. Undoubtedly alluding more or less subtly to sex (usually in the form of
How to become successful in wine tourism is the theme of a conference and panel discussion at the (excellent) wine fair Vinisud that takes place in Montpellier in February. The event is probably mainly geared
They make excellent wines on Etna on Sicily. They also have a very unique and spectacularly beautiful landscape. I am not sure if they are good film-makers but they probably are. A new feature film,
Champagne in magnum is always impressive. Palmer & Co. is a champagne producer who ages their magnums longer than usual before releasing it to the market: for ten years. The currently available vintage (1998) and
It’s hard to imagine a more specialized niche for a wine importer: wines from the south east of Moravia in the Czech Republic. But it is what it brand new wine importer Morwine has as
Calvados can be a deliciously refreshing digestif, or a multi-faceted, complex post-dinner drink. Calvados is a kind of apple spirit, distilled cider, which really deserves to be appreciated more! With a fruit and freshness that
In the last issue of The Brief we wrote about our own impressions of this year’s harvest around Europe. We have the privilege to actually be on site in many of the wine regions and
What is the best qualification to have when drinking wine? Well, curiosity. Not a good nose or amazing taste buds. It is worth much more
It caused a certain brouhaha when an ”investigative” television program on wine was aired recently in Sweden, Kalla Fakta (Cold Facts). Several wine producers and
In Piedmont, there are always new things to discover. It could be new grape varieties, new gastronomic specialities or, not least, new winemakers. In late
Now in winter time, maybe the wine produce can slow down a little and recuperate? Hardly. Now begins the season for la taille, the winter
There are lots of good Bordeaux wines in the medium price range. All too often one tends to focus on either the very exclusive, and
Often we hear wine producers in France saying, not without a certain pride in their voice that their wine is certainly not sold in supermarkets
Côte and Coteaux, we see these words everywhere: Côtes du Rhône, Coteaux du Languedoc, Côte des Blancs, Côte de Beaune, etc. It is an old
Maison Louis Chèze is a young wine producer in the northern Rhône Valley who makes excellent wines with a lot of varietal character. Drinking his
South Africa makes very good sparkling wine. Since a few years back they call their sparkling wines made from the traditional method that is with
“The wine condom” will protect your wine once the bottle has been opened, it claims. Proper protection for your wine is indeed a good tag
A few weeks ago I was in Portugal, mainly to taste wine and port. Port wine is something I to connect with Christmas (and all
France is the world’s most popular travel destination. More than 80 million visitors (!) come to France each year. When you travel around France it
Young port vs. old port? What about the tawnies? And why are most port wine houses named after ancient Englishmen? Jorge Ramos straightens it all
It has been awhile since I drank a Rioja. This wine I was served blind and I did not guess that it was a Rioja
A bit of a mouth-full, wine / travel blogging competition… Great Wine Capitals is an association of some of the world’s great wine regions. Their
Michel Laroche is a legendary wine producer in Chablis. He built up his wine business from scratch to a major wine producer with vineyards and
Vinisud is the second biggest wine show in France (after Vinexpo), and in many ways the most interesting. At the next edition of Vinisud, in
Some people find a vintage chart with year ratings invaluable. Others think it is unnecessary. If you want a small, convenient and reliable vintage chart
If you are interested in wine, grapes and statistics, then you are in for a treat. The University of Adelaide has published a book by
Internet videos on wine tend to be shaky footage of vineyards, someone drinking wine in front of the camera blabbering on about fruit and body,
It seems that the wine harvest in Austria was a difficult one but that in the end it can give some good wines, albeit with
I don’t know why the Belgians should be most prone to this, but according to this campaign that is how it is. Undoubtedly alluding more
How to become successful in wine tourism is the theme of a conference and panel discussion at the (excellent) wine fair Vinisud that takes place
They make excellent wines on Etna on Sicily. They also have a very unique and spectacularly beautiful landscape. I am not sure if they are
Champagne in magnum is always impressive. Palmer & Co. is a champagne producer who ages their magnums longer than usual before releasing it to the
It’s hard to imagine a more specialized niche for a wine importer: wines from the south east of Moravia in the Czech Republic. But it
Calvados can be a deliciously refreshing digestif, or a multi-faceted, complex post-dinner drink. Calvados is a kind of apple spirit, distilled cider, which really deserves
In the last issue of The Brief we wrote about our own impressions of this year’s harvest around Europe. We have the privilege to actually
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