Time for Pinotage to come out of the closet? The apple never falls far from the tree. Well, sometimes it does. For, to be honest, does pinotage really resemble its parents, pinot noir and cinsault? Not so much. In any case, the dark colour certainly does not indicate that pinotage originates from the two grapes […]
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 […]
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 […]
One should not make the mistake to believe that cava is a cheap alternative to champagne. No more than that sancerre is a cheap version of white burgundy (or vice versa). No, cava is its very own wine style, own grape varieties, own terroir. Why not make an inspired and slightly different choice for New […]
The wine world’s vague and hard-to-explain words There are difficult words in the world of wine. It may not be obvious to know exactly what is acetaldehyde, tangential filter or sexual confusion. But these words have a very well-defined meaning. Just look them up in a book. But there are also words that people use […]
A wine tour is so much more than a “regular” tour or a normal holiday. A wine tour with BKWine is a unique experience where you get to meet the people behind the wine, enjoy the beautiful nature and of course also savour many good wines and top-quality food. It is a gift that will […]
A bottle of wine is never wrong, but a book about wine may be longer lasting. We have written ten wine books, about Languedoc-Roussillon, Bordeaux, Champagne, Tuscany, Piedmont, Burgundy, all of France, how to grow vines and make wine (not a do-it-yourself but a book that explains the technicalities of what winemakers do). But we […]
Seek out diversity, ditch the same-same and fame Diversity is what makes the wine world unique. Wine is in essence nothing but an agricultural product. For most of those who make wine, life as a wine farmer is not as glamorous as it is sometimes portrayed. What is unique is the incredible number of different […]
New Zealand is through with being the new kid of the block. Which is totally natural. They have nothing to prove anymore. Their wines (at least many of them) are world-class and as interesting as they come. All this has happened very rapidly in the last 30-40 years. Of course, there are still things to […]
Sometimes people at wine tastings try and impress with opinions like “this wine tastes as if it has been in an egg-shaped concrete tank”, “this must have been kept in a stainless steel tank”, “you used old oak barrels for this, didn’t you?” and similar things. If you’ve been to a few wine tastings I […]
The Cote Chalonnaise is what you could call a “low-key” wine region. There are no famous names. No exorbitantly priced wines (as opposed to other parts of Burgundy). No famous cities. It’s just a normal wine region. This book is exactly a reflection of that. It is a low-key wine book. Four Seasons in Cote […]
There is no reason to be alarmed even though the world’s production of wine fell with 10% in 2019. The global total of wine is still good, estimated to be 263 million hectolitres. It is a big decline compared to 2018 but on the other hand, it is much more than 2017. In fact, global […]
Should we lament that the taste of wines have changed? That the wines we are accustomed to drinking will eventually change is probably inevitable in the wake of climate change. Some regions may need to change the grape variety, the heat may cause the acidity to drop, etc. This is especially a problem for the […]
“China started making good wines in 2015,” Lens Moser, from Austria, said when I met him a few days ago in Yinchuan, in the Gobi desert, in China. He thinks that Ningxia, the autonomous region where this is located, with its almost 40,000 ha of vineyards, is perhaps the most promising region and that is […]
Stop harping on about “good” years and “bad” years! The harvest is in full swing. And so, inevitably, the discussion whether or not it will be a good year. But what is a good year? Good for whom? Traditionally, a good or great year means that the wines have ageing potential. But everyone does not […]
The new “no sulphur” trend There is a new trend, still in its infancy. But it will – most likely – increase. You see it in France and probably in other wine countries as well. It is the “no sulphur” trend. Or to be more precise the “no added sulphur” trend. You might be thinking […]
It makes you happy when you read such things. “Few books have made me long for southern France like this one.” This is what Dag Sandahl writes in his review of “Languedoc-Roussillon, the wines of southern France”. Dag continues in his review “there are good reasons to read it and be fascinated by their knowledge […]
It is difficult to convey a sense of what it is like to travel in a wine district. It is just as difficult to convey a sense of what you may experience when reading a book. But at least we want to try. Earlier this year, our tenth book was published, a new book on […]
Aroma wines and structure wines Sometimes a wine has a very small nose, does not smell much. We sometimes say a discreet or shy nose. Is that always bad? There is so much talk about smelling the wine, swirling your glass so that the aromas open up, dipping your nose deep into in the glass. […]
The whole list of OIV book awards 2019 announced We worked for two years on the new book about Languedoc-Roussillon. Not full time, but when we could, and not least in the summers when we could go and visit vineyards. But on top of that, we had worked continuously for about ten years, since our […]
Experimenting with summer wines Do we drink differently in summer? To some extent yes. Especially if it’s a hot summer. Which is not always the case. But if it is hot and you eat outdoors, we think there are two important things to keep in mind: the first is the temperature of the wines and […]
Experimenting with summer wines Do we drink differently in summer? To some extent yes. Especially if it’s a hot summer. Which is not always the case. But if it is hot and you eat outdoors, we think there are two important things to keep in mind: the first is the temperature of the wines and […]
Languedoc-Roussillon, the Wines of Southern France is our latest book. Our tenth book. It is about one of the “hottest” and most dynamic wine regions in France. It is the first book in Swedish that talks of both of these districts, the Languedoc, which is the northern part, and Roussillon, which borders Spain. Languedoc-Roussillon is […]
Has organic lost momentum? What counts now is sustainable? The trend towards organic wine has lost momentum. More and more producers choose to be “almost organic” in order to be able to use non-organic pesticides in difficult years. Today, the producers rather focus on being sustainable than on being organic. Organic is a bit “outdated”. […]
Has organic lost momentum? What counts now is sustainable? The trend towards organic wine has lost momentum. More and more producers choose to be “almost organic” in order to be able to use non-organic pesticides in difficult years. Today, the producers rather focus on being sustainable than on being organic. Organic is a bit “outdated”. […]
People go to conferences for two main reasons. To get inspiration or learn things about their business. And to meet other people in the same business, to network. But there are not many such events in the wine business. But since a few years there is “Must, Fermenting Ideas”. It is a three-day conference filled […]
The unpredictable weather and the importance of water The weather is unpredictable and even more so right now it seems. Admittedly, it is said that farmers (and wine growers are just that) always complain about the weather. But I am beginning to think that they have every right to it. Long periods of drought, abnormal […]
The brand new numbers for 2018 show a positive picture. Wine production reached a record level in 2018 reaching 293 million hectolitres, a good recovery from a catastrophic 2017. The biggest wine producers in the world in 2018 are Italy, France, Spain and the USA. Global vineyard surface remained stable with Spain having the world’s […]
The dangers of becoming a super-celebrity The biggest problem with making wine is probably not to make sure the wine is good but rather to sell it. Then it can be very helpful to be known, that one in some way has a strong “brand”. An example, that is close at hand, as we have […]
The dangers of becoming a super-celebrity The biggest problem with making wine is probably not to make sure the wine is good but rather to sell it. Then it can be very helpful to be known, that one in some way has a strong “brand”. An example, that is close at hand, as we have […]
