The oldest way to make sparkling wines is called méthode ancestrale in France. The method is mainly used in Gaillac, Limoux and Die. A more modern, or at least trendier, style of this method is called pétnat, or pétillant naturel. It is an easy-drinking bubbly wine, often from the Loire Valley, popular at “natural wine […]
If you are planning a wine tour later on to South Africa, the best way to prepare is to drink South African wines. We have many favourites. Read below about four excellent producers we sometimes (or regularly) visit on our tours to South Africa. Glenwood, Franschhoek Stark-Condé, Stellenbosch Post House, Stellenbosch The Ahrens Family, Paarl […]
Wine consumers around the world drink sparkling wines like never before. The message from producers and wine writers has been clearly understood. Bubbles can be drunk at all times and not just when you are celebrating. The production has increased by 57% since 2002. The world now produces 2.5 billion bottles or sparkling wine. This […]
This is from the introduction to the BKWine Brief #200 and also from our wine travel site BKWineTours.com on how life is in the wine tourism sector currently. Where are we now? It is easier to know where we are than where we will be. Our activity is fundamentally affected by what is happening in […]
Uncorked: Under this heading, we collect various wines that we have tasted, and liked, recently. It can be wines that we have had during dinner at home, at wine tastings, press lunches, visits to vineyards, or other occasions. We describe the wines just with a few short sentences, tasting notes that we hope will give […]
Argentina is known for its Malbec and its excellent meat. They both go amazingly well together. But if you want to make an Argentinean evening at home, which is quite easy if you have a grill/barbecue, you don’t have to limit yourself to Malbec see our separate text on asado). We explained recently how to […]
Barbecues are loved in many countries and the season is starting. In South Africa, they invite you to a braai, in Argentina and Chile to an asado. What’s so special about an asado? Is it like any barbecue party, except that it is, of course, mandatory to drink Malbec? There are actually some specific asado […]
Many wine regions are doing research to better understand the challenges posed by climate change. In the recently inaugurated Bragato Research Institute in Blenheim, Marlborough, in New Zealand, 84 small fermentation tanks and a lot of other necessary equipment, some in miniature format, will enable various research projects for both viticulture and vinification. After two […]
“I want to give everything, I only live once and I want to give everything I have,” says Marco Parusso from the eponymous wine estate in Monforte d´Alba in Barolo. You can feel that in the wines. There’s a lot of everything. Fruit. Colour. Tannins. “Tannins are the hallmark of Barolo and they should be […]
It has been an extremely warm and dry spring in some parts of France, especially the northern and north-eastern parts. We asked Philippe Bernard at Clos Saint Louis in Fixin (Côte de Nuits) how the vines are doing. “This is another ‘année de folie’, a crazy year”, he says. “It has been hot and very […]
The idea seems brilliant. The company De Sangosse has developed a new product, a so-called adjuvant, named LE 846, whose viscous and liquid properties help to reduce the spraying by a quarter against downy and powdery mildew, two difficult fungal diseases. This adjuvant will reduce the amount of fungicide remaining in the air. There will […]
How is it possible for some wines to cost so little? Is it about mass production, about advanced industrialization? A new project run by Anivin de France, the association of producers of Vin de France, in collaboration with the research institute Institut Français de la Vigne et du Vin, shows how to mechanize more efficiently […]
Quoted from our introduction to the BKWine Brief number 200: “Newsletter number 200! It was not something we planned when we started. 200 monthly newsletters. The first, BKWine Brief Nr 1, was in May 2003. Seventeen years ago. SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO. The year when the Concorde made its last flight. The last VW Buggy in […]
Bordeaux was hit by violent hailstorms on April 17. In Saint Emilion, Château Bernateau – that we were supposed to visit the day after on our Bordeaux spring tour, if everything had been normal – was hit, but not as much as they first feared, says owner Karine Lavau. But they needed to react quickly […]
Wine producers in South Africa have been through some tough times but now things are at least getting a bit better. During five weeks of lockdown, they have not been allowed to sell their wines locally (all alcohol sales are prohibited) or to export. Today, on May 1, the government will remove some restrictions. The […]
Chardonnay, the swan that became an ugly duckling? …and… Issue 200 …and… Where are we now? This will be a long Brief, so save it and read when you have the time. Let’s start with the swan. It is alarming how sometimes an arbitrary strange thing spreads from one wine writer to the next, from […]
Chardonnay, the swan that became an ugly duckling? …and… Issue 200 …and… Where are we now? This will be a long Brief, so save it and read when you have the time. Let’s start with the swan. It is alarming how sometimes an arbitrary strange thing spreads from one wine writer to the next, from […]
Hawke’s Bay in New Zealand was famous for its red wines long before Central Otago. Already in 1851, the country’s oldest still existing winery was founded here, Mission Estate. Another prominent pioneer in Hawke’s Bay, founded in early 1900, is Church Road, now owned by French Pernod Ricard. Having been overrun by Central Otago as […]
Unless you have millions of euros to spare you’re not going to be a winery owner. But it can still be fun to get involved with wine. There is a less onerous way to do it – through crowdfunding. I met with Maxime Debure, founder and CEO of WineFunding. Dubure trained as a winemaker and […]
It is often debated whether it makes economic sense to work organically and if it is possible to raise the prices of the wines if you switch to sustainable or organic agriculture. Now we have it in black and white, yes, it does pay off, according to a new report. At least for bulk wines […]
“Languedoc-Roussillon is a big area. Around 200,000 hectares. Exactly how many producers there are is difficult to know, but it is probably about 10,000 to 15,000. In our book “Languedoc-Roussillon, The Wines Of Southern France” we have selected almost 100 with profiles and around 150 more which we basically only mention by name. All equally […]
A recent Wine Intelligence study shows that consumers’ knowledge of wine decreased between 2015 and 2019. But that does not mean that these consumers do not buy wine. So how do they choose their wines? Maybe they are attracted by a medal sticker on the bottle. Recently, the big wine competition Concours Mondial de Bruxelles […]
During our South Africa tour in February we visited Creation Wines in beautiful Hemel-en-Aarde on the south coast. We tasted the lovely wines of course. But owner Carolyn Martin also took the opportunity to tell us about something that is dear to her, namely The Pebbles Project. This project was founded in 2004 and helps […]
“Just don’t make the same wines as your grandfather did, my friends said when I told them I would start making my own wines,” says Luca Baccarelli of the Roccafiore winery in Umbria, laughing. His grandfather’s wines were rustic, blunt and heavy. Just the opposite of what Luca makes today. “In Umbria, we have always […]
After having worked for 16 years in France, winemaker Jenny Dobson returned to New Zealand in 1996. Her home country was at the time slowly changing from being only a country of sheep and rugby to being also a country of wine. The region she chose to settle in was Hawke’s Bay on New Zealand’s […]
In New Zealand, wine producers were in the middle of the harvest when the message came on March 25 about a total lock-down of the country. The relief was great when they were told that the harvest, despite everything, could be continued and completed. “Farming and viticulture have been defined as essential industries, so we […]
There will be many dinners at home in the coming weeks. Here are some recommendations from producers we met on our tour in South Africa in February. Gabriëlskloof Amphora Sauvignon Blanc, Cape South Coast, Bot River, ~15 euro Gabriëlskloof No. 79893 The Blend, South Africa, ~15 euro Family winery in Bot River, next to more […]
Casa Marin is the wine producer who showed the world that you can make quality wines just a few kilometres from the cold Pacific Ocean in Chile. Last year, the Lo Abarca area of the San Antonio Valley even obtained its very own designation of origin. We have visited Casa Marin once a year since […]
“It was the vintage of 1990 that made the world discover Brunello di Montalcino,” says Francesco Marone Cinzano. We meet at the family’s beautiful estate one evening in February. The family has invited a handful of journalists from all over the world to a vertical tasting of Brunello di Montalcino from 2015 back to 1980. […]
The “primeurs” tastings of new vintages from Tuscany offered many surprises. BKWine’s Åsa Johansson reports. The Tuscan version of Bordeaux’ primeurs – the anteprima – is one of the highlights of the year. During a week in February, journalists from all over the world gather in Tuscany and taste hundreds of wines to judge the […]
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