A European wine that is organic is easy to identify. You just look for the green EU leaf. If it does not have the leaf it is not organic. But now there are also more and more “sustainability” labels on the bottles in France. However, “sustainable” is different from “organic”. Organics is mainly about the […]
Leaving a troubled 2018 behind for a better 2019? Anniversary wines to go with it. Leaving behind a troubled 2018, both in vinous terms, with difficult weather, and for the world as a whole, it is time to think about 2019. What wines should you consider if you, or someone you know, have a 9 […]
Alsace is the number one biodynamic wine region in Europe. 880 hectares are certified biodynamic. This means that an impressive 5.6% of all Alsace vineyards are biodynamic, a record in Europe. Around 70 growers are certified either with the international certification association Demeter or the French association Biodyvin. All of these producers are also organically […]
Trend spotting at New Year’s Eve dinner party With Christmas and New Year dinners coming up you might be in need of a conversation topic. Why not try trends in the wine world 2019? What will be the wine trends in 2019 in your opinion? Trend spotting has peak season at this time of the […]
Trend spotting at New Year’s Eve dinner party With Christmas and New Year dinners coming up you might be in need of a conversation topic. Why not try trends in the wine world 2019? What will be the wine trends in 2019 in your opinion? Trend spotting has peak season at this time of the […]
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 […]
Starting a brand new champagne house is probably not easy. The process to make champagne is very outdrawn, with substantial capital costs, and there’s a fierce competition with high-budget marketing. But the brothers Guillaume, Rodolphe and Richard Frerejean took the challenge. In 2005 they founded the house Champagne Frerejean Frères and they have managed to […]
France in general did a good harvest in 2018, both in volume and in quality. The Ministry of Agriculture has just published figures for the different regions. Total production was 46.6 million hectolitres, which is 26% higher than 2017, a year affected by both frost and drought that dramatically reduced the size of the harvest. […]
Portugal is a wonderful wine country in many ways. Not least because it is unrelentingly focusing on Iberian grape varieties. The only French grape that is included in the top-10 list is Syrah, and it is in the 10th place. There is an immense variety of grapes. The 10 most grown only account for 55% […]
Port wine is something people love to drink at Christmas time. It is true that a glass of Port goes well with chocolate, nuts, stilton cheese and so on, things we tend to eat for Christmas. The big question is, should you choose a Vintage Port or a Tawny? Most port wine houses have recently […]
Older vines give more character to the wine, says Rosa Kruger, a well-known South African viticulturist. She is behind a project called South Africa’s Old Vines Project, which aims at finding old vineyards, vineyards that have often been abandoned. The idea with the project is to give a new life to these old vines. A […]
When some people think about machine harvesting, they often imagine big monsters that brutalize the vineyard. It is true that harvesting machines are often big machines, but they can be quite gentle to both grapes and vines. And soon there will be on the market a tiny harvesting machine, suitable for the small producer and […]
The European Commission has now voted on the future of copper in European agriculture. On November 27, the decision was made to lower the limit to 4 kilograms of copper per year and per hectare counted as an average over a 7-year period (in other words, 28 kg in 7 years). This 4 kilos average […]
Star Wine List is a digital guide to wine bars and wine restaurants in different cities. Currently, the guide covers Stockholm, Gothenburg, Uppsala and several other locations in Sweden as well as Oslo, Toronto and London. And more cities are coming soon. Krister Bengtsson is the man behind this excellent tool. Read about great restaurants […]
We have, of course, also to give you some suggestions of what must be the perfect Christmas presents for those who like food and wine and travel, now that Christmas is approaching fast. We have two different suggestions for you. The really, really nice Christmas gift is of course a wine tour to one of […]
Henkell Trocken is one of the world’s most famous sparkling wines. The German company Henkell & Co is also the largest producer in the world of sparkling wines since the purchase of Spanish Freixenet in March 2018. Henkell now accounts for 8% of the world market for bubbles and is aiming for 10%. In addition […]
Can we once and for all establish what is true and correct about brut, sec-dry, demi-sec etc? Some myths or mistakes are more persistent than others. One of these is how much sugar champagne and other sparkling wines contain. Time and again, incorrect numbers are repeated, in articles, on the internet, and even in books […]
It has been a difficult year for many wine producers. The difficult fungal disease downy mildew has been widely present in Europe’s southern wine regions, where many producers have lost part of their harvest. The copious rains early in the season brought on the nasty fungus. However, the world production of wine in 2018 is […]
“Mosel is perfect for riesling, why should I grow something else?” Sybille Kuntz is the latest generation in a long line of wine growers in the Mosel Valley. After taking over her family’s vineyard more than 30 years ago, quality has moved up to a different dimension. Unlike many others in Germany, she makes a […]
Amarone della Valpolicella is the dry version of the sweet Recioto della Valpolicella. Both are made in the Veneto region in north east Italy, not far from the wonderful city of Verona. Grapes for both recioto and amarone are dried after harvest to concentrate aromas and sugar content of the grapes. Despite the fact that […]
Wine producers should not deceive consumers when they promote their wines. This story is about Château de Reignac in Entre-deux-Mers. This chateau was bought in the 1990s by Yves Vatelot. His ambition from the very beginning was to make a high-quality Bordeaux. The natural conditions are there. In fact, he thinks that his soil is […]
Typical. Guessing right again…? They are easily counted, the times I have called a wine “typical” during the past year. But what is typical? Everyone who has attended a wine course has learned typical aromas for some of the most popular grape varieties: cedar and black currants for Cabernet Sauvignon, tar and charcuterie for Syrah, […]
Typical. Guessing right again…? They are easily counted, the times I have called a wine “typical” during the past year. But what is typical? Everyone who has attended a wine course has learned typical aromas for some of the most popular grape varieties: cedar and black currants for Cabernet Sauvignon, tar and charcuterie for Syrah, […]
A tour of France’s vineyards today shows that more and more wine producers prefer to let the grass and the weed remain in the vineyard instead of removing it. Today, many refrain from chemical weed control, also those who are not organic. The region of Anjou-Saumur in the Loire Valley has gone one step further. […]
Gérard Bertrand’s empire in Languedoc is growing. He recently bought Mas du Soleilla, a 22-hectare vineyard adjacent to Bertrand’s headquarters Château l’Hospitalet in the appellation of La Clape. Mas du Soleilla was founded by Peter Wildbolz and Christa Derungs, both Swiss. 2002 was their first vintage. Mas de Soleilla is, like the Château l’Hospitalet, certified […]
The most important grape in Argentina is Malbec and it has doubled its acreage in the last 15 years. It has now 18% of the vine surface in the country. Syrah has also increased its acreage substantially. The light coloured Cereza and the black Criolla Grande are decreasing but they are still planted on 20% […]
Alsace wines are becoming drier and drier. At least that was the impression we had on our recent Alsace tour. And that is very positive. In addition, it is easier to know if the wines are dry or not because producers are now more and more putting “vin sec” on the label if the wine […]
Germany is a small but important wine country. Steep slopes and a cool climate give us wines that are difficult to copy. The most planted grape is Riesling but nowadays one should also look out for Pinot blanc (Weissburgunder) and Pinot Gris (Grauburgunder). Both of these have increased their surface in recent years and are […]
Heavy rain and floods of a rare violence in the department of Aude In Languedoc in mid-October caused major damage to vineyards and wineries, in particular in the Minervois and Cabardes appellations and, to a lesser extent, in Saint Chinian. 14 people died. Several wine cellars were flooded, pumps and presses have been destroyed and […]
It is a mistake to think that “Bordeaux has become too expensive”. In fact, bordeaux is one of the regions in France that has an incredible wealth of good-value, affordable wines, provided you cast your net just a little bit wider than the famous Grand Cru Classes. They represent only a few percent, if event […]
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