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, […]
The most important factor for making great wines! We can’t control the weather. The weather determines the size of the harvest and, to some extent, also the character of the wine. The overall climate (the longer term weather profile) always affects the wine, regardless of the weather. Weather and climate must surely be the most […]
Sweet dry wine and the taste police A dry wine should be dry and a sweet wine sweet. That sounds obvious. But considering the amounts of not-so-dry red wines sold in the world today, one begins to wonder. In the past, people enjoyed drinking sweet wines more: sherry, madeira, banyuls, maury, port, sauternes… Yes, they […]
The importance of origin New appellations are added to the wine world continuously. And not only in France and Italy. The New World has also realized the advantages of designations of origin. It is no longer just the grapes that are mentioned on the label, but also where these grapes have grown. And that’s a […]
No, organic-biodynamic-natural is not at all like “in the old days” We often hear people say that organic (biodynamic, “natural”) wine growers work the way farmers did in the past. And that’s true in some ways. Synthetic pesticides – banned for the organic growers – have not always existed. However, crops have always been in […]
To taste blind or not blind, that is the question. The answer is simple! Is it better to taste wines blind, semi-blind or open? That question has popped up several times lately. In recent months, I have been to wine tastings, wine seminars and in the jury of wine competitions, where that question has been […]
The impossible and absurd objectivity No, it is impossible to judge wine after a neutral and objective quality scale. But first… Is it important for the wine consumer if a wine has a “medal” in a wine competition? Some think it’s irrelevant. Another point of view that we often hear is “a medal! Then at […]
“sans” – does it make sense? There is a new trend, still a bit discreet. But it will perhaps – probably – increase. We see it in France and it probably exists in other wine countries as well. I’m talking about the “without sulphur” trend, sans sulfites ajoutés. Or rather, “without added sulphur”. This is […]
Safe bets or daring chances? A question that is certainly important when choosing wines for New Year! But first, let’s start with … some publicity, now as a new year begins, to make a good start of 2018: Wine tours So, if you are not at all interested in wine tours (who could not be?) […]
Wines for women? Recently, I heard about a survey about the alleged different tastes of men and women in wine. The report apparently killed that myth (but I have not read it myself). Anyway, we hear every so often wine producers mention a wine as “this is a wine that women like.” It is the […]
Will there be a shortage of wine? The harvest this year will be the smallest one in a long time. It is the smallest production, counting the entire world’s volume, in around fifty years. Read more on that in the Brief. This is due mainly to bad weather: frost in the spring, hail, rot, and […]
First of all, if you have not yet “liked” BKWine Magazine on Facebook, please do it now. Much appreciated! Wine Country China …? Britt is in China this week. One of ten invited international wine experts to judge a wine competition with Chinese wines in the Ningxia region. Britt was there already in 2005, on […]
When one brings up the concept of terroir—a French wine term used to describe a wine’s “sense of place”—you realize the importance that extraordinary vineyard soils have on producing truly exceptional wines. This text is an opinion piece written by Igor Sill who is a winegrower in the region discussed in the text. Mountain wineries flourished […]
Superlatives, thirst wines, and ad masquerades If wine adverts (all too often masquerading as “journalism”) are to be believed all wines are fantastic, perfectly balanced and go with everything, from tapas to tandoori chicken. I agree that a wine can be appreciated regardless of price; it all depends on the context. But not all wines […]
Terroir wine, industrial wine, natural wine, or technical wine? Terroir wines are often said to be the opposite of industrial wines (or volume wines). In short, terroir wines are wines where you recognize the origin and industrial ones are wines where you do not (and that are produced in large volumes). However, it is not […]
A gloomy spring… Wild or cultured? This month we give you quite a bit of reading and also a lot of videos. We have published several interesting (?) articles that you can read about in the Brief, plus a whole series of videos. By the way, we have discovered that there are some unexpected people […]
The answer is probably yes. Many sweet wines are struggling on the market today. (Excepting of course those table wines that are sold as “dry” but which contain a substantial amount of sugar, sometimes well above 10 grams per litre.) Port is one of the great classic wines, one of the first wines in history […]
Packaging or contents? We all know the importance of the label on the wine bottle. How it influences us to buy or not to buy. Most consumers are not so knowledgeable about wine, and even if you are, you will sometimes be in a situation where you are unfamiliar with most wines on the shelf. […]
White is (not?) as good as red Several times over the years I have been asked a question that has made me confused. “Can you have a wine tasting of white wines in the same way as you have of red wines?” Behind the question lies the perception that white wines are not “worthy” or […]
Is it time to scrap “New World Wine”? Not the wines of course but the generalising description of a group of wines using those words. “This feels like a New World wine” is something we sometimes hear when people taste blind. We sometimes use that description ourselves. It usually means that the wine is full-bodied, […]
Systembolaget, the Swedish alcohol monopoly, has published its financial statements. It had a turnover in 2016 of 28.5 billion SEK (3 bn euro), an increase of 3%. The profit (operating profit) amounted to SEK 217 million (23 million euro), an increase of 21% from 2015, a not entirely insignificant profit from a company who likes […]
Streamlined or personal? What is it that makes a wine feel personal, as if it has a special character? It really has nothing to do with the price. Sometimes I get the impression that some winemakers have magic fingers. Or is it simply a question of good soil and micro climate, and clement weather? Having […]
Sparkling trends It is popular to talk about upcoming trends at this time of year. An ongoing trend that certainly will continue in 2017 is the world’s unquenchable thirst for bubbles. In 2016 Prosecco and Cava had an enormous success. Champagne has been doing well although the domestic market is a bit slow at the […]
Parisian café or Japanese sushi? How is the traditional Parisian café doing? Everywhere you look in the French capital, you see a sushi restaurant or a sushi takeaway where there used to be a café. As soon as a café disappears, the Japanese are there. We now have four sushi places 5-10 minutes’ walk from […]
High or low alcohol Are you one of those consumers who think that the alcohol level in wines is getting higher and higher? Actually, this is an undisputed fact. Wine has more alcohol now than it had in the past. Some consumers do not care, while others look at the label and are horror-struck if […]
Aromatized wine? Flavoured yeast? Luxury wines without oak? On our trip to the southern Rhone Valley last week we tasted the unfermented grape juice from freshly harvested Grenache. It was delicious and sweet. But it didn’t taste like a wine, of course. A wine’s flavour is developed during the fermentation. Aromas that are already present […]
Terroir, desirable or despicable? It is interesting to see how a word can be reassessed. Take the word terroir. A word that every wine lover uses about ten times a day. And always in a very positive spirit. A wine that tastes of its terroir is a successful wine, a wine that stands out, a […]
True or not true? You can find tons of information about wine on the Internet. Who look things up in books nowadays? (Actually, as we write wine books, we hope that many do!) It is practical to be able to find everything quickly and smoothly in your computer or phone, but it is also dangerous. […]
The respect for a fine wine Wine drinking has been democratized in the last 50 years. There are today wines in all price ranges, for all budgets, for all kinds of consumers. Screwcaps and bag in boxes have eliminated the ceremonial opening and serving of a wine. But one thing remains. The respect for the […]
Some who have just recently entered the world of wine, new wine lovers, recent wine enthusiasts, sometimes says that it is so “difficult” to taste wine. On the contrary! It is the easiest thing in the world to taste wine. The most important thing when you taste wine is if you like it or not, […]
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