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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 Organic is a bit “outdated”. […]
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 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 […]
Is it worth ageing wine? “With age comes complexity but wines get more similar with time. You find more nuances in young wines. They are purer and wilder and you can taste the place where they came from and the earth in which the grapes are grown.” This quote comes from a Portuguese winemaker and […]
9 myths and 9 truths about organic, biodynamic, “natural” Organic wine continues to increase, it seems. Commercial success is well established in several countries already. We recently wrote about sales in France that have increased by 17% per year since 2012 and the forecast is that it will continue. Therefore we see more and more […]
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 […]
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, […]
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