Archive | Debate

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 […]

The best or the most practical terroir? The world’s classic wines come from places, usually in France, which have been praised for so long that it is difficult to say if the first vines were planted there because it was the best terroir or because it was simply the most practical place to plant. Maybe […]

Are we wine consumers ready to stand up for our environmental commitment? Or are we merely paying lip service? A trend for 2020 will undoubtedly be the continued focus on organic and sustainable wines. Many countries’ wine drinkers clearly show that they want more and more organic wines. Demand is expected to increase dramatically in […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

“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 […]