Category: Winemaking & Viticulture

wine-making and viticulture

The art of blending a Côtes du Rhône wine

How hard can it be? Blending a wine? I mean, you have a few different pure variety base wines which, together, will converge in a balanced and tasty cuvée that will hit home with any

Do organic wines taste better? German wine producers answer

Organic, biodynamic and natural wines have a more concentrated flavour than traditionally produced wines, some of the producers claimed at a seminar on German organic wines that I recently attended. The international wine world seems

Yeast fermenting the must

Yeast – selected or natural?

Everyone agrees that the grape-must must ferment to become wine. However, when it comes to what type of yeast to use, opinions differ. The choice is open to the winemaker to let the must ferment

Global wine production 2000-2012

The world’s wine production 2000-2012

Global wine production down in 2012, Europe declining, most others growing. Is Europe strangling its wine sector? Global wine production decreased 6% in 2012 to 252 million hectolitres. This was partially due to a very

The world's grape production 2000-2012

The world’s grape production 2000-2012

Global grape production: short term drop, long term rise, big shift away from Europe, productivity increasing Global grape production has seen a slight drop in 2012 from 2011 but has since 2000 seen a slight

A Diam 3 cork

Natural cork without cork taint

We heard about the Diam closure for the first time about five years ago. We attended a tasting with some Champagne producers who all had tried a natural cork called Mytik, which is Diams counterpart

Taking a tank sample

Soon we will have organic wines

On February 8 the EU agreed the rules for organic vinification paving the way for “organic wine” The member countries in the European Union have finally (on February 8 ) voted for an agreement concerning

A label with organic branding, Agriculture Biologique, and two biodynamic, Demeter and Biodyvin, Domaine Chapoutier, Rhone Valley

Seeking strength in wine?

There has recently been a curious “debate” on one of the major Swedish wine blogs on what is “the stongest wine in the world”, naturally fermented, excluding fortified wines. It started some time back with

Pretty evening skies over Paris, with La Defense obscured by cranes

The magic of oxygen in the wine bottle

One of the things that contribute to the ageing of wine is oxygen. Aging is, partially, a slow oxidation of the wine. It leads to changes in the flavour and aromas and it also changes

Local Wine, Local Oak

Text: David Furer Photo: Per Karlsson / BKWine & David Furer Copyright © David Furer & BKWine With the rise of flavor profiles attributed to French wood, along with their undisputed preeminence in technique, the

Yeast fermenting the must

Not all yeasts are created equal

It is common practice to add cultured (sometimes called artificial) yeast to the must to control the fermentation of wine. Just like for “natural” fermentation it is Saccharomyses Cerevisiae that converts the sugar to alcohol

”Methode provençale” to make sparkling wines?

Since quite a few year it has been forbidden to use the expression “methode champenoise” on sparkling wines made with a second fermentation in the bottle. In the future we may instead see “methode provencale”.

Stainless steel fermentation vats with a cooling system and frost

Wine technology: wine with gum Arabic

Gum Arabic is, technically, a polysaccharide and a resin like substance from an Arabic acacia tree. Its use is permitted in winemaker. Nothing particularly strange about that. It is a regular food additive with the

Mout Concentre Rectifie, MCR, concetrated grape juice

Must concentration – what should you do?

Diluted wine or fruity wine? Must concentration – what should or should you not do? Boil the must in a vacuum? If it rains just before the harvest you risk getting a diluted must. The

Wine cellar with barrels in Piedmont

World’s biggest cooper: Seguin Moreau

The Oeneo Group If you want to be exact, the world’s biggest cooper brand, for barrels from French oak, is Seguin Moreau. There are bigger barrel makers, e.g. making barrels for bourbon. We recently had

Yeast fermenting the must

Yeast – selected or natural?

Everyone agrees that the grape-must must ferment to become wine. However, when it comes to what type of yeast to use, opinions differ. The choice

Global wine production 2000-2012

The world’s wine production 2000-2012

Global wine production down in 2012, Europe declining, most others growing. Is Europe strangling its wine sector? Global wine production decreased 6% in 2012 to

A Diam 3 cork

Natural cork without cork taint

We heard about the Diam closure for the first time about five years ago. We attended a tasting with some Champagne producers who all had

Taking a tank sample

Soon we will have organic wines

On February 8 the EU agreed the rules for organic vinification paving the way for “organic wine” The member countries in the European Union have

A label with organic branding, Agriculture Biologique, and two biodynamic, Demeter and Biodyvin, Domaine Chapoutier, Rhone Valley

Seeking strength in wine?

There has recently been a curious “debate” on one of the major Swedish wine blogs on what is “the stongest wine in the world”, naturally

Local Wine, Local Oak

Text: David Furer Photo: Per Karlsson / BKWine & David Furer Copyright © David Furer & BKWine With the rise of flavor profiles attributed to

Yeast fermenting the must

Not all yeasts are created equal

It is common practice to add cultured (sometimes called artificial) yeast to the must to control the fermentation of wine. Just like for “natural” fermentation

Stainless steel fermentation vats with a cooling system and frost

Wine technology: wine with gum Arabic

Gum Arabic is, technically, a polysaccharide and a resin like substance from an Arabic acacia tree. Its use is permitted in winemaker. Nothing particularly strange

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