Category: News

BKWine Blog

A sign saying Paris 1855

The 1855 Bordeaux Classification turns 170

The 1855 Bordeaux Classification turned 170 on April 18, 2025. Whatever you think of it, it is an essential component of French wine history. It may be worth considering how it came about. The classification

Pouring a glass of sparkling cava at the Giro Ribot winery in Catalonia

Cava: sales are down, but value is on its way up

The severe drought in Catalonia over the last three years has considerably reduced the production and supply capacity of the D.O. Cava. Thankfully, the rain did come at last this winter, and hopefully, the producers

Boeuf Bourguignon on a table in Burgundy

France selects the most iconic French dishes

Ipsos, an expert in market analysis, conducted a market survey in March in connection with the presentation of the new edition of the Michelin Guide. Ipsos asked the French people which French dishes they considered

John Barker (r), director general of the OIV and Per Karlsson (l) of BKWine

World wine production and consumption drop in 2024

Global data on the wine sector in 2024 was released at OIV’s (International Organisation of Vine and Wine) press conference on April 15th. John Barker, the director general of OIV, admitted that there are challenges

An old outhouse in Rashult at the farm where Linneaus was born

Finally! Cellar-door sales legal in Sweden

Yes, cellar-door sales of wine, spirits and beer are still illegal but will become legal on June 1. But… In mid-April, the Riksdag voted yes to “farm sales”. This means that from June 1, it

Vineyards at Kaapzicht Wine Estate, Stellenbosch, South Africa

Brilliant harvest 2025 in South Africa

In February when we were on this year’s wine tour in South Africa, the harvest was in full swing. They were just over halfway through and everyone already agreed that 2025 would be a brilliant

White grapes ready to be harvested in Bordeaux

Médoc gets the go-ahead for white wines

The Médoc peninsula in Bordeaux is known for its many prestigious chateaux. And for its red wines. The eight Médoc appellations have always been red-only. (Small quantities of white has been made but had to

A castle and vineyards in Styria (Steiermark) in Austria

A “roller coaster” vintage 2024 for Austria

The Austrian winemakers have now taken stock of the 2024 vintage. Austrian Wine describes it as a “roller-coaster ride”. Frosts, hail storms and violent rain made the growing season challenging. The harvest volume was small

Vineyards in Bannockburn, Central Otago, New Zealand

New Zealand gets the best price for its wines in 2024

One of the advantages of having a monopoly (the only?) is that they publish some interesting statistics, e.g. sales statistics per price segment. On the Swedish monopoly Systembolaget’s website, you can see how much wine

Wines in different packaging in a Systembolaget monopoly shop in Sweden

Systembolaget’s wine sales fall also in 2024

Systembolaget’s wine sales (*) fell by 1% in 2024 to 206 million litres. (*) = wine excluding fortified wine. This continues the trend since the Covid rush in 2020, when wine sales increased by 9.2%.

Syrah green harvest (bunch/crop thinning) in the Rhone Valley

Does “green harvest” improve the wine?

Green harvest (or cluster thinning, crop thinning) is when the grower removes some grape bunches in the middle of summer, before they are ripe (sometimes later), to lessen the harvest volume.  Some years ago, this

Peppers (bellpepper), pimientos on a food market

Why does the wine have aromas of pepper?

The fact that wine is a lot about chemistry has probably not escaped anyone. (After all, everything is chemistry.) However, you don’t need to know anything about chemistry to enjoy a wine. But sometimes you

A bottle and two glasses of Bourgogne Aligoté

White Burgundy has a boom in (Sweden)

Swedes have long been fond of Chablis, and Chablis belongs to Burgundy. Now, Sweden has overtaken Belgium in the statistics and is the fifth-largest importer (by volume) of Burgundy wine in the world. Quite incredible.

A bottle and two glasses of Bourgogne Aligoté

White Burgundy has a boom in (Sweden)

Swedes have long been fond of Chablis, and Chablis belongs to Burgundy. Now, Sweden has overtaken Belgium in the statistics and is the fifth-largest importer

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