BKWine Blog
Sweden is definitely a cool climate wine country. We have a few brave wine producers, most of them very small and most of them in the southernmost part of Sweden. Fredholms Wine Estate in Tyringe in Skåne is one and recently this estate received a medal, a “seal of approval” in AWC Vienna for its […]
And why it is important who the wine importers are You may have noticed that we are trying to keep track of all the wine importers in Sweden. We probably have the most updated and extensive list of wine importers there is. For people outside Sweden this is perhaps mainly interesting if you are a […]
With 115 points the Swedish team won the “Blind Tasting World Championship” with an 8 points margin to the silver medallist United Kingdom with 107 points and the number three, Luxembourg with 100. The competition is a team competition with teams of four, organized by the French magazine La Revue du Vin de France. 24 […]
We like collecting comments from people who have travelled with us. It’s not always easy to explain what experiences you will get on one of our wine tours. Then perhaps some feedback from previous customers who have travelled with us can be helpful. A few more: “It is so good that we can hardly imagine […]
It is much debated (albeit less and less) whether global warming is a real phenomenon or not. I saw an interesting illustration of how the harvest dates have evolved in different wine regions in France since 1950. The figure came from Institute for Climate Economics (I4CE) and is taken from a report entitled Key Figures […]
Every wine lover is familiar with some of the well-established wine regions in New Zealand, but they may not always have been so well-defined and protected from abuse. From July 27 new rules govern 18 “geographical indications”. It is far from the complex systems of rules found in the Old World (Italy, France, Spain and […]
The wine world is not only small picturesque vineyards in a rural setting with a horse pulling a plough between the vines. There are also large groups with international businesses. Euromonitor has listed the top ten wine producers in the world for 2016: E & J Gallo, 2.7% of world production, USA Constellation Brands, 1.7%, […]
Wine myths… I recently wrote an article about a myth on wine that has been very difficult to kill. It struck me that it could be a good theme for a series of articles. There are too many myths around wine. What I wrote about (and you can read more about below) was irrigation. No, […]
Traditionally, Rioja is simply Rioja. No vineyards or villages or the like on the label. But in the same way that Rioja wines are exciting and modern today, the rules also evolve. A little while ago, it was allowed to put a vineyard name on the Rioja label. Close on the heels of that decision, […]
There is a lot of talk about the very small harvest volume that we will get this year, even here at BKWine Magazine, Record-breaking small wine harvest in France. But in Burgundy they expect to bring in an unusually big harvest! It shows clearly how different weather conditions can be very local and hit very […]
Over a ten year period households’ alcohol consumption has fallen by 10 litres to today 70.7 litres per household, a decline of 12%, a study made by Kantar Worldpanel shows (12,000 households). In France. People also spend less: the household budget has fallen over one year by 1.70 euros 327.70 euros in 2016. (How does […]
English wine has become really trendy, especially sparkling. Now, the wines from the Brexit island are also moving forward in the export market. And maybe it’s exactly Brexit that’s the reason behind it. The pound has fallen (soon at parity with the euro) and English wine has become cheaper in other countries. Exports increased by […]
It is perhaps excessive to call it disaster, but also the Italian harvest (like the French harvest) is expected to be extremely small this year. The Italian oenologist association predicts that Italy will harvest 41 million hectolitres. This is a decline with 24% (!) compared to 2016 (54 M hl). Last year, however, gave a […]
If you are already planning a wine tour for next year (this year is sold out), we can first of all offer you Chile-Argentina and South Africa in the winter. But we also have some of the dates ready for the rest of the year. Here they are: Chile & Argentina, January 27 – February […]
Already today it is quite clear how big the wine harvest will be this year, with quite a lot of certainty. It will be small. The harvest is also very early. In some places it has already begun, the earliest picker started on August 10, but in most wine regions it will be a bit […]
A while back I had a few hours to spend in Lisbon. I was visiting Portugal to go to some oak forests and vineyards. (More on cork production here.) I was staying at a hotel in the part of the city called Oriente. Much of it was built for the Expo 98 world exhibition that […]
Red Burgundy that is both good and does not break the bank can be difficult to find. Maison Ambroise is one place to look. We visited the house this spring on one of our wine tours and tasted their selection, starting with the “plain” Bourgogne Rouge, a wine that offers a good pinot noir character […]
Gérard Bertrand in Languedoc celebrates 30 years as a wine producer. He has had a tremendous success. He had to take over the family wine business at a young age when his father died. At the time the business was small. Now he produces 12 million bottles that are sold in 60 countries. He has […]
Does Champagne have the world’s most expensive grapes? We thought so but now it seems that you have to pay as much for cabernet sauvignon grapes in Napa Valley, California. For one kilo of Napa cabernet sauvignon you pay 7 USD, compared to between 5.20 and 6.20 euros for one kilogram of Champagne grapes. Other […]
The French nurseries that supply wine producers with vines face major challenges. At the end of June, 120 of them gathered to discuss the future. The most important thing they discussed is the withering of the vineyards that has been going on for some time now. Everywhere, the wine growers see how some of their […]
Côtes de Provence celebrates this year 40 years as an appellation. And there is reason to celebrate. Rosé wines from Provence have had incredible success in recent years. The world does not seem to be able to get enough of Provence rosé. As part of the celebration, a design competition was organized in June in […]
Yesterday I did an update of our Big List with Wine Importers. There were 13 new names and 22 that I removed. But it turns out that I had missed some new importers. I received several reactions and suggestions for new ones. Here are four five more new ones: Swedish Wine Association, “We stand for […]
It is not complete but quite close. We have probably Sweden’s most current list of wine importers. We recently received a message from an importer that was not included, so we added his business: WineBee is not a new importer, but we have not noticed them before. They work mainly with Germany, France, Spain, Portugal […]
Georgia is on the move. And it’s no longer just the qvevri wines that get attention. In June, Winery Khareba/Lipartiani presented its wines in Paris. We tasted red and white qvevri wines and “regular” wines. These latter ones account for most of the production in the country. However, the traditional method of qvevri, which means […]
The wine world is considered by many to be a bit old-fashioned. But times are changing. “We want to be innovative in this very traditional world,” says Flavien Darius Pommier. 23 years old and with a Master’s Degree in Business Administration in his pocket, he is now, along with a friend, marketing the family chateau […]
It’s nice to be quoted. Must mean that some people read what you write and even appreciate it! “Civil Eats is a daily news source for critical thought about the American food system. We publish stories that shift the conversation around sustainable agriculture in an effort to build economically and socially just communities”, it says […]
A little while ago a few bottles of Chianti Classico arrived in the post from Fattoria della Aiola. This turned out to be a wine estate founded in 1934 by an Italian politician and sold in 2012 to Russian investors, who now continue to develop the 36 ha property. We tasted the wines and discovered […]
In France you drink French wines. With the variety that exists in this huge wine country, you never get tired of French wines. But the fact is that the French drink more and more foreign wines. An study on wine sales in big grocery stores (where most wines are sold) shows a rise in recent […]
The EU rules for organic farming are being reviewed and discussions are apparently in the final phase. Several proposals have upset the French (and also other countries’) organic growers. One of the new proposals is that annual controls should be reduced to every two years and perhaps even less frequent. Organic growers worry about the […]
I was a bit shocked the other day when I saw a video clip with Etienne Portalis from Château Pradeaux, one of the well-known wine estates in Bandol. Bandol has always, for me, been the great red wine of Provence. A structured, high-quality red wine, surrounded by a sea of (not always very exciting) rosé […]
In The BKWine Brief:
Enter your email to get it:
And us too. Share & Like this!
Time to book a wine tour?
Travel on a wine tour with us to Bordeaux, Champagne, Douro, Tuscany, Piedmont, South Africa, Chile-Argentina, and much more...
We know more about wine — and about organising exceptional wine tours — and will give you a better, more extraordinary wine and gourmet experience.
Book your wine tour here with BKWine Tours. Now!
