BKWine Blog
Despite major challenges (sales ban, export ban) for the South African wine industry in 2020, exports ended up at a phenomenal 319.2 million litres (3.2 Mhl). The vineyards have recovered well after the severe drought
It is interesting to look at the statistics showing how big a portion of the different wine regions in France is organically certified. The differences between the regions are partly due to climate and weather
The world’s largest wine producer, the American company Gallo, has become even larger. Recently, Gallo acquired US$ 810 million worth of wine brands from Constellation, another wine colossus. The 30 brands include well-known Ravenswood and
BKWine, or more precisely Britt and Per, have been appointed subject-matter experts or, if you like, subject-matter managers for all that relates to wine at the Nationalencyklopedin, the Swedish National Encyclopedia NE. You can in
Vines are also affected by viruses. The most difficult one in France since several decades back is court-noué, which is also found in other countries. In English, it is called grapevine fanleaf virus. It is
In South Africa, MCC, Méthode Cap Classic, is the fastest growing wine category, says Pieter Ferreira during a zoom conference. Pieter is South Africa’s guru of bubbly wine. He has been chief winemaker for 30
Amorim in Portugal is the world’s largest producer of wine cork stoppers. They sell 5.4 billion cork stoppers a year, both “natural” corks, which are extracted from a single cork strip, and “technical” corks, which
The huge South African producer Distell, with wine brands such as Pongracz, Two Oceans, Fleur du Cap and Neethlingshof, has sold one of its star properties, Plaisir de Merle in Paarl. We visited Plaisir de
Designers have a little more leeway to be creative when working with Bag-in-Box compared to bottles. In November, the best-designed Bag-in-Box was voted for in France. The organizers of the wine competition “Best Wine in
Relations between China and Australia have been strained for some time. At the end of November, China imposed import taxes on Australian wines of up to 212%, a major blow to the Australian wine industry.
The wine industry is very aware that it needs to adapt to cope with climate change. Champagne has been experimenting with lower planting density for some time. Champagne has a high planting density, 8000 vines
Emiliana in Chile, one of the world’s largest organic and biodynamic wine producers, is expanding. A completely new vineyard of almost 300 hectares, previously uncultivated land, will be planted in the Maule region. The grapes
Wine enthusiasts tend to like unusual grape varieties. What is unusual and common however, varies with time. The grape varieties that are the most grown today are not the same as 20 years ago. Since
No, your Bordeaux wine will not soon be made from other grape varieties, as some headlines have implied. Last year, producers in Bordeaux approved a proposal to experiment with grape varieties that have never been
If you cannot buy a vineyard, maybe adoption of a vine can be a (slightly cheaper) alternative? The Mayard family has 43 hectares in Châteauneuf-du-Pape that are organically certified. You can now adopt some of
Many a bottle of port will be opened over Christmas. We recommend some of our favourites. Fonseca Guimaraens Vintage Port 2008 (~30 euro). Fonseca is one of the larger houses and is part of the
Four delicious wines that give to someone for Christmas, or to drink yourself. Sauska Tokaji Furmint 2019 (~10 euro). The Hungarian region of Tokaj is world famous for its amazing sweet wines made with noble
A large study that lasted for thirteen years shows that biodiversity in the vineyard is a good thing that pays off. If a vineyard is surrounded by hedges, trees and shrubs, the number of pests
We meet many fantastic and talented winemakers on our wine tours around the world. (You can watch video interviews with many of them on the BKWine YouTube channel.) One of them is Tiago Alves de
The Torres family’s most spectacular vineyard is called Tremp and is located at an altitude of 950 meters up in the mountains, north-west of Barcelona. In the 1950s and 1960s, people made a living here
In France, there are lots of small wine shops, but the majority of all wine is sold in supermarkets. This is especially true of Champagne as Christmas approaches. Which brands are the bestsellers? Here is
There are different ways to work sustainably and environmentally friendly. Some producers have noted consumers’ fear of pesticide residues in the wine. One path to take is then to work organically and thus completely exclude
Birds munching on ripe grapes can be a big problem in the vineyards. We have seen it in New Zealand and South Africa; it occurs in Australia and elsewhere around the world. However, from what
On October 27, OIV Secretary-General Pau Roca presented the first estimates of the world wine production in 2020. Volumes in the EU were lower than the average as several regions deliberately reduced their harvest despite
Wild yeast or cultivated yeast? That is the eternal question right now, or at least one can get that impression in certain discussions. It seems as if the wild yeast is gaining ground, but that
One of our very few autumn wine tours went to the Douro Valley in late October. All the winemakers we met agreed on one thing: the 2020 harvest was a challenge, and it was not
22 “climats”, a vineyard or a vineyard plot in Burgundian parlance, in Pouilly-Fuissé in southern Burgundy can from now on put “premier cru” on the label. It has taken ten years since the process started,
What do consumers want to know about the wine they are about to buy? Do they want a detailed table of contents? No, it doesn’t seem that way if one is to believe a survey
The California Wine Institute will support restaurants around Europe by highlighting Californian wine in November. At restaurants in eight different countries, wines from California will be combined with special menus. Many of the wines will
Perhaps this will be the first major wine fair post-Covid-19. If nothing unforeseen happens. Millésime Bio is scheduled to take place on January 25-27 in Montpellier in the south of France. It is a very
Despite major challenges (sales ban, export ban) for the South African wine industry in 2020, exports ended up at a phenomenal 319.2 million litres (3.2
It is interesting to look at the statistics showing how big a portion of the different wine regions in France is organically certified. The differences
The world’s largest wine producer, the American company Gallo, has become even larger. Recently, Gallo acquired US$ 810 million worth of wine brands from Constellation,
BKWine, or more precisely Britt and Per, have been appointed subject-matter experts or, if you like, subject-matter managers for all that relates to wine at
Vines are also affected by viruses. The most difficult one in France since several decades back is court-noué, which is also found in other countries.
In South Africa, MCC, Méthode Cap Classic, is the fastest growing wine category, says Pieter Ferreira during a zoom conference. Pieter is South Africa’s guru
Amorim in Portugal is the world’s largest producer of wine cork stoppers. They sell 5.4 billion cork stoppers a year, both “natural” corks, which are
The huge South African producer Distell, with wine brands such as Pongracz, Two Oceans, Fleur du Cap and Neethlingshof, has sold one of its star
Designers have a little more leeway to be creative when working with Bag-in-Box compared to bottles. In November, the best-designed Bag-in-Box was voted for in
Relations between China and Australia have been strained for some time. At the end of November, China imposed import taxes on Australian wines of up
The wine industry is very aware that it needs to adapt to cope with climate change. Champagne has been experimenting with lower planting density for
Emiliana in Chile, one of the world’s largest organic and biodynamic wine producers, is expanding. A completely new vineyard of almost 300 hectares, previously uncultivated
Wine enthusiasts tend to like unusual grape varieties. What is unusual and common however, varies with time. The grape varieties that are the most grown
No, your Bordeaux wine will not soon be made from other grape varieties, as some headlines have implied. Last year, producers in Bordeaux approved a
If you cannot buy a vineyard, maybe adoption of a vine can be a (slightly cheaper) alternative? The Mayard family has 43 hectares in Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Many a bottle of port will be opened over Christmas. We recommend some of our favourites. Fonseca Guimaraens Vintage Port 2008 (~30 euro). Fonseca is
Four delicious wines that give to someone for Christmas, or to drink yourself. Sauska Tokaji Furmint 2019 (~10 euro). The Hungarian region of Tokaj is
A large study that lasted for thirteen years shows that biodiversity in the vineyard is a good thing that pays off. If a vineyard is
We meet many fantastic and talented winemakers on our wine tours around the world. (You can watch video interviews with many of them on the
The Torres family’s most spectacular vineyard is called Tremp and is located at an altitude of 950 meters up in the mountains, north-west of Barcelona.
In France, there are lots of small wine shops, but the majority of all wine is sold in supermarkets. This is especially true of Champagne
There are different ways to work sustainably and environmentally friendly. Some producers have noted consumers’ fear of pesticide residues in the wine. One path to
Birds munching on ripe grapes can be a big problem in the vineyards. We have seen it in New Zealand and South Africa; it occurs
On October 27, OIV Secretary-General Pau Roca presented the first estimates of the world wine production in 2020. Volumes in the EU were lower than
Wild yeast or cultivated yeast? That is the eternal question right now, or at least one can get that impression in certain discussions. It seems
One of our very few autumn wine tours went to the Douro Valley in late October. All the winemakers we met agreed on one thing:
22 “climats”, a vineyard or a vineyard plot in Burgundian parlance, in Pouilly-Fuissé in southern Burgundy can from now on put “premier cru” on the
What do consumers want to know about the wine they are about to buy? Do they want a detailed table of contents? No, it doesn’t
The California Wine Institute will support restaurants around Europe by highlighting Californian wine in November. At restaurants in eight different countries, wines from California will
Perhaps this will be the first major wine fair post-Covid-19. If nothing unforeseen happens. Millésime Bio is scheduled to take place on January 25-27 in
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