BKWine Blog
It is amazing how different vineyards look today compared to 30 years ago. Then, there was not one single straw of grass in the rows between the vines. Today vineyards are often vibrant and colourful with different plants and flowers to keep the vines company. But they also compete with the vines for water and […]
Climate change is a fact and the wine industry prepares in different ways for the future. INAO, the Institut national de l’origine et de la qualité, recently approved a change in the rules that allow the French appellations to plant other grape varieties than the ones that are now permitted in order to be able […]
Many consumers perceive wines nowadays as more alcoholic than they used to be. This is actually quite true. This has to do with a lot of things (and not only global warming): grapes are harvested riper, wineries use better clones, consumers drink more wines from warmer climates, such as southern Italy, the New World, etc, […]
In the past year, our latest book “Champagne, The Wine And The Growers” (“Champagne, vinet och odlarna” in the original language) has been acclaimed and won prizes in two prestigious contexts, by the OIV, the International Organization of Vine and Wine in Paris, and by Gourmand International in China. “Champagne, The Wine And The Growers” […]
The cooperatives are many and significant players in the Languedoc. They account for a large proportion of the production here. But to survive in today’s competition, they, like everyone else, have to invest in what consumers want. For example, in organic wines. That’s what Cave Héraclès in the Gard in the eastern part of Languedoc […]
We continue to fill up with more info in the section we call “resources” on our travel site, BKWineTours.com. Here you can find tips and advice on how things work in different countries. For example, what to do with tipping and gratuities, restaurants etiquette and much more. Plus some info about the food of course. […]
It has been a hot summer in France, but the growing conditions have not been easy everywhere. Alban Rabasa, assistant winemaker at Château Vaudieu in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, says that 2018 is une année du vigneron, which means that the wine maker’s skill may determine the quality of the wine. “With a lot of rain in the […]
People often say wines nowadays tend to taste the same. But isn’t it exactly the opposite? Take the New World. A few years ago, one might have talked about sameness. A few grape varieties dominated and the taste of the wines seemed to follow a certain template. But today it is completely different. New varieties, […]
On September 29, Scandinavia’s first Lambrusco festival will take place. It is Carlo Merolli in Denmark who wants to promote this bubbly, easy drinking wine from Emilia-Romagna. Carlo comes from Rome but has lived in Denmark for a long time. Through his wine shops, he has taught the Danes to drink good Italian wines. The […]
Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough has made New Zealand famous in the wine world. As popularity has increased, the export of bulk wines from Marlborough has also increased. Some producers here are now concerned about the quality of these bulk wines and fear that in the long run, they can destroy Marlborough’s good reputation. These growers […]
Nothing can stop Pinot Gris. Whichever country we are looking at the plantings of Pinot Gris is growing. Not least in Italy where the grape is called Pinot Grigio. Now there is a completely new appellation called DOC Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie. It covers all of the Northeast Italy, ie Friuli-Venezia-Giulia, Trentino-Alto Adige and Veneto. […]
Nowhere else is the dominance of a few grape varieties as big as in Australia. Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay account for almost 60% of the total vineyard area of 149,000 hectares. Syrah alone accounts for 28% of the planted vines. But perhaps a diversification is in sight. Both Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc are […]
It is not as bad as it sounds… We wrote some time ago about the role of wine in French films. We asked our readers for recommendations of “wine movies” and one of our readers took us up on that. She recommends a film she watched a few months ago called “Ce qui nous lie”. […]
Handy tips on tipping customs, shopping hours, restaurant etiquette, taxi and transport, and more. One should perhaps not take too seriously rules about how to behave. On the other hand, it can be dangerous to be totally ignorant about local customs and traditions when travelling in a foreign country. So here are a few half […]
Method Cap Classique (MCC) is the name given to South African sparkling wine produced according to the traditional method, ie with a second fermentation in the bottle. The Cap Classique Producers Association (CCPA) was founded in 1992. The idea was to find a suitable name that would facilitate the marketing of the wines. To call […]
Some wine regions and even individual wine producers are incredibly keen, sometimes excessively so, to protect their names and brands. Champagne is the undisputed world champion in this sport. The most recent discussion in this topic is between Italy and Australia. The conflict is about whether the Australians should be able or not to put […]
It gets warmer and drier in Languedoc, says Christophe Bousquet at Domaine Pech Redon in La Clape. This cannot completely be compensated for by irrigation. That’s why Christophe this summer is going to plant grape varieties that are used to an even warmer climate. He has chosen Nero d’Avola (!) from Sicily and the amazing […]
Portugal’s (and the world’s) largest producer of cork products, Amorim, is slowly changing the cork industry. Since 2013, a project has been in progress concerning the possibility to start harvesting the cork from the cork oaks earlier than at the age of 25, as is the case today. The solution seems to be an improved […]
The world drinks more rosé wine than ever before. Rosé consumption in the world has risen by 31% since 2003. The very light coloured style of rosé, such as they are made in Provence, is the highest fashion. The rosé trend has made Provence an extremely successful wine region. 89% of the wines in Provence […]
The Swedish vineyard Fredholms Vingård has won a medal in a wine competition in Rioja, the International Wine Awards Spain 2018. And not just any medal but a Great Gold Medal. We say a big congratulations! The award-winning wine is ELSA 2017 and is a white wine made from the solaris grape. Solaris is sometimes […]
Few wine countries, if any, can compete with Italy in terms of the number of grapes used for wines. The ten most planted grapes account for only 38% of the total plantings. In France the top-ten account for 70% and in Spain 75%. “Other grapes” are thus planted on and extraordinary 62% of the total […]
It’s winter in South Africa and it’s raining, at last. A relief, but more rain is needed, says DP Burger, winemaker at Glenwood in Franschhoek, and others we have heard from. The draught in Western Cape, where the wine regions are, have long been a serious problem, but the situation is now improving. The water […]
Wine producers in France are now allowed to use vertical hail nets. After three years of experiments in Burgundy, the INAO has decided that the nets do not affect the maturity or quality of the grapes. The background is that in recent year hail has caused extensive damage and lost harvests in several wine regions. […]
Buying a vineyard in France is not getting any cheaper. On the contrary. All categories of vineyards are becoming more and more expensive. This is evident from numbers recently published by Safer, a governmental organization overseeing property transactions. The average price per hectare of AOP vineyards is 143,900 euros, an increase from last year of […]
The various sparkling crémant wines produced around France are becoming more and more popular. Not least the Crémant de Loire, which has seen a huge boost for its exports. 2017 saw an increase in exports to the US by 9%. The wines are made mainly in the Saumur area but can also be made in […]
Currently, there are 5,835 organically certified wine estates in France. This is an increase of 11% since 2016. The certified vineyard surface is 61,048 hectares, an increase of 4%. The trend shows a continued increase. 17,617 hectares are under conversion. Of these, 3,369 hectares are in their third (and last) year of conversion, 5,588 are […]
In South Africa, around 100 different grape varieties are grown on an area of approximately 117,000 hectares (table grapes not included). This is quite impressive, although of course many of the varieties are grown in very small quantities. The most planted variety in South Africa is still Chenin Blanc with 19,000 hectares. This is still […]
Swedes are world champions when it comes to drinking bag-in-box wines. In 2017 box wines were separated from bulk wines in international import and export statistics. Up until then, everything over 2 litres was considered as bulk wine. So now we have statistics showing which countries export and import bag-in-box. The statistics show that Sweden […]
Chile has in recent years proven that it has an impressive breadth as a wine country. Producers big and small go exploring in all directions to find the perfect spot to grow vines. Here are three suggestions for good summer drinking from Chile: Emiliana VIGNO 2015 comes from Maule. It is made from 100% carignan […]
Sometimes it is said that statistics is an effective way to hide the truth. But often it is very interesting and sometimes surprising. New statistics – very detailed – were recently published on the wine production in France in 2017. In total, France has 745,044 hectares of vineyards. Of this, 446,000 hectares are AOP vineyards […]
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