BKWine Blog
No summer without rosé wines? Well. Anyway, people will drink a lot of rosé wine this summer, worldwide. World rosé consumption increased by 32% between 2002 and 2018. France drinks the most. One-third of all rosé wines made in the world is drunk in France (don’t forget there’s a lot of tourists in France). France […]
Hail storms can be violent and the 20-minute storm that affected Crozes-Hermitage and part of Saint Joseph on June 15 was exceptionally violent. Some winegrowers saw their future harvest reduced by at least 50%. The hail storm then continued to Savoie and into Switzerland where the damaged continued. The hailstones were of a size that […]
Champagne’s largest cooperative Nicolas Feuillatte is getting even bigger. Feuillatte recently bought the champagne brand Henri Abelé, which, since 1985, has been owned by the huge Spanish cava producer Freixenet. Henri Abelé sells around 300,000 bottles annually. The house has beautiful cellars in Reims. It does not own any vineyards. Instead, it has long-term contracts […]
During flowering, the winegrower looks anxiously at the weather forecast. The flowering takes place, depending on the region, from the end of May until the end of June. This year it was early in some places in France, for instance in Bordeaux. When we were there on the first days of June it was in […]
No, we’re not going to tell you “stick to white” and certainly not “go for rosé”. But we all hope for a warm and nice summer. And the warmer it is, the more important it is to ensure that the wines are served well chilled. Wines are sometimes mistreated in the summer. Having a red […]
To use oak chips and oak staves as an alternative to oak barrels has been allowed in France for around 10 years now. And producers do use them. Not so much in the regions that have traditionally always used oak barrels, such as Burgundy, Bordeaux and the rest of the Southwest. But in south-eastern France, […]
The number 1 export country for champagne is the United Kingdom which last year imported 26.7 million bottles, followed by the United States with 23.7 million bottles, Japan 13.5M, Germany 12.1M, Belgium 9M, Australia 8.3M, Italy 7.3M, Switzerland 5.7M, and Spain with 4.1 million bottles. Sweden is still number ten in Champagne’s export league. In […]
It is important to choose carefully if you want to become a vineyard owner in France. If you are not staggeringly rich of course. One hectare of vineyard that is not in an appellation costs a reasonable (?) 14,200 euros. On average, the appellation vineyards cost 147,300 euros per hectare. But here too you can […]
China has become Australia’s largest export market. And the things you do to satisfy your customers! You even put natural cork in the bottles, despite the fact that you are Australian. Amorim, Portugal’s (and the world’s) largest cork manufacturer, tells us that the fastest growing natural cork market in the last 18 months has been […]
Robert Parker sold his Wine Advocate a few years ago but now he has officially retired. Even if you don’t see the advantages of scoring a wine on a 100-point scale you can’t deny the impact Robert Parker has had on the wine world. He was the lawyer who became a wine critic and who […]
It is generally known that the luxury group LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy) dominates strongly in both Champagne and Cognac but it is still quite surprising when you see the figures. LVMH accounts for 22% of all champagne sales and an astonishing 46% of sales of cognac. In Champagne, LVMH owns Moët & Chandon, Dom […]
André Lurton died on May 16. He was 94 years old and a legend already during his lifetime. He was born at Château Bonnet where he lived throughout his life. André was one of those who in the 1970s began to change the white, dry Bordeaux wines. His fresh and aromatic Château Bonnet had great […]
The department of Hérault accounts for a large part of Languedoc’s wine production. A wine production that may be in danger if they do not increase the irrigation area, they worry. At present, almost 35,000 hectares of the vineyards here are irrigated (of a total of just over 90,000 hectares). A project is now underway […]
The first week in April, the primeur tastings take place in Bordeaux. This means that buyers, importers, wine merchants and journalists come to Bordeaux to taste the latest vintage. We also had the opportunity to try some 2018 when we visited Bordeaux on one of our wine tours recently. Everyone agrees: it is a brilliant […]
Many wine producers in France are happy with the vintage 2018, a record harvest, not least in Champagne, where many now have started the bottling. Jean-Baptiste Geoffroy at Champagne Geoffroy in Aÿ says that it is a fantastic year, both in volume and quality. Sébastien Mouzon at Champagne Mouzon Leroux in Verzy is also very […]
The demand for white wines is increasing. Not least in the Rhone Valley, a region most known for its red wine. But it is a region that also produces magnificent whites with grapes like roussanne, marsanne, viognier, clairette, bourboulenc and grenache blanc. Today, about 80% of the production is red and only 6% is white. […]
The vine is in many ways a robust plant that can withstand difficult conditions and drought. But it has weaknesses. One is that it is prone to fungal diseases. No vineyard can survive without spraying. Have you heard the opposite? Don’t believe those who tell you that some wine is made without the use of […]
The spring frost has struck again in several places in France. Warm spring weather led to an early budding but then the weather changed again, as it usually does. In the Loire Valley, they are now experimenting with a new way of protecting their vines from spring frost, which can potentially cause major damage. The […]
If drought is a recurring feature of the weather, then the wine growers become experts in handling it. This is the case, for example, in South Africa. Here they have learned how to optimize irrigation so that the vines get exactly what they need and not one drop more. Heinrich Schloms is a soil scientist […]
Many grapes have their own specific day. So, we were not surprised when we heard that this is also the case with Sauvignon Blanc. The International Sauvignon Blanc Day takes place on the first Friday of May, which this year is May 3. Celebrations starts in New Zealand, of course, and then continues in London, […]
When we talk about countries with non-grafted vines, most people think of Chile, the only country in the world that is completely free from phylloxera, the small wine louse that infects the wine roots and kills the vines. But also in Australia a significant proportion of the vineyards are planted with non-grafted vines. However, the […]
OIV, the International Organisation of Vine and Wine, welcomed a new director general in January. BKWine was present, as one of two invited media, at his inauguration and we took the chance to say hello to the new general. Pau Roca is Spanish and has been representing Spain at the OIV since 1992. He was, […]
New rules came into force for vinification of organic wines on January 1st, 2019. Six new additives are allowed. Autolysate of yeast: Nourishes the yeast during the alcoholic and malolactic fermentation. Inactivated yeast: Nourishes the yeast during alcoholic and malolactic fermentation. Potato protein: Vegetable protein used as a fining agent. Provides a faster and often […]
The Grenache grape is a champion of the south. It can manage scorching heat, strong winds and drought. Just a few years ago it was the most planted red variety in the world. Now it is only number five among red grapes with 163,000 hectares, after Cabernet Sauvignon (341,000 ha), Merlot (266,000 ha), Tempranillo (231,000 […]
There is no doubt about it. South African wines have been too cheap for too long. Therefore, it was uplifting to read the report on South African wine exports 2018 from WoSA (Wines of South Africa). The export value is finally increasing, after many years of immobility. WoSA has struggled to make this happen for […]
Six very fresh Masters of Wine has just received their diplomas from the venerable English institution. So now there are 384 MW in total. The happy new masters are Edouard Baijot, Nicholas Jackson, Brendan Jansen, Jonas Röjerman, Harriet Tindal and Jonas Tofterup. Congratulations to all of them. Extra special congratulations to Jonas and Jonas. Jonas […]
The French Coopers’ Association (Fédération des Tonneliers de France) recently held its annual meeting in Napa Valley, California. It was the first time they gathered outside France. That the meeting took place in Napa is not a coincidence. It was the Californian wine industry that gave new life to the French cooperage (barrel making) industry […]
A Prosecco debate rages in both Australia and New Zealand. The big question is whether Prosecco should be considered as being a grape variety or a geographical origin. Up until 2009, Prosecco was the name of the grape with which the sparkling wine Prosecco was produced in north-eastern Italy. But then the Italians changed the […]
Paris’ first major professional wine fair, Wine Paris, took place on 11-13 February. Many consider it about time that the French capital hosts a large wine fair. Wine Paris is a merger of Wine Vision and Vinisud. Wine Vision is a fair that made its debut in Paris in February 2018 with exhibitors from France’s […]
We will of course have a wine tour to Champagne this fall. If you are a champagne enthusiast then you want to go there sooner or later. There are many ways to do that. Travel on your own. Go with some tour operator, BKWine or someone else. And other options. Everything will be different, you […]
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