BKWine Blog
In the middle of March, warm temperatures hit France, meaning the growing season started early in the vineyards. In some places, the budding began as early as the third week of March (e.g. cabernet franc
The screw cap (“screw cork” or “screw top”) is a success story. All wine countries use it for some of their wines and it largely dominates in Australia and New Zealand. It was in the
Today’s wine industry in Europe often feels opposed by politicians, temperance movements and environmental activists. According to a new report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), it can at least be happy that it contributes substantially to the
Blue Nun is a German bestseller and legend (perhaps not for the best reasons), a riesling sold in a blue bottle with low alcohol content and high residual sweetness. 29 grams of sugar per litre
Lightweight bottles are starting to appear even among prestige wines. This is good. Consumers will realise that it is not just cheap wines that come in light bottles. On our recent New Zealand tour, we
A new study by INRAE, a French research institute, in collaboration with the universities of Bordeaux and Québec, shows the tolerance of different grapes to drought. Coping with dry weather is a grape characteristic that
The Southern Hemisphere is in full swing with the 2024 harvest—or they have already finished. We visited South Africa in mid-February, and some producers had already almost finished. Andrew Wightman at Wightman & Sons in
A delicious red wine from Weingut Birgit Braunstein in Burgenland in Austria was launched in Sweden at the beginning of April, and we take the opportunity to recommend this producer to all our readers. We
The average tasting room tasting fee in Napa is $128 for a “reserve tasting” and $81 for a “standard tasting”. The average suggested retail price of a bottle of Napa wine is $108. These astonishing
A new producer from South Africa has been launched in Sweden but even if you do not live there, there’s is a good chance that you will be able to get hold of the wines
Several wine countries have the same problem: Grape growers are not paid enough for their grapes. The wine industry in many countries currently has several challenging issues on top of (and related to) reduced wine
It is very, very little time left to vote in the Wine Travel Awards (WTA) public voting. Vote NOW! As a wine travel “competition” the WTA tends to be different than others. Many other organisations
This year, the German annual ProWein Business Report addresses the world’s declining wine consumption. There are many reasons why people drink less wine, such as health recommendations, the economy and, not least, the difficulty of
There are signs that the use of cork stoppers as a closure on wine bottles is increasing and that its new popularity is partly due to its strong sustainability credentials. In the UK, bulk wine
In 2022, France saw the creation of 1,444 new wine estates, an increase of 3% compared to 2021. The winegrowers represent 10% of the 14,132 new agricultural estates started in 2022. These winegrowers operate an
Fires in wine regions cause damage to vineyards in different ways. The ripe grapes in vineyards near the fire can be damaged by smoke, which can affect the taste of the wine and, in the
The French company Sun’Agri, a pioneer in ”agrivoltaism”, has just come out with an exciting report. Agrivoltaism involves installing solar panels on top of agricultural crops. It has proven to be interesting also for vineyards.
After three peculiar years, sales of champagne are now returning to the level they had before the pandemic. Sales in 2023 amounted to 299 million bottles, a decrease of 8.2% compared to 2022. Champagne sales
The UK had a bumper year in 2023, producing between 20 and 22 million bottles of wine, 50% more than the previous record. The harvest yield was high (almost 10,000 kg/ha, approx. 65hl/ha), the bunches
It’s been a while since I drank non-alcoholic wine. Still, given that I’ve heard positive things about them recently, I was surprised when I looked through the range at Systembolaget, the Swedish monopoly wine stores,
Vintage 2023 (harvested in Feb-Apr 2023) produced wines of excellent quality in South Africa. But the volume was less than in 2022, so it is perhaps not so surprising that South African wine exports in
The grape varieties that wine producers use today have naturally mutated over time. Researchers have selected the best mutations (clones) based on several criteria, e.g. plant vigour or resistance to certain diseases. In the future,
When the New World began to compete with France in some export markets around 30 years ago, there was a lot of talk about the reluctance of the French to put the grape name on
Champagne Bollinger’s flagship Vieilles Vignes Françaises (VVF) is made in ever smaller quantities. The grapes come from vines planted franc de pied, a French expression for planted on its own roots. Thus, these vines are
There is a lot of talk about fungal diseases, which are a real problem for winegrowers (powdery mildew/oidium, downy mildew/mildiou and others). But other diseases in the vineyard are also serious. One is flavescence dorée
Langlois-Château, a wine estate close to Saumur in the Loire Valley, makes Crémant de Loire, a sparkling wine hugely popular. The house has now changed its name and is called only Langlois. The word Chateau
The new EU law concerning the list of ingredients for wine entered into force on 8 December this year. But do not look for it on the bottles just yet. The law applies to wines
The EU now allows de-alcoholised wines to use geographical designations of origin (IGP, AOP, etc.). But it is up to each country’s appellations to decide whether to allow it in their local rules. It is
The UGCB, Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, is an exclusive association for the classified châteaux of Bordeaux (the 1855 classification in Médoc and Sauternes and the classifications in Graves and Saint Emilion), as well
The fact that France has extensive oak forests is widely known, oak used for all the barrels. But France also has cork oaks. Once upon a time, there was a thriving industry around products from
In the middle of March, warm temperatures hit France, meaning the growing season started early in the vineyards. In some places, the budding began as
The screw cap (“screw cork” or “screw top”) is a success story. All wine countries use it for some of their wines and it largely
Today’s wine industry in Europe often feels opposed by politicians, temperance movements and environmental activists. According to a new report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), it can
Blue Nun is a German bestseller and legend (perhaps not for the best reasons), a riesling sold in a blue bottle with low alcohol content
Lightweight bottles are starting to appear even among prestige wines. This is good. Consumers will realise that it is not just cheap wines that come
A new study by INRAE, a French research institute, in collaboration with the universities of Bordeaux and Québec, shows the tolerance of different grapes to
The Southern Hemisphere is in full swing with the 2024 harvest—or they have already finished. We visited South Africa in mid-February, and some producers had
A delicious red wine from Weingut Birgit Braunstein in Burgenland in Austria was launched in Sweden at the beginning of April, and we take the
The average tasting room tasting fee in Napa is $128 for a “reserve tasting” and $81 for a “standard tasting”. The average suggested retail price
A new producer from South Africa has been launched in Sweden but even if you do not live there, there’s is a good chance that
Several wine countries have the same problem: Grape growers are not paid enough for their grapes. The wine industry in many countries currently has several
It is very, very little time left to vote in the Wine Travel Awards (WTA) public voting. Vote NOW! As a wine travel “competition” the
This year, the German annual ProWein Business Report addresses the world’s declining wine consumption. There are many reasons why people drink less wine, such as
There are signs that the use of cork stoppers as a closure on wine bottles is increasing and that its new popularity is partly due
In 2022, France saw the creation of 1,444 new wine estates, an increase of 3% compared to 2021. The winegrowers represent 10% of the 14,132
Fires in wine regions cause damage to vineyards in different ways. The ripe grapes in vineyards near the fire can be damaged by smoke, which
The French company Sun’Agri, a pioneer in ”agrivoltaism”, has just come out with an exciting report. Agrivoltaism involves installing solar panels on top of agricultural
After three peculiar years, sales of champagne are now returning to the level they had before the pandemic. Sales in 2023 amounted to 299 million
The UK had a bumper year in 2023, producing between 20 and 22 million bottles of wine, 50% more than the previous record. The harvest
It’s been a while since I drank non-alcoholic wine. Still, given that I’ve heard positive things about them recently, I was surprised when I looked
Vintage 2023 (harvested in Feb-Apr 2023) produced wines of excellent quality in South Africa. But the volume was less than in 2022, so it is
The grape varieties that wine producers use today have naturally mutated over time. Researchers have selected the best mutations (clones) based on several criteria, e.g.
When the New World began to compete with France in some export markets around 30 years ago, there was a lot of talk about the
Champagne Bollinger’s flagship Vieilles Vignes Françaises (VVF) is made in ever smaller quantities. The grapes come from vines planted franc de pied, a French expression
There is a lot of talk about fungal diseases, which are a real problem for winegrowers (powdery mildew/oidium, downy mildew/mildiou and others). But other diseases
Langlois-Château, a wine estate close to Saumur in the Loire Valley, makes Crémant de Loire, a sparkling wine hugely popular. The house has now changed
The new EU law concerning the list of ingredients for wine entered into force on 8 December this year. But do not look for it
The EU now allows de-alcoholised wines to use geographical designations of origin (IGP, AOP, etc.). But it is up to each country’s appellations to decide
The UGCB, Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, is an exclusive association for the classified châteaux of Bordeaux (the 1855 classification in Médoc and Sauternes
The fact that France has extensive oak forests is widely known, oak used for all the barrels. But France also has cork oaks. Once upon
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