One word that stands out in all wine communication today is “terroir”. Wine drinkers claim to find it in the wine, and winemakers strive to express it in their work. All wine enthusiasts know roughly
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
Once, a while back, I was harvesting grapes in the middle of the night. It was in Cachapoal in Chile. We had headlamps to see what we were doing and to avoid as much as
The sorting machines and sorting tables worked overtime during the 2023 harvest in France. Overall quality has been excellent and in some places this equipment is to thank for that. Dried grapes, rotten grapes, grapes
A trend right now is that wine consumers want lower levels of alcohol in their wines. This can be a challenge for wine producers when the temperature rises in the summer. One solution is to
The other day we drank a Côtes d’Auvergne that proudly proclaimed “Terroir Volcanique” on the label. Volcanic wines are all the rage right now. Perhaps it started with the Sicilian Etna wines but other regions
There is a lot of experimentation going on in the world’s wine regions, all with the aim of tackling the impending climate change. Vinopole in Bordeaux, a research centre, is currently preparing to plant this
A wine grower always keeps an eye on the weather report. As we now enter the month of May, you would think that the risk of spring frost is over for the winegrowers in France.
The organic wine producers spray with copper to combat the fungal disease downy mildew, mildiou. (Many conventional—not organic—also spray with copper, but they may also use synthetic pesticides.) But, of course, they want to use
Today, many wineries want to show that they work sustainably. Maybe they measure their carbon footprint and are amazed at how much of this comes from driving the tractor back and forth in the vineyard.
In 2016, the Pessac-Léognan appellation in northern Graves in Bordeaux changed its rules to allow irrigation during severe drought. Irrigation is a much-discussed topic in France today, and as the hot and dry summers continue,
Interest in local, half-forgotten grape varieties is increasing. Thierry Navarre, a skilled wine grower in Saint Chinian, Languedoc, has discovered that the ribeyrenc, morastell, terret and œillade grapes have a lot to offer, not least
To harvest with machine or by hand? Some really don’t have a choice, e.g., producers who have vineyards on very steep slopes where no harvesting machine dares to tread. But that is starting to change.
Virtually all appellations in Europe have rules that limit the yield, such as “the maximum yield is 45 hectolitres per hectare”. The theory behind this is often said to be that “a high yield gives
There is a lot of talk about which grape varieties will best adapt to climate change. However, less is said about the (“American”) rootstocks, although they do all the work in the soil. Whenever a
In 2016 that Rosa Kruger and André Morgenthal started The Old Vine Project (OVP) in South Africa to find and care for old, sometimes abandoned, vineyards and to draw attention to the value of old
By using the new genetic technology CRISPR-CAS, Chilean scientists have produced a grape that is resistant to oidium, a fungal disease. The grape in question is Thompson seedless, a table grape, so not relevant in
The tasting at The Wine Hub’s new premises on Sibyllegatan resulted in a completely different dialogue about wine when Miguel Torres entered the scene. Torres certainly has a lot to brag about, but instead of
Winegrowers all over France, yes, all over the world, organic as well as conventional, spray the vines with copper against the severe fungal disease downy mildew (mildiou). There are, regretfully, very few realistic alternatives to
Domaine Bousquet is an Argentine organic producer in the Uco Valley in southern Mendoza. The estate is already a well-known organic producer exporting worldwide. Bousquet recently became the fourth wine producer to receive the new
Today, 45 different “resistant” grape varieties are permitted to be planted in France. And so far, they have been planted on 1,200 hectares. There is an interest among winegrowers to plant these grape varieties that
This spring’s wine tours have taken us to Champagne, Chablis and Burgundy, among other places. And here we already saw, around the 20th of May, the beginning of the flowering, which is unusually early. It
Say Andalusia and I’ll start thinking about olive trees. There are an estimated 70 million olive trees in Andalusia on just less than two million hectares. On a recent trip between Malaga and Cordoba, it
The frost has hit French vineyards again this year. So far, however, it has not been as bad as 2021. But in several places, measures have been required to heat the vineyards in some way
In the French wine magazine Vitisphere, we read about the five most significant challenges facing the winegrowers in the vineyard in 2022. These are not new challenges, but some have become more difficult. Mildiou and
How much output you get from a certain input is what we usually call productivity. In the wine industry we usually talk about yields, often in hectolitres per hectare. This article explores the productivity/yields in
Pomerol in Bordeaux is banning the use of chemical weed control. This is the first appellation in France to take this decision. The new rules were adopted on October 21 this year (2021). The new
Organic, biodynamic, sustainable and now also regenerative agriculture. Are all just variations of the same theme? Torres, the producer from Catalonia who is also an environmental warrior, organized a symposium on regenerative agriculture earlier this
An essential phase in grape ripening is what the French call le véraison. For lack of a better one, many other languages use the same word. Véraison means that the grapes change to their final
One word that stands out in all wine communication today is “terroir”. Wine drinkers claim to find it in the wine, and winemakers strive to
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
Once, a while back, I was harvesting grapes in the middle of the night. It was in Cachapoal in Chile. We had headlamps to see
The sorting machines and sorting tables worked overtime during the 2023 harvest in France. Overall quality has been excellent and in some places this equipment
A trend right now is that wine consumers want lower levels of alcohol in their wines. This can be a challenge for wine producers when
The other day we drank a Côtes d’Auvergne that proudly proclaimed “Terroir Volcanique” on the label. Volcanic wines are all the rage right now. Perhaps
There is a lot of experimentation going on in the world’s wine regions, all with the aim of tackling the impending climate change. Vinopole in
A wine grower always keeps an eye on the weather report. As we now enter the month of May, you would think that the risk
The organic wine producers spray with copper to combat the fungal disease downy mildew, mildiou. (Many conventional—not organic—also spray with copper, but they may also
Today, many wineries want to show that they work sustainably. Maybe they measure their carbon footprint and are amazed at how much of this comes
In 2016, the Pessac-Léognan appellation in northern Graves in Bordeaux changed its rules to allow irrigation during severe drought. Irrigation is a much-discussed topic in
Interest in local, half-forgotten grape varieties is increasing. Thierry Navarre, a skilled wine grower in Saint Chinian, Languedoc, has discovered that the ribeyrenc, morastell, terret
To harvest with machine or by hand? Some really don’t have a choice, e.g., producers who have vineyards on very steep slopes where no harvesting
Virtually all appellations in Europe have rules that limit the yield, such as “the maximum yield is 45 hectolitres per hectare”. The theory behind this
There is a lot of talk about which grape varieties will best adapt to climate change. However, less is said about the (“American”) rootstocks, although
In 2016 that Rosa Kruger and André Morgenthal started The Old Vine Project (OVP) in South Africa to find and care for old, sometimes abandoned,
By using the new genetic technology CRISPR-CAS, Chilean scientists have produced a grape that is resistant to oidium, a fungal disease. The grape in question
The tasting at The Wine Hub’s new premises on Sibyllegatan resulted in a completely different dialogue about wine when Miguel Torres entered the scene. Torres
Winegrowers all over France, yes, all over the world, organic as well as conventional, spray the vines with copper against the severe fungal disease downy
Domaine Bousquet is an Argentine organic producer in the Uco Valley in southern Mendoza. The estate is already a well-known organic producer exporting worldwide. Bousquet
Today, 45 different “resistant” grape varieties are permitted to be planted in France. And so far, they have been planted on 1,200 hectares. There is
This spring’s wine tours have taken us to Champagne, Chablis and Burgundy, among other places. And here we already saw, around the 20th of May,
Say Andalusia and I’ll start thinking about olive trees. There are an estimated 70 million olive trees in Andalusia on just less than two million
The frost has hit French vineyards again this year. So far, however, it has not been as bad as 2021. But in several places, measures
In the French wine magazine Vitisphere, we read about the five most significant challenges facing the winegrowers in the vineyard in 2022. These are not
How much output you get from a certain input is what we usually call productivity. In the wine industry we usually talk about yields, often
Pomerol in Bordeaux is banning the use of chemical weed control. This is the first appellation in France to take this decision. The new rules
Organic, biodynamic, sustainable and now also regenerative agriculture. Are all just variations of the same theme? Torres, the producer from Catalonia who is also an
An essential phase in grape ripening is what the French call le véraison. For lack of a better one, many other languages use the same
Newsletter:
Get our free monthly newsletter, the BKWine Brief and join 25,000 other wine and travel enthusiasts.
Text and images may not be used without our permission. More info on copyright.
25,000 subscribers get wine news every month. You too?
