This year’s most hectic wine travel season has come to an end. The very last of our autumn wine tours, to a Sicily with nice summer-ish weather, finished on Sunday.
The only remaining travel on our schedule is a wine tasting tour to half a dozen places (in Sweden) for Britt and a trip to vinous Turkey (!) for Per, for the European Wine Bloggers Conference, or as it is now called the Digital Wine Communications Conference (#EWBC or #EWBC12).
The harvest 2012, a Europe in agreement?
At least Europe seems to agree on one thing: it has been a tough year for the wine growers. In the end however, the quality of the grapes turned out to be very good. And all wine regions agree: 2012 will be a small year in quantity but a great year in quality.
It has been a year with many contrasts: As an example, in Champagne the spring was cold and rain in May, June and July complicated the flowering and brought with it mildew. But in August and September everything changed. With sun and warm temperatures the grapes managed to ripen so well that many producers did not even have to chaptalise (add sugar to increase the alcohol level), usually standard procedure in Champagne.
If in northern Europe they have suffered from cold and wet weather they have had the opposite issues in the south: very hot almost all the growing season and very little rain. The lack of water has made many vines suffer. But every district has its own quirks of course.
In a difficult year like this the skills of the wine grower is put to the test. In France, some people call the 2012 “une année de vigneron” (a winemaker’s year). A year when nature is kind and the weather perfect during the whole growing season anyone can make a good wine (and if you can’t you probably should change jobs). But in a year like 2012 the work in the vineyard and in the cellar matters a lot and the result in the bottle will show you if the wine was made by a skilled winemaker or not.
Classifications! For whom?
Several of the wine tours we have done this autumn have been to Bordeaux. On one of them we had an interesting discussion with one of the chateau owners about the importance of classifications. (Read in The Brief about another owner who is questioning the new Saint Emilion classification.) Looking out over his vineyards in the autumn sunshine the owner said: “one month ago this land was worth one million euro per hectare”. Sounded like quite a lot, but also ominous. Why ”one month ago”? The explanation came rapidly: ”now it is worth four million euros per hectare”.
The chateau was one of those that had just been upgraded to being ”classified” in the new Saint Emilion classification… A good illustration of why classifications are important. For the owners of the chateaux. He also ironically that “this is one of the few occasions when the French government makes the people richer”. But does a classification mean anything for the consumers? Or for the quality of the wines? Hardly. Except, of course, that the wines will become more expensive.
Britt & Per
PS: Recommend to your friends to read The Brief!
– – – – –
What’s on at BKWine Tours
- Chile & Argentina, 4-19 February
- South Africa, 1-11 March
For more information please contact us on email or on phone (we’re on French time), or go to our wine travel site on www.bkwinetours.com!
We also make custom designed wine tours – on-demand tours for you and a group of friends, for your company (maybe to scout new winegrowers?), for a special event… We can combine winery visits and wine touring with other activities: gastronomic workshops, visit to an oyster farm, truffles hunting, cheese making, and more. More info on the custom designed and bespoke BKWine wine tours and travel here!
Wine tours in Finnish: We also do wine tours in Finnish. And in German, Norwegian, Spanish…
Do you want the latest news and updates on our wine travel activity? Subscribe here! (Second alternative BKWineTours.com)
From the World of Wine
Cooperatives make demands on organic wines
The cooperatives produce almost 50% of all French wines so their opinion matters. They have recently, according to La Vigne, sent a letter to the French Minister of Agriculture with demands relating to the production of organic wines. They do not agree with some of the rules that were established this year for the work in the cellar. For instance, they do not think that there should be a maximum temperature for heating the must (now set at 65 degrees C) as this excludes certain treatments that would allow the winemaker to eliminate certain bad bacteria. Instead, with the current rules, he may need to add more sulphite which is not a good thing either.
And then they asked for some other small things: alternatives to copper treatment, vines that are resistant to diseases and an organic way to fight the flavescence dorée. I am sure the Minister for Agriculture will be forthcoming.
Although very few of the cooperatives are 100% organic more and more cooperatives are persuading and helping their members to work in a sustainable way.
Oak barrels to let?
During one of our trips recently we met for the first time a producer who rents his oak barrels instead of buying them. Buying French oak barrels cost a lot of money (between 600 and 800 euro for one 225-liter barrel) and renting can be a way to bring down the cost.
The Bordeaux-based company H & A Location offers rental of new oak barrels and a variety of services related to the administration and management of a chateau’s barrel cellar. The company has only been active for a few years but is growing steadily. www.halocation.fr
Château de Chantegrive, Graves | BKWine Pick
Château de Chantegrive is one of the few really big chateaux in AC Graves (the other big ones are in Pessac-Leognan), with 90 hectares of vines. This is also the star of the Graves appellation (and one of our big favourites). The chateau is a family owned and is run by Hélène Lévêque. It was her parents who created the property in 1966. They started with two hectares and gradually built up the vineyards to the 90 hectares that they have today.
The chateau makes two different white wines. Chantegrive Blanc 2011 is made of 60% Sauvignon Blanc and 40% Sémillon. A very enjoyable wine with quite a lot of sauvignon blanc character and lemon and white flowers on the nose. The other white wine is Cuvée Caroline, a forerunner in Graves when it comes to high quality white wines. The reds are also available in two versions: a fruity and classic Château Chantegrive and a little more complex and rich Cuvée Henri Leveque. www.chantegrive.com
Chinese buyer acquires classed growth in Saint Emilion
For the first time a Chinese buyer has acquired a classed growth chateau in Saint Emilion. It is far from the first chateau to land in Chinese hands but it has never before been a case of such a prestigious name. It is the Chateau Bellefont Belcier that is the subject of the transaction. Read more about the Chinese purchase of Chateau Bellefont Belcier.[divider_flat]
Fermentation thanks to wasps?
An interesting research report concerning the yeast that can be found on the grape skins was published recently. Italian and French researchers believe they have discovered how this yeast on the grape skin has gotten there. Their results show that wasps are harbouring yeast in their digestive system, giving them to his offspring and spreading it in the vineyard.
Researchers already knew that there is hardly any yeast at all on unripe grapes and that it is likely that the yeast get there because of an animal. But they did not know which animal. But now they think they have evidence that the wasp plays a big role. They have dissected wasps trapped in Italian vineyards at different times during the growing season and found 17 different strains of saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Maybe it’s time to stop complaining about the wasps buzzing around you when you eat something sweet? It the above is true, we can surely forgive the wasps anything. Read more on La Vigne.
The new classification in Saint Emilion challenged by chateau owner
After much anguish and agony the new classification in Saint Emilion has been unveiled. But will it stick? This time? It was already overturned four times – or was it seven – in courts and in parliament in earlier versions. Pierre Carle at Chateau Croque Michotte says it is illegal and invalid. He points to a number of strange aspects of how the classification has been done to support his claim.
Some of the things he points to are indeed very curious and makes you wonder how they could in any way affect the quality of a wine (e.g. if the chateau has conference facilities). On the other hand, the question is very political and has far reaching financial implications and many have very big vested interestes in making the classification stick. So it is doubtful if the protests will lead anywhere. Read more on The (still) very strange story of the Saint Emilion classification
Organic wines in fancy restaurants
74% of the gastronomic restaurants (which means that the bill, without wine, is at least 45 euro) in France have organic wines on their wine list. Many of them are also planning to expand its range of these wines. The restaurants indicate two major reasons to have organic wines on the wine list: These wines are appreciated by the customers and the restaurants think it is a way to stand out from the crowd.
It is almost exclusively French organic wines that are served and they mainly come from the Rhone Valley, Burgundy and Languedoc-Roussillon.
In just a few years, organic wines have taken a huge step from the cold to the fancy restaurant. Read more on www.lavigne-mag.fr
River deep, mountain high – sparkling wines from Trentino
Overshadowed by Prosecco and Franciacorta in export markets, Trento DOC accounts for 12% of the domestic Italian sparkling wine market. Ten percent of its production is exported. The event “bubbles over Trento” , held in November last year in Trentino, offered guests a chance to try some of the finest sparkling wines that the region has to offer. BKWine’s contributor Stuart George reports back from his visit to hillsides of the Dolmites and shares his thoughts on the tastings. Read more: A sparkling display in Trentino – Tasting Trento DOC.
Dr Loosen: delicious wines from the Mosel Valley
There are six things that make the wines from the Mosel Valley so extraordinary. The first is the grape variety, riesling that makes the wines from here so special, together with the local soils and climate.
The other five factors are explained by Peter Modin, guest writer on BKWine Magazine, in his article on an extensive wine tasting of wines from the Dr Loosen estate, one of the top properties in the Mosel Valley: “There is no denying it: I really do love a good bottle of Mosel. As far as wine preferences are concerned, most of mine tend to fluctuate over time, but not Mosel – it remains a constant bright star on my heaven of wines.” Read the rest of the article here: A good bottle of Mosel – A tasting with Ernst Loosen.
Can you make an honest judgement on a wine if you don’t know what it is?
The question is fundamental to the whole concept of blind tastings. There are many arguments for saying that it is virtually impossible to give a fair judgement about a wine if you taste it totally blind, without having the least bit of information about it. At the same time there are as many arguments for saying that you cannot possibly be unbiased in your evaluation if you know what the wine is. Read more on blind tastings, “experts”, wine competitions etc – and not least about honesty and ethics of wine writers – in our article Do you have to “know” about a wine to be able to judge it fairly?
Strong demand for organic wines
Both the demand for and the production of organic wine continues to experience strong growth, according to the latest numbers from Millesime Bio. Over seven percent of the French vineyards are now working according to organic principles! The three biggest producers of organic wines are Spain, Italy and France. Read more about the recent trends for organic wines in our article Demand for organic wine continues to grow, as does production. [divider_flat]
There were more wine bloggers around than what we thought!
We have made a list with all Swedish wine blogs. All that we could find. We thought that we would find perhaps 30 or 40 wine blogs in Sweden when we started. It turned out to be many more! In the first version we have 65 wine blogs. And then, with the help of others, it has grown to 89 wine blogs (only 11 missing to reach 100!). Some of them even write in English, they are marked with a (*) in the list. Perhaps the list can be of some interest to wine marketers, public relations companies or internationally oriented wine producers. Or for those of you who read Swedish. Here it is: The Big List of Swedish Wine Blogs.
Two not so new video interviews: Domaine de Nizas and Chateau Saint Jacques d’Albas
Sometimes one is not so diligent as one should be. Apparently. We happened to find two video interviews that we have made quite some time ago but that have not been published on BKWine TV, i.e. the section on BKWine Magazine dedicated to videos. Here are the two interviews:
Interview with Arnaud Deville manager of Domaine de Nizas, a vineyard in the Languedoc region
Interview with Graham Nutter of Chateau Saint Jacques d’Albas in Minervois in the Languedoc
A selection of interesting producers of ”natural wines”
“I have approached natural wine with a certain healthy (in my opinion) scepticism. But after a recent tasting of natural wine courtesy of wine importer ‘Vin & Natur’, I must say I was pleasantly surprised”, says BKWine reporter Magnus Reuterdahl. Here is his pick of the best producers from a wine tasting organised by the wine importer Vin & Natur: Exciting producers of natural wine, a shortlist.[divider_flat]
Wine events calendar
Send us an email if you have some event you want on the calendar.
Don’t be an egoist! Share with your friends and other wine enthusiasts! Forward the Brief to your friends! Suggest that they sign up for a free subscription !
© Copyright BKWine
