Author: Britt Karlsson

Maker of World’s Top Wine Tours. On WBI’s Power List of wine journalists. Wine Profile of the Year 2011. We’ve been named World’s Top Wine Tours by Travel + Leisure Magazine. We’ve written a wine book that won the award World’s Best Wine Book for Professionals and another that’s been awarded Best Wine Book in Sweden for Professionals. We had (probably) the first web site on wine in Scandinavia in 1996. We publish one of the most read independent wine newsletters on wine. And lots of other things we’re proud of too.
Driving on an dirt road with wheel ruts in a safari jeep in a game reserve in South Africa

Are we stuck in an old rut? | New Brief #258

The Prowein Business Report takes the pulse of the wine industry once a year. The new report states that the wine industry is at a crucial crossroads. That is pretty much what many others are

Britt Karlsson and Per Karlsson, BKWine

BKWine Brief nr 258, February 2025

— Are we stuck in an old rut? — The Prowein Business Report takes the pulse of the wine industry once a year. The new report states that the wine industry is at a crucial

A bottle and two glasses of Bourgogne Aligoté

White Burgundy has a boom in (Sweden)

Swedes have long been fond of Chablis, and Chablis belongs to Burgundy. Now, Sweden has overtaken Belgium in the statistics and is the fifth-largest importer (by volume) of Burgundy wine in the world. Quite incredible.

Britt Karlsson and Per Karlsson, BKWine

BKWine Brief nr 257, January 2025

— Allow time for the food — We all occasionally long for a break from the fast pace of daily life. One way of doing that is to spend time with your food. And I

Criots-Batard Montrachet Grand Cru vineyards behind a gate in Burgundy

New premier crus in southern Burgundy

Southern Burgundy is in the spotlight. Côte Chalonnaise and Mâcon make affordable wines in villages that are not as hyped as in the Côte d’Or. In Mâcon, two small white wine appellations, Pouilly-Loché and Pouilly-Vinzelles,

Bodega Weinert's incredible cellar with wooden casks, Mendoza, Argentina

Red wines for a good start of 2025

Chile, Argentina, and South Africa all make red wines of top quality in many different styles: elegant, powerful, and easy-going. Here are some recommendations for the firsts months of 2025 with no specific theme, except

Big crowds on the Champs-Elysees in Paris with the Arc de Triomphe

Trends and non-trends | New Brief #256

New trends don’t appear just because the calendar says it’s a new year. But at the end of December, many people have a go at predicting everything new that will happen in the wine world.

Britt Karlsson and Per Karlsson, BKWine

BKWine Brief nr 256, December 2024

— Trends and non-trends — New trends don’t appear just because the calendar says it’s a new year. But at the end of December, many people have a go at predicting everything new that will

Grubbing up and burning vines in a vineyard in Chateauneuf-du-Pape

France will lose almost 30,000 hectares of vines

France will uproot almost 30,000 hectares of vineyards shortly. This was announced by FranceAgriMer, which is attached to the French Ministry of Agriculture. The growers who want to uproot vines have been able to apply

Grapes coming in from the vineyard at harvest at a winery in South Africa

Serious surplus of grapes in California

Being a grape grower in California has not been easy this year. Nobody wants to buy their grapes. Even normally highly sought-after grapes like chardonnay from Sonoma and cabernet sauvignon from Napa have been hit

Glasses of champagne with a view over the vineyards

Champagne is preparing for more climate change

When you visit Champagne nowadays, the question of the acidity in the wines often comes up. It is generally accepted that a good quality sparkling wine should have a high acidity. But with warmer summers,

Mushrooms (porcini, ceps) on a market in Alba, Piedmont

Fungus-resistant grapes should be called fungus tolerant

There is a lot of talk about fungus resistant grapes (sometimes called PIWI, from German pilzwiderstandsfähige). But the descriptor is maybe poorly chosen. The “fungus resistant” grapes used today are hybrids, in other words crosses

Vintage port from 1847, Porto, Douro, Portugal

Christmas wines? We have the recommendations

Portugal is the country to turn to for Christmas wines. They make some stunning fortified wines, very suitable for the winter season and, of course, Christmas. But it is not only port wine. Here are

Beaujolais nouveaux 2024, jacques Depagneux AOP

Beaujolais Nouveau is making a comeback

I drank an excellent Beaujolais nouveau on November 21st, and I’m sure many of our readers did, too. There is a cautious optimism among Beaujolais growers. Indeed, the Beaujolais nouveau celebration isn’t what it was

Cow horns used for biodynamic preparation 500 and 501 just emptied, at Chateau La Grave, Vignoble Paul Barre, Fronsac, Bordeaux

Biodynamic agriculture turns 100 years old

Biodynamic agriculture turns 100 this year. It was in 1924 that Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy, gave his famous lectures to a group of anthroposophical farmers who worried that the new artificial fertilisers would

Vintage port from 1847, Porto, Douro, Portugal

Maybe 2024 will be a vintage port year

It is really too early to ask if 2024 will be a year for Vintage Port, as we learned on our Douro Valley tour recently. Although the winemakers may know deep down. Kay Bouchard at

A bottle and two glasses of Bourgogne Aligoté

White Burgundy has a boom in (Sweden)

Swedes have long been fond of Chablis, and Chablis belongs to Burgundy. Now, Sweden has overtaken Belgium in the statistics and is the fifth-largest importer

Bodega Weinert's incredible cellar with wooden casks, Mendoza, Argentina

Red wines for a good start of 2025

Chile, Argentina, and South Africa all make red wines of top quality in many different styles: elegant, powerful, and easy-going. Here are some recommendations for

Britt Karlsson and Per Karlsson, BKWine

BKWine Brief nr 256, December 2024

— Trends and non-trends — New trends don’t appear just because the calendar says it’s a new year. But at the end of December, many

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