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.
An old outhouse in Rashult at the farm where Linneaus was born, Smaland

Wine Fair with Swedish (!) Wines on July 27-28

Sometimes people as “Do you make wine in Sweden?” A fair question. The climate is obviously not ideal. The answer is “Yes.” I believe there is well less than 100 hectares in total, but quite

Spraying in Clos des Goisses, Champagne

Oil spray in the vineyard to fight weeds

During our spring wine tours we have visited the small and interesting Champagne house Philipponnat. On our visit in early May we saw people working in their prestigious vineyard Clos des Goisses with knapsack sprayers

Céline Gueguen with her sacy vines (or chardonnay)

Sacy, a rare grape in northern Burgundy

Unusual grapes can pop-up when you least expect it. On one of our tours in Chablis in the spring, a little-known grape called sacy made an appearance during the tasting of Domaine Frédéric and Céline

A glass of Italian bubbly wine being poured

Mini-Prosecco will be served on French TGV trains

Champagne producers would like to make us believe that Prosecco’s huge successes does not affect champagne. That champagne and prosecco play in different leagues. It is possible, but hard to believe 100%. At least Prosecco

Cleaning barrels with sulphur and a candle

“Organic” sulphur to be launched next year

Sulphur is something that is naturally present in our environment and it is a product that is allowed for all wine producers – organic as well as conventional – both to combat fungal diseases in

A rainy day (in Lisbon), with people with umbrellas

Hail storms again, and rain

A very violent hailstorm with huge hailstones hit Bordeaux on May 26th. It is as yet unclear how many hectares of vineyards have been affected, but probably at least a few thousand in southern Médoc,

"Shipping all over the world", sign on a wine shop in Bordeaux

Export wine, yes, but at what price?

Wine is found in all possible price ranges. One is as often amazed at how inexpensive wines can be as at how expensive wines can be. At what prices do different wine countries sell their

Plastic bag for Bib

Shelf life for bag-in-box wines

Bag-in-box wines have shorter durability than wines in bottle. And the small sizes, 1.5 and 3 litres have the shortest. These sizes are now becoming more and more popular, also in France. At a recent

Vineyard in Franschhoek with merlot at Rickety Bridge

The top-ten grape varieties in France

France has 806,000 hectares planted with vines. This area includes about 70,000 hectares used for Cognac. Three grape varieties take up one third of this area: Merlot (112,000 hectares), Ugni Blanc (82,000 hectares, which is

Bottles in pupitres for remuage in Champagne

Record year for Champagne 2017

Comité Champagne has published their sales figures for 2017. Champagne made a record turnover of 4.9 billion euros in 2017. 307 million bottles were sold, a slight increase compared with 2016. The sales record counted

Grenache, rusty sign

Grenache slowly moving forward in California

Grenache is one of the world’s most planted grapes. Most of these vines are in France and Spain. In 1982, Rhône Valley enthusiast Randall Grahm at Bonny Doon Vineyards in California made his first Grenache

Child's feet in water

Rain and rain and rain in Bordeaux causes problems

It doesn’t stop raining in Bordeaux. As spring progresses, wine producers face problems. It is difficult to drive the tractor and to walk in a wet and muddy vineyard. This is inconvenient for those growers

A rainy day (in Lisbon), with people with umbrellas

Hail storms again, and rain

A very violent hailstorm with huge hailstones hit Bordeaux on May 26th. It is as yet unclear how many hectares of vineyards have been affected,

Plastic bag for Bib

Shelf life for bag-in-box wines

Bag-in-box wines have shorter durability than wines in bottle. And the small sizes, 1.5 and 3 litres have the shortest. These sizes are now becoming

Vineyard in Franschhoek with merlot at Rickety Bridge

The top-ten grape varieties in France

France has 806,000 hectares planted with vines. This area includes about 70,000 hectares used for Cognac. Three grape varieties take up one third of this

Bottles in pupitres for remuage in Champagne

Record year for Champagne 2017

Comité Champagne has published their sales figures for 2017. Champagne made a record turnover of 4.9 billion euros in 2017. 307 million bottles were sold,

Month-by-month archive

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER!

25,000 subscribers get wine news every month. You too?