Author: Per Karlsson

Swedish. Per is co-founder together with his wife Britt of BKWine. Rumour has it that his interest in wine started already when he was 11. Just like Britt he visits some 200 wineries each year on wine tours and for journalistic research. He writes about wine primarily online on BKWine Magazine and in the BKWine Brief. Per is also a professional photographer, specialising in wine and travel photography. See BKWine Photography for more on this. Since a few years back he has also branched out into video production on the same subject. He has contributed all images, and some text, to BKWine’s wine books.

French Castel plants vineyards in Azerbaijan

The French wine group Castel is planting new vineyards in Azerbaijan in collaboration with the local government. The plan is to plant 500 hectares, half of which is already planted. The wine is primarily for

René Renou, president of INAO, passed away

René Renou, president of the INAO, died in his sleep during the night of June 19 while on a business trip to South Korea. He was only 54 years old but suffered from cancer. Renou

Norwegian wins European Championship for sommeliers

The Trophée Ruinart, popularly known as the European Championship for Sommeliers, was won this year by a Norwegian: Robert Lie. Lie works at the luxury restaurant Bagatelle in Oslo. Second place went to Paolo Basso

Black Dead Arm – now in France

It sounds scary and it is not the nicest thing to catch. Black Dead Arm (BDA) is a new kind of disease first discovered in 1999. It is a fungus disease that attacks the vine

Welcome to the BKWine Brief nr 36, June 2006

Finally, it seems, summer is here. Maybe that will be a good time to make some new and enjoyable wine discoveries. Summer wines Why not take a few leisurely afternoons or evenings and discover a

Link Tips

Some wine sites that you might enjoy visiting: New findings on how soil (or terroir if you wish) influences wine: “A new, improved level of soil mapping” in Wine Business Monthly Pacific Ridge Winery, not

Coup de Coeur des femmes journalistes

The cooperative wine producers in the French departement l’Hérault organise a yearly wine competition followed by a “final” called “Coup de Coeur des femmes journalistes” (best-of selected by women journalists). 15 female writers are invited

Le Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2006

You might expect the Concour Mondial de Bruxelles to take place in Belgium, and it usually does, but this year it was off-shored to Lisbon. 220 international wine experts (including BKWine) tasted 5447 wines and

Bordeaux primeur prices sky-rocket

As expected (or feared) the prices of the highly acclaimed 2005 vintage in Bordeaux are up, and not by little. According to the Danish, but Bordeaux based wine merchant Iakob Schjerbeck, the prices are up

Australians learn from the French – even their bad habits

The Australian Wine Grape Growers Association (WGGA) wants that the government should support producers in difficulty due to over-production and falling prices. They have requested that a guarantee fund be created with $35 million to

France’s most planted grape varieties

Since 1979 a lot has changed in the vineyards so it is time to review old truths about what is taught in wine classes. The statistics is from Drinks International and based on SCEES RGA79

Organic port from Fonseca

Fonseca has launched an organic port wine: Terra Prima. They have since 1992 been cultivating a small plot of vineyard at the Quinta de Panascal with organic methods. Now they have developed the production sufficiently

France’s most planted grape varieties

Since 1979 a lot has changed in the vineyards so it is time to review old truths about what is taught in wine classes. The statistics is from Drinks International and based on SCEES RGA79

The world’s most powerful brands

Drinks International, an English trade publication, has made a ranking of the world’s most powerful wine and spirits brands. Different factors have been combined to arrive at the ranking: brand perception, market share, price position

This month’s must-have wine gadget: Private Preserve

This heading is usually reserved for items that we talk about with a certain irony. But this time it’s serious. Private Preserve is definitely worth trying! Private Preserve is a pressurised bottle of neutral gas

Wine for women

Do you remember a few months ago when we talked about the wine specially designed for men? Now it is the turn of women. The English supermarket chain have spent years of research and development

INAO proposes two tier appellations

INAO, the semi-governmental body that control French wine production rules, has proposed that the system of Appellation Contrôlée should be split into two tiers: one that follows traditional, strict rules on production, terroir etc, and

Norwegian wine

A while back we wrote about an April’s Fool joke by the London wine merchant Berry Brothers and Rudd where they (jokingly) talked about Norwegian wine. At the moment we noted that there actually are

Monks start a vineyard in California

Historically the Church has been very involved in winemaking and many vineyards have historic links to Christianity. But today very few wineries have any direct connection with religion. But now 25 monks of the order

Wine course at Sotheby’s

Interesting for Londoners: The auction house Sotheby’s, one of the world leaders in wine auctions, also arranges wine tasting courses. The coming autumn there will be two courses: one varietal course (starting 18 September) and

Taittinger back in French hands

The champagne house Taittinger was sold last year to the American company Starwood. Now, Taittinger has returned to French hands. But that was probably more or less part of the scheme originally. Starwood is primarily

Château Guiraud in Sauternes sold

Château Guiraud is a Sauternes property of 128 hectares. It has been acquired by a group of investors including the Peugeot family (FPP), Domaine de Chevalier and Neipperg Invest. FFP (Société Foncière, Financière et de

Link Tips

Some wine sites that you might enjoy visiting: New findings on how soil (or terroir if you wish) influences wine: “A new, improved level of

Coup de Coeur des femmes journalistes

The cooperative wine producers in the French departement l’Hérault organise a yearly wine competition followed by a “final” called “Coup de Coeur des femmes journalistes”

Bordeaux primeur prices sky-rocket

As expected (or feared) the prices of the highly acclaimed 2005 vintage in Bordeaux are up, and not by little. According to the Danish, but

Organic port from Fonseca

Fonseca has launched an organic port wine: Terra Prima. They have since 1992 been cultivating a small plot of vineyard at the Quinta de Panascal

The world’s most powerful brands

Drinks International, an English trade publication, has made a ranking of the world’s most powerful wine and spirits brands. Different factors have been combined to

Wine for women

Do you remember a few months ago when we talked about the wine specially designed for men? Now it is the turn of women. The

INAO proposes two tier appellations

INAO, the semi-governmental body that control French wine production rules, has proposed that the system of Appellation Contrôlée should be split into two tiers: one

Norwegian wine

A while back we wrote about an April’s Fool joke by the London wine merchant Berry Brothers and Rudd where they (jokingly) talked about Norwegian

Monks start a vineyard in California

Historically the Church has been very involved in winemaking and many vineyards have historic links to Christianity. But today very few wineries have any direct

Wine course at Sotheby’s

Interesting for Londoners: The auction house Sotheby’s, one of the world leaders in wine auctions, also arranges wine tasting courses. The coming autumn there will

Taittinger back in French hands

The champagne house Taittinger was sold last year to the American company Starwood. Now, Taittinger has returned to French hands. But that was probably more

Château Guiraud in Sauternes sold

Château Guiraud is a Sauternes property of 128 hectares. It has been acquired by a group of investors including the Peugeot family (FPP), Domaine de

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