Some statistics from CIVA (www.vinsalsace.com): Most popular grape varieties: 22% Riesling 21% Pinot blanc 18% Gewurztraminer 14% (Tokay) Pinot Gris 11% Sylvaner 9% Pinot Noir Appellations: 3.6% AOC Grand Cru 79.4% AOC Alsace 17% AOC
The Italian umbrella organisation ICE has decided to cancel its participation in Vinexpo at the last minute. The cancellation is du to a conflict with the organisers of Vinexpo regarding space allocations. This leaves many
A Portugese cork research institute (CTCOR) has developed a new method to prevent altogether the formation of TCA, thus eliminating cork taint at its source. This new procedure is called Symbios. Read more: Taiwan News
A Burgundian company (Embag with Gérard Michel and Laurent Villaume) has developed a cure for wines with cork taint. You pour the wine into a decanter and put a small plastic grape bunch in it.
Nice wine bar and restaurant in the main town in Burgundy with a very ambitious chef (even sometimes a bit over ambitious…). On Saturdays they sometimes have jazz concerts. Le Bistro Bourguignon 8, rue Monge
Facing the old church Saint Pierre in the Old Town in Bordeaux you can find this very good value-for-money restaurant (and many others on the neighbouring streets). You can e.g. get a very nice foie
A new wine restaurant with a good wine list with a certain emphasis on organic wines. You can for example find the full selection of wines from Julien and Claude Courtois, father-and-son winemakers on the
One of the best estates in Madiran, owned by Patrick Ducournau. Ducourneau is also known for being the person who invented micro-oxygenation – a method widely used today to make tannins softer. His best cuvée,
Framed by the majestic Pic Saint Loup and Montagne de l’Hortus, this vineyard is less than an hour’s drive north of Montpellier. Jean Orliac and his wife bought a small piece of land here 25
Michel Bettane and Thierry Desseauve were two of the leading names at La Revue des Vins de France (France’s leading wine magazine). They left the magazine when it was acquired by the Marie Claire Group.
Alain Voge is one of the very best producers in Cornas, just south of Hermitage. He is one of the persons that have led the renaissance of the Cornas appellation bringing it from quasi-obscurity 20
On April 16 and 17 (seems like ages ago now) Hermitage had, very unexpectedly, heavy snow fall. For two days we had (we happened to be there that week-end) five centimetres of snow on the
Quote from an interview in La Revue des Vins de France: “We [the wine trade] are going through a crisis. There’s been excess everywhere. In the New World too, but there they are much more
Oak chips in Bordeaux wine is not permitted today. The new boss of CIVB (the Bordeaux producers’ association) has proposed that it should be allowed in the future (but not for all wines). But we
According to a recent survey 55% of Swedes are positive to keeping the monopoly, 35% are negative and 10% don’t know. The survey was commissioned by the Swedish Spirits and Wine Importers Association. Of course,
As we have mentioned previously in the Brief the process has started to change the classification in Graves/Pessac-Léognan. La Revue des Vins de France has taken this as an occasion to do a big tasting
I was recently part of the jury for the twelfth edition of the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, one of the many wine competitions around the world. This was the biggest edition ever: almost 200 tasters
A nice little Italian restaurant with a very good brochette de scampi and home made pasta. Original and clever strategy with the first courses: add 2€ and they’ll make it into a (bigger) main course.
Drink champagne and eat salmon – that’s what you should do at Trëma! Go for a brunch on Sundays for example (18-25 €). On week-days you can get a good lunch with two courses for
In the middle of the little village Chateaubourg, just behind the church, in the southern part of the appellation Saint Joseph you find the two brothers Durand – Eric and Joël. They used to sell
Decanter reports that a study shows that wines that get a rating from Parker on average gains 3€ (equivalent to 15% for the wines studied) compared to a wine that is not rated by Parker.
INAO made positive noises towards allowing irrigation in French vineyards. The proposal means that it would be OK to water vineyards under special circumstances, as for instance the extremely hot summer in 2003.
INAO has introduced some new or changed rules for Alsace wines: Planting density must be at least 4500 vines per hectare, training must be in simple Guyot with at the most 8-10 “eyes”. Alsace Grand
China Drinks, China’s main wine and spirits magazine, organised a competition in January: the 2005 Beijing International Wine & Spirits Competition. BKWine was on-site and participated in the jury for the Chinese wines and spirits.
Calvados is making progress on the export market. This excellent digestif can help you digest a big meal as no other and is also an excellent ingredient in the kitchen (and for the cook): e.g.
We had a very interesting discussion this morning with one of the “blogging gurus” in France – Loic Le Meur. (Thank you Susan for organising it!) It convinced me that we should see if we
L’Avant Goût 26, rue Bobillot, 75013 Paris (M. Place d’Italie), tel 01 53 80 24 00. Booking essential evenings. Good wine list with many organic wines. Set menu 12€ (lunch) to 32€. Mavrommatis 42, rue
For the ninth year in a row Absolut Vodka recorded growing sales. Total sales in 2004 was 76 million litres, up 5% from 2003. Absolut is produced by V&S Vin & Sprit that is owned
Wines full of character, in particular the cuvée prestige called Gaby. Florent Viale is a master at making wines from the Syrah grape. Until 1992 Florent and his father sold all the wines to a
Twenty years ago there was nothing – not a vine – here at Château Puech-Haut in Saint-Drézery. Now it is one of the most successful wine estates in Languedoc, much thanks to the dynamic Gerard
Some statistics from CIVA (www.vinsalsace.com): Most popular grape varieties: 22% Riesling 21% Pinot blanc 18% Gewurztraminer 14% (Tokay) Pinot Gris 11% Sylvaner 9% Pinot Noir
The Italian umbrella organisation ICE has decided to cancel its participation in Vinexpo at the last minute. The cancellation is du to a conflict with
A Portugese cork research institute (CTCOR) has developed a new method to prevent altogether the formation of TCA, thus eliminating cork taint at its source.
A Burgundian company (Embag with Gérard Michel and Laurent Villaume) has developed a cure for wines with cork taint. You pour the wine into a
Nice wine bar and restaurant in the main town in Burgundy with a very ambitious chef (even sometimes a bit over ambitious…). On Saturdays they
Facing the old church Saint Pierre in the Old Town in Bordeaux you can find this very good value-for-money restaurant (and many others on the
A new wine restaurant with a good wine list with a certain emphasis on organic wines. You can for example find the full selection of
One of the best estates in Madiran, owned by Patrick Ducournau. Ducourneau is also known for being the person who invented micro-oxygenation – a method
Framed by the majestic Pic Saint Loup and Montagne de l’Hortus, this vineyard is less than an hour’s drive north of Montpellier. Jean Orliac and
Michel Bettane and Thierry Desseauve were two of the leading names at La Revue des Vins de France (France’s leading wine magazine). They left the
Alain Voge is one of the very best producers in Cornas, just south of Hermitage. He is one of the persons that have led the
On April 16 and 17 (seems like ages ago now) Hermitage had, very unexpectedly, heavy snow fall. For two days we had (we happened to
Quote from an interview in La Revue des Vins de France: “We [the wine trade] are going through a crisis. There’s been excess everywhere. In
Oak chips in Bordeaux wine is not permitted today. The new boss of CIVB (the Bordeaux producers’ association) has proposed that it should be allowed
According to a recent survey 55% of Swedes are positive to keeping the monopoly, 35% are negative and 10% don’t know. The survey was commissioned
As we have mentioned previously in the Brief the process has started to change the classification in Graves/Pessac-Léognan. La Revue des Vins de France has
I was recently part of the jury for the twelfth edition of the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, one of the many wine competitions around the
A nice little Italian restaurant with a very good brochette de scampi and home made pasta. Original and clever strategy with the first courses: add
Drink champagne and eat salmon – that’s what you should do at Trëma! Go for a brunch on Sundays for example (18-25 €). On week-days
In the middle of the little village Chateaubourg, just behind the church, in the southern part of the appellation Saint Joseph you find the two
Decanter reports that a study shows that wines that get a rating from Parker on average gains 3€ (equivalent to 15% for the wines studied)
INAO made positive noises towards allowing irrigation in French vineyards. The proposal means that it would be OK to water vineyards under special circumstances, as
INAO has introduced some new or changed rules for Alsace wines: Planting density must be at least 4500 vines per hectare, training must be in
China Drinks, China’s main wine and spirits magazine, organised a competition in January: the 2005 Beijing International Wine & Spirits Competition. BKWine was on-site and
Calvados is making progress on the export market. This excellent digestif can help you digest a big meal as no other and is also an
We had a very interesting discussion this morning with one of the “blogging gurus” in France – Loic Le Meur. (Thank you Susan for organising
L’Avant Goût 26, rue Bobillot, 75013 Paris (M. Place d’Italie), tel 01 53 80 24 00. Booking essential evenings. Good wine list with many organic
For the ninth year in a row Absolut Vodka recorded growing sales. Total sales in 2004 was 76 million litres, up 5% from 2003. Absolut
Wines full of character, in particular the cuvée prestige called Gaby. Florent Viale is a master at making wines from the Syrah grape. Until 1992
Twenty years ago there was nothing – not a vine – here at Château Puech-Haut in Saint-Drézery. Now it is one of the most successful
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