Category: News

In a text published on April 30 AOC Languedoc has been officially announced. Technically, it is not a new appellation but a modification of the existing AOC Coteaux du Languedoc. To create a new AC

– First it was the Cru Bourgeois classification that was annulled. Then it was St Emilion. Is Margaux next? Philippe Raoux, owner of Ch d’Arsac, has recently won a new step in a long running

– The Champagne house Thiénot (Thiénot, Canard-Duchène, Joseph Perrier, Marie Stuart, Malard) has bought a stake in the Bordeaux négociant CVBG Dourthe Kressmann. Dourthe is a major négociant in Bordeaux and also owns (or manages)

– The latest addition to the list of AVAs (American Viticultural Areas) is Outer Coastal Plain in New Jersey. The region covers almost half of the state: 2.25 million acres (0,9 million hectares) – all

Since April 1 it is no longer permitted to use the name Tocai (in Italy) or Tokay (d’Alsace, in France) following an EU agreement that reserves that name for wines from Hungary. The Italian government

2006 was a record year for wine exports from Spain: they reached 1.64 bn euro which is up 3.9% from previous year. Looking further back, over ten years, since 1995, the Spanish exports have doubled.

– The acreage for grapes in California grew in 2006 to 350,000 hectares (860,000 acres). That is about the same size as Bordeaux (100’) and Languedoc (250’) together. But only 60% of that is used

– South Africa is arguably one of the most successful “new” wine countries in recent times, coming from virtually nowhere to now commanding a substantial market share, at least on some markets. But now even

There’s been exceptionally dry weather in Australia, and coupled with spring frosts this has reduced this year’s harvest. Now, trade sources estimate that the reduces volumes will lead to price increases for the consumer of

– The EU has a relatively substantial budget to support and develop the wine sector. Primarily it is targeted at decreasing the surplus of cheap, low quality wine, e.g. by grubbing up vines, by changing

– The Laroche Group, led by Michel Laroche, increased sales for the year ended on March 31 from 26.1 M euro to 30.7 M euro, an increase with 17%. Laroche is best known for it’s

– A new official publication has defined the requirements for adding Pézenas to the AOC Coteaux du Languedoc. The wine must come from the communes Adissan, Aspiran, Caux, Fontès, Fouzilhon, Gabian, Lieuran-Cabrières, Montesquieu, Neffiès, Nizas,

– Bernard Magrez is one of the most successful wine “industrialists” in recent times. He has amassed a wine empire including some 35 wine estates. He has recently established a joint venture with Yuji Aruga

Wine Tours 26-30 September: Côte d’Or, the heart of Burgundy Over the course of a long weekend we will take a close look at the heart of Burgundy: la Côte d’Or de Bourgogne, the Golden

Portugal has developed into a very exciting wine country. That’s why we do one more wine tour to Portugal this year. Just in time for that trip a new book on wine and food from

– Altia Corporation is one of the Nordic region’s biggest wine and spirits importers in the Nordic region. It is owned by the Finnish government. The state owned company is probably better known under various

On April 9 Snake River Valley will officially become an AVA, American Viticultural Area. Snake River Valley is in the state of Idaho(!) and covers a total of some 21,400 square kilometres. The area is

The new republic of Montenegro (previously part of Yugoslavia) has joined the OIV, Office International de la Vigne et du Vin, the international wine bureau (the cooperation organisation for wine producing countries). Montenegro has a

The wine Château La Tour Haut Brion will no longer be produced. The wine has a history traced back to the Middle Ages when it was called La Tour de Rostaing. Today it is owned

Just as we speculated in the last Brief the new classification of Saint Emilion has been declared invalid by a court in Bordeaux. Like the precedent (the Cru Bourgeois classification whose cancellation we reported last

Schizophrenia is a common affliction when it comes to reasoning around French wine rules and regulations. Yes, you want to cooperate with your neighbouring regions better to promote the wine, and yes you want to

Marketing ploy? For sure. But we find it quite interesting how people try and be creative to stand out a bit from the crowd, so we’re glad to offer these ‘ployers’ some space in the

– Would you be interested in learning more about the Portuguese Vinho Verde? Then you can take the e-course on this Portuguese wine that has just been launched by the Vinho Verde institute in cooperation

– An Australian researcher has developed a “textile” from wine. If you leave wine in an open container a film develops on the surface. In a similar way the “Micro’be” textile is produced. It still

– More unusual wine destinations: Myanmar, or as it used to be called, Burma, has it’s first vineyard. It’s a German business man who have planted grapes in this isolated country. The area is said

First, we have made a big picture update on the site with lots of pictures from vineyards and wineries in the Balkans: Croatia, Albania, Montenegro, and Bosnia-Herzegovina: https://www.bkwinephotography.com/ You can read more about Balkan wines

A little envelope arrived the other day. An invitation to a wine tasting of ’49 Bordeaux. Eleven wines: Cheval Blanc, Lafleur, Pétrus, Latour, Lafite, Mouton, Montrose, La Mission,… Nice, we thought, so we checked the

– Parisians love the accent of the wine growers in Duras in south-western France. To make a sure success of a marketing campaign for products from the region – bring up a native, they seem

Some misconceptions and misunderstandings – “When it comes to budget wines, France is way behind.” Perhaps that is true when it comes to the really, really budget level wines – the ones that we wouldn’t