Category: Opinion

Sans sulfite Esprit Nature, "vin nature" is not allowed so producers try and cheat the system with clever wording

Wines with style: “style wines” | New Brief #224

There was a time when people were worried that wines would become uniform, taste the same, become streamlined. What instead happened was that wines that had been on the verge of being faulty disappeared thanks

Hermitage 1993 Le Pied de la Côte, label detail: 12.3%, no longer permitted notation

Every little detail matters | New Brief #220

Every little detail matters, whether it is for the environment, the taste of the wine or the sales figures. We have heard it many times from many wine producers. The details will play an even

Label on a wine bottle with New Zealand Certified Sustainable Winegrowing

“Sustainability”, the flavour-of-the-month? | New Brief #219

It seems everyone is talking about sustainability these days. We’ve recently been in at least three webinars on sustainability. Wine regions are announcing sustainability programmes. Wine producers and other wine industry companies (retailers, for example)

A walk in the vineyards with a winemaker in Roussillon

The Importance of Wine Tourism | New Brief #218

The importance of wine tourism is not that it can be a tool for producers to sell more wines. Although you sometimes get that impression when wine tourism is discussed. It is often talked about

Caviar from sturgeon in the Gironde in France

On price and prestige | New Brief #216

Why does a wine cost what it costs? It is never easy for a producer to put a price on his wine. It requires reflection. Not least, he has to decide how to position himself

Hilly vineyard landscape in Priorat (Priorato) near Gratallops, Catalonia, Spain

The heroes of the vineyards | New Brief #213

There is something called heroic viticulture. It is, for instance, vineyards on steep slopes, at high altitudes, on narrow terraces, on dry, windy islands. Here the wine world’s superheroes toil. The more difficult the terrain,

One of the oldest wine cellars in Marlborough, at Auntsfield, New Zealand

Small-scale always best? | New Brief #211

Many wine lovers tend to prefer smaller wineries. And the wine world has plenty of them. Do small scale wines have more personality and character than the big ones? Perhaps. We often buy wine from

Enoveneta peristaltic oenological must pump

Chasing the news | New Brief #210

Novelties are exciting. This is true not least in our country of birth, Sweden. Every month new wines are launched in the state monopoly shops. And every month wine journalists all over the country write

Old bottles from the Goering collection at Cricova, Moldova

Wine is not just a drink | New Brief #207

Were we wrong when we said last month that you should not over-estimate the value of ageing wine? (Do you have ageing-mania?) Cellaring wine doesn’t always give you what you wish for. One reader commented:

Pommard 1875, Chambertin 1858. Domaine Champy Pere & Fils, Beaune, Burgundy

Do you have ageing-mania? | New Brief #206

Many people have ageing-mania. The refreshing flavours of a young wine are undervalued. When we taste wine with travellers on our tours, this question always pops up: “How long can I age this wine?” Should

A wine aerating device

Unnecessary and vital items | New Brief #204

We all have unnecessary things in the kitchen. The pasta machine that you used only once, a malfunctioning espresso machine. Maybe a sous vide machine that was thrilling for a couple of weeks. Many wine

Street art, graffiti, in Valparaiso in Chile

Creative ideas for new times | New Brief – #203

Creative ideas for new times Creativity thrives in crises. That’s how the saying goes, isn’t it? We hope so. Because the wine industry will need all the ingenuity, it can muster. The wine world is

Enoveneta peristaltic oenological must pump

Chasing the news | New Brief #210

Novelties are exciting. This is true not least in our country of birth, Sweden. Every month new wines are launched in the state monopoly shops.

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