The Importance of Wine Tourism
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 in the framework of “how can the producers sell more wine with wine tourism?”
If that were the case, then wine tourism could be relegated to the marketing and PR departments of wine producers. And that – to me – would be a mistake. That’s not how we look at wine tourism.
To me, wine tourism is much more than that. In fact, wine tourism is not at all primarily about selling wine. We’re tourism professionals, wine tourism professionals. We are not wine sellers. In fact, we are above all wine enthusiasts, with a passion for sharing our world of wine.
Wine is not just a drink like any other drink. It is – or can be – so much more. Wine is also about sharing experiences, and sharing enjoyment, about culture, about geography and above all about people.
You enjoy and appreciate wine so much more if you have a bit of all that when you are sipping the wine in your glass.
What you have in your glass is, first and foremost, about sharing it with others around the table. But it is also about sharing an experience with the winemaker, although it is of course a very indirect sharing in this case. It is also about experiencing a bit of the place that the wine comes from and maybe a whiff of history.
That is also what wine tourism is about. Sharing a passion.
Successful and outstanding wine tourism is not about wineries that invest lots of money in a beautiful building or in a fancy restaurant. It is – at least to me – about a winery / a winemaker / a wine producer sharing what they do, what they try to achieve; sharing what their work and life is about. Sharing it with people who are interested and come and visit. And then leaving a memory of that with the visitor.
Yes, wine is a drink, but it is also a tool to connect with people and cultures. In real life when travelling, or in text and pictures.
Wine Tours
The autumn wine tour season is in full swing. As mentioned, we have already been to several wine regions with groups of wine lovers, early adopters of the newly re-opened wine world, Provence, Champagne, Bordeaux, Sicily with Etna, Sardinia… Several more are on the schedule for the coming weeks: Burgundy, Piedmont, the Douro Valley…
It is now the right time for you to plan for your spring season wine tour. This spring we have two great tours on the programme:
- Bordeaux
- Champagne
Don’t miss out on “the world’s top wine tours”.
More info on our wine tours here.
Enjoy the Brief!
Britt & Per
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What’s on at BKWine Tours
BKWine is also one of the world’s leading wine tour operators. Here’s what we currently have on our scheduled wine tour program:
- Bordeaux, April 20-24, 2022 (program available soon)
- Champagne, May 4-8, 2022 (program available soon)
- Bordeaux and Champagne, Sept 28 – Oct 6, 2022 (program available soon)
- Champagne, Sept 28 – Oct 2, 2022 (program available soon)
- Bordeaux, October 2-6, 2022 (program available soon)
- Chile-Argentina, January 2023
- South Africa, February 2023
- New Zealand, March 2023
We also make custom designed wine tours.
We’re different than most other wine tour operators. We are people who know wine inside out, who travel constantly in wine regions, who write award winning books about wine. Who do this out of passion.
Our wine tours are different from others.
More in wine tours: BKWineTours.com.
A typical year we organise more than 30 wine tours to destinations across the world. In Europe: France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and more. World-wide: South Africa, Chile, Argentina, New Zealand. Thanks to our Scandinavian background we have a separate offer for the Scandinavian market. These are sometimes offered in English and also available as custom made tours. For example, these destinations:
Read our books
We have written eleven wine books. They have won awards from the Gourmand Awards, The International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) and others.
Unfortunately, only one of them has been translated to English; the others are (so far) only available in Swedish. This is the one that is available in English:
Here’s the full list of our books:
- The Wonderful World of Wine
- Languedoc-Roussillon, the Wines of Southern France
- Champagne, the Wine and the Growers
News from the World of Wine
Short briefs on what’s been happening in the world of wine recently and other interesting things.
Small harvest report from Bordeaux, Burgundy, Douro, autumn 2021
The weather during the harvest in France has been sunny and warm in many places. Despite the problems during the spring and summer, many are optimistic about the new 2021 vintage. Severe weather conditions do not automatically mean a “bad” vintage.
In Bordeaux, the sorting tables have been put to good use. And those who have bought expensive sorting machines have not regretted the investment. Arnaud Thomassin at the Château de France in Pessac-Léognan promises us fresh and aromatic white wines with a good acidity.
Philippe Bernard at Clos Saint Louis in Fixin said he lost between 30% and 45% due to three days of frost in April, on the 6, 7 and 8. “The weather in March was far too hot,” he says. A little further south in Burgundy, at Château de Melin in Auxey-Duresses, Arnaud Derat lost almost half of his normal quantity: “The frost made the vines weaker and they were thus more easily affected by mildiou”.
In the Douro Valley in Portugal, people are quite happy with this year’s weather. We got a summary from Sandra Tavares from Wine & Soul: “We had plenty of rain during the winter, good spring weather with not too much rain, cooler than normal in June and July, August warmer and then some rain in September so we had to pick quickly.”
6.2% of world vineyards are organic, growing steadily, but the future is uncertain
Europe dominates when it comes to organic viticulture in the world. But the rest of the world is catching up. According to OIV, The International Organisation of Vine and Wine, organic viticulture is increasing worldwide in combination with a strong trend towards certification.
During 2005–2019, the organically certified surface in the world increased by an average of 13% per year. The area for conventional viticulture decreased during the same period by 0.4%. 63 countries on all continents now have organic vineyards, and the certified organic vineyard area is estimated to 454,000 hectares, which corresponds to 6.2% of the world’s total vineyard area. Spain, France and Italy together account for 75% of the world’s organic vineyards. However, it is uncertain whether the upward trend will continue. OIV believes that weather phenomena, among other things, can force producers to abandon their certifications. The future will tell if the strong trend towards organic viticulture will continue. Read more: OIV.
2021, the year that marked the return to chaptalisation
This year, some winegrowers in various parts of Europe have had to resort to chaptalisation to reach the alcohol content they consider necessary. During our recent wine tours in, for example, Champagne and Burgundy, we talked to growers who have managed for several years without chaptalisation.
But in 2021, they had considered it necessary to do it. (Actually, one should say “enrichment”, since chaptalisation is only with beet sugar and also concentrated grape must can be used.) In some places, it has been exceptionally humid and threatened with the onset of grey rot they chose to harvest before the grapes had reached the optimal sugar content but were still healthy. Chaptalizing, i.e. adding sugar during fermentation, was the solution.
If you chaptalize, you add regular beet sugar to the wine (crystal sugar). This is done in northern regions, such as Champagne. In the south of France, you are not allowed to chaptalize (with beet sugar), but you may, if necessary, add concentrated grape must, so-called enrichment. Of course, winemakers are afraid to give their wines a different taste profile than their customers are used to. On the other hand, perhaps it would be a good thing to let the vintage “express itself” and make wine with the alcohol content you get naturally?
Right now, in the Douro Valley: News from Tiago Alves de Sousa on Russia, white wines and bioprotection
The Douro Valley used to be all about port wine. No longer. The production of dry wines (called “Douro wines”), have increased incredibly in recent years. This is a trend created by the smaller growers that emerged after 1986 when it became possible for small producers to sell and export their wines.
Previously it was just the large port wine houses that could export. A pioneer for production of dry wines is Domingos Alves de Sousa at Quinta da Gaivosa. We met his son Tiago, the winemaker, and asked what’s in his focus right now. The answer is Russia, which has become a major export country for port wine, white wines and reduced sulphite levels.
Tiago already makes magnificent white Douro wines, but, he says, it is a challenge to find suitable plots for white grapes within their vineyards. “Making dry wines is different than making port wine, it requires a different way of working in the vineyard.” He is looking for cooler places to be able to make white wines with good acidity and aromas.
When it comes to sulphites, he proudly announced that he has been able to halve the use of sulphites in his wines thanks to the addition of selected yeasts that protect against oxidation, one aspect of so-called bioprotection.
Chilean wine from 200-year-old vines
Whatever old vines mean for the quality of the wine (a disputed topic), it’s hard not to be impressed if they’re 200 years old. The vines for Santa Cruz de Coya from the Chilean wine region Bío Bío, made by winemaker Roberto Henriquez, were planted at the time of Chile’s independence in 1818.
That certainly gives a certain feeling to opening a bottle. The Bío-Bío region is located a fair distance south in Chile and it was not long ago that it was thought that it was too far south for winegrowing. The climate is cooler and rainier than in other wine regions in the country. But the wind is constant, so the growers can usually avoid diseases. The grape in this wine is país, a so-called criolla, the first grape variety planted by the Spaniards in South America in the 16th century. Wine from this grape is often an unpretentious wine, drunk locally. But in recent years, winemakers have started to work more ambitiously with it. Roberto Henriquez shows what it is possible to do with the grape if you make the effort. Lovely, refreshing fruit (approx. 20 euro; and recently launched on the Swedish market). For wines from very old vineyards in Chile, look for the regions Bío Bío and Itata.
(Some other things that happened in 1818: Karl XIV Johan became king of Sweden, imported from France. Sweden lost Pomerania, now part of Poland and Germany. Illinois became the 21st state of the USA. Karl Marx was born. It was three years after the battle of Waterloo.)
Travel: Come on a wine tour to Chile and Argentina with BKWine.
How’s it going for Champagne? Weed catastrophe? Sky-rocketing sales?
Champagne producers apparently have a lot of concerns right now. The capriciousness of the weather (recent years have been too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry…), the reduction in the number of approved pesticides and the expected ban on chemical weed control in 2025.
Not everyone is prepared to remove the weeds mechanically.
Customers have become more environmentally conscious and demanding after Covid, says Emmanuel Fourny at the well-known Champagne Veuve Fourny et Fils. He believes that as a producer you must be able to explain to customers what you do and why you do it.
But the Champagne producers can be happy that sales of their products have soared at a furious pace. The figures at the end of September were 15% higher than in September 2019. Read more: Vitisphere.
Travel: Come on a wine tour to Champagne with BKWine.
Features of the Month
Articles and features published on BKWine Magazine and on our wine travel blog and photography blog in the last month.
When you have a lot to do…
We are probably as happy as everyone else. At least as happy. Maybe more. Glad that life has begun to normalize a little. For us, this has meant that more and more people have wanted to come on our wine tours.
We have therefore had more wine tours in the autumn season than we had feared (we planned a little defensively). But not quite as many as we have in a “normal” year. In any case, this has meant that both September and October have been full of trips to different wine districts. We’ve been travelling. Therefore, there have not been so many new articles published on the site. In fact, not a single new full-sized article (although we have published some shorter texts, which we call briefs). This has probably almost never happened before. But we promise to come back to BKWine Magazine with more new articles soon. BKWine Magazine, Sweden’s largest and Sweden’s oldest site about wine! And also much read in English all over the world. In 156 countries according to the latest statistics report.
Travel: Come on a wine tour with BKWine.
Wine Tours
Some information on our current and future wine tours. Book a wine tour with the “world’s top wine tour operator” today (or when you feel like travelling to wine country).
Bordeaux, an inspiration to winemakers around the world | wine tour
Bordeaux inspires winemakers around the world. They admire the style even though they know it is impossible to copy it even if they use the same grape varieties. Every region is different.
But also, within Bordeaux, we have different styles. We will show you all this during our tour, at the big, famous chateaux and the smaller family-owned ones, on the left bank and the right bank. We will enjoy magnificent lunches, some of them at the chateaux.
Every wine lover should visit Bordeaux.
- Wine tour to Bordeaux, April 20-24, 2022
- Wine tour to Bordeaux, October 2-6, 2022 (This autumn tour will also be offered in combination with the Champagne tour)
The programmes for 2022 will be available soon.
Book your wine tour with BKWine now!
Champagne, the best sparkling wine in the world? | wine tour
Is Champagne the best sparkling wine in the world? Many wine lovers think so, and maybe they are right. You will see for yourself during our days in Champagne. What makes champagne special?
We will learn about the soil, the climate, the weather during the year, the grapes and, of course, the production of champagne. All these factors will have an impact on the final quality and character of the champagne. The winemaker also plays a big part in the final result. There are many rules and regulations in Champagne, but still, the producer can put his personal touch on the wines.
- Wine tour to Champagne, May 4-8, 2022
- Wine tour to Champagne, September 28-October 2, 2022 (This autumn tour will also be offered in combination with the Bordeaux tour)
The programmes for 2022 will be available soon.
Book your wine tour with BKWine now!
The tour that combines two famous French wine regions, Champagne and Bordeaux | wine tour
If you cannot choose whether to go to Bordeaux or Champagne, why not go to both of them? This tour combines these two great regions during an intense 9-day tour. We will stay in Reims in Champagne for four nights and in Bordeaux for four nights.
In Champagne we will show you how the big houses and the smaller growers work and make their champagnes. During our lunches, several different champagnes will be served. You will discover how well champagne pairs with food.
The high-speed train will take us to the beautiful city Bordeaux in the southwest of France. Here we will visit Médoc and Graves with its classic chateaux and smaller family estates in Saint Emilion. Some of our lunches will be at the chateaux. Join us on this tour to France’s two most famous wine regions.
- Wine tour to Champagne and Bordeaux, September 28 – October 6, 2022
The programmes for 2022 will be available soon.
Book your wine tour with BKWine now!
South America: Discover excellent wineries and winemakers in Argentina and Chile | wine tour in South America
On our tour to South America in January, you will discover some of the most exciting wineries in Chile and Argentina. The Andes separates the countries, and the wines are actually very different.
We meet in the big city of Buenos Aires. After spending a few days here, we continue to the most famous wine region in Argentina, Mendoza. The mountains are close, and the vineyards are planted at high altitudes. You will notice this in the freshness of the wines, both reds and whites. Our bus will take us on a spectacular ride across the Andes, a highlight of the tour. In Chile, we will visit wine regions on the coast and further inland. We will taste and learn more about both red and white wines from both cool and warmer climates.
Wine tasting, delicious lunches with winemakers, some sightseeing and magnificent scenery will fill our days. You couldn’t ask for more.
Join us on our wine tour to South America!
- Wine tour to Chile-Argentina, January, 2023
Book your wine tour with BKWine now!
South Africa: a spectacular wine country with a long history | wine tour
South Africa is a New World country but with a long wine history. The first vines were planted in the 1600s. But only in the 1990s did wine consumers start drinking South African wines regularly.
To begin with, the country delivered well-made, inexpensive wines. They still do, but now the wine producers offer much more. South Africa has transformed itself into a fascinating wine country filled with passionate winemakers.
Our tour will take us to Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, Walker Bay, Elgin and Swartland. Apart from exciting discussions at the wineries, we will enjoy the spectacular nature, the local gastronomy, and we will also visit Cape Town.
Discover South Africa on a wine tour with us.
- Wine tour to South Africa, February 2023
Book your wine tour with BKWine now!
The newest New World wine country | wine tour in New Zealand
We will see a large part of New Zealand during our 16-day tour, which takes us from Auckland all the way down to Queenstown. This is a spectacular New World wine country, far away from everything.
It is a young wine country, still in its developing phase, which makes a wine tour here even more interesting.
We will, of course, discover the sauvignon blanc wines in Marlborough, but we will also go to Hawke’s Bay with its superb syrah wines, to Wairarapa with its riesling and pinot noir, to Waiheke Island to taste the high-quality cabernet sauvignon and to Central Otago with its magnificent pinot noir. Everywhere we will admire the scenery, and we’ll do some sightseeing in-between winery visits. An unforgettable wine tour.
Join us on our New Zealand tour, a great adventure.
- Wine tour to New Zealand, March 2023
