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Rules, rules, rules…
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Rules are helpful, but some of them are unnecessary.
Sometimes, we are asked if there is a lot of cheating among winegrowers. Our answer is no. Besides the fact that most of them are honest people, they are also bound by strict rules. There are a plethora of regulations governing wine production – EU rules, national rules, appellation rules and more – and compliance with them is carefully checked.
The rules exist to protect an area, an appellation, a style of wine, etc. The quality must be kept at a certain level so that the reputation of a particular area is not destroyed; there must (ideally) be a common denominator in the wines (made from the same grape, aged in a certain way, etc.). Regulations make it easier for the consumer to choose a wine. And the producers want rules.
Sometimes, people rave about wines “made the way wine was made in the old days”. But you should remember that “in the old days”, there were many different products, methods, and additives used that we do not want in our wine today. One of the driving forces behind the introduction of regulations, which began in the early 20th century, were growers. They protested against the “cheating” with wines made with things they believed should not be in a wine. Therefore, they wanted rules that determined how wine could be made.
In France, the rules are mainly drawn up by the winegrowers themselves and then approved by the Ministry of Agriculture via the INAO (Institut national de l’origine et de la qualité). They are not carved in stone; they are changed and adjusted, albeit not fast enough for some who now think climate change requires quick decisions on changes to permitted grape varieties, planting density, irrigation and more.
Some rules are easy to understand. You must have reached a certain minimum sugar content before you can harvest; not chaptalise too much, not add whatever you want to the wine. These are reasonable demands.
Some rules are more difficult to accept. Lately, we have been frustrated with the Italians, who, in all probability, are behind the rule that the grape name “vermentino” is no longer allowed to be mentioned on French (or any other country’s) wine bottles. The reason is that the name Vermentino is part of two Italian appellations, Vermentino di Gallura and Vermentino di Sardegna, and these, therefore, have exclusive rights to the grape name. How can someone claim exclusive rights to a grape name? (And then manage to get that rule accepted? Of course, they had already practised on the grape name prosecco, so they knew it worked.)
Winegrowers in southern France, including Corsica, are not happy. They have grown the grape for a long time and put the name on the label. Vermentino is becoming famous in France. Now they must instead use the grape’s French name, rolle, a less attractive name, they think. But a producer in Roussillon had a stroke of genius and called his wine, perhaps made on really rocky soil, Rock n’ Rolle.
However, Italians are not the only ones you can get tired of. A change in the rules in Alsace that also concerns a grape name has caused us to raise our eyebrows. Apparently, the producer’s association in Alsace voted for it already last year and now, since August 1st this year, this new rule applies in Alsace (those who feel thus compelled have two months to raise objections):
In order to be allowed to write “riesling” on the label, the wine must be dry. Dry means that the sugar content is a maximum of 4 grams per litre or a maximum of 9 grams, but then the acidity per litre must not be more than 2 grams lower than the sugar content.
This change to the rules is even stranger when you consider that it is now mandatory in Alsace to mention on the label whether the riesling wine is dry, semi-dry or sweet or mark the degree of dryness/sweetness on a scale. It is a good help for the consumer. One can wonder who does not understand that indication.
So why then force all riesling wines to be dry? Why do some (quite a few apparently) Alsatian producers want this rule? Traditionally, riesling has been allowed to exist in different degrees of sweetness; this is in the nature of the grape. In some years, a winemaker may believe that the wine is better with 10 grams of sugar. Yes, he can still make such a wine, but he cannot put “riesling” on the label, which – some believe – will confuse consumers who have been used to seeing the Alsace grapes on the label for many years. To complicate matters further, the new rule does not apply to the very sweet sélection de grains nobles (SGN) or the vendange tardive.
No riesling lover would deny the grape’s versatility. Putting a straitjacket like this on a grape like riesling feels very stupid.
Rules are good to have, but they should be good rules. Maybe there should be a rule against stupid rules?
The travel season is in full swing, that is one immutable rule at this time of the year.
We have, so far, done, among other things, Austria, Champagne, Bordeaux Veneto and some others. Lovely tours in beautiful autumn scenery and still so far with almost summer temperatures in most cases.
But it is often when you have the most to do that other “problems” arise. So the other week we were hit with a computer problem. (Who hasn’t been affected by that at least once?) When we were in Austria, all of a sudden all the “special characters (including Swedish letters) on BKWine Magazine disappeared. Instead it shows strange combinations of characters. We are working to sort it out, but just so you know, the content is still the same and in most articles, only the headline has been affected. So you can safely read on and discover more of the wonderful world of wine.
And now, on to wine tours:
Important about the wine tours to South Africa, February 8-18, and to New Zealand, March 12-27.
Last chance:
- South Africa in February – book before 15 October (!)
- New Zealand in March – book before 15 November
These are tours with unique and magnificent experiences.
Wine travel in harvest time
Plan a wine tour in the harvest season:
- Champagne
- Champagne and Bordeaux
- Bordeaux
New dates coming soon.
More info on our wine tours here. “World’s Top Wine Tours“. Tours with the people who know wine and who have an unrivalled experience of wine and tours.
Travel in wine regions with someone you trust.
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:
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- Champagne, September 27 – October 1
- Bordeaux and Champagne, Sept 27 – Oct 5
- Bordeaux, October 1-5
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- Chile-Argentina, 15-28 January 2024
- South Africa, 8-18 February 2024
- New Zealand, 12-27 March 2024
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.
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:
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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
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News from the World of Wine
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Short briefs on what’s been happening in the world of wine recently and other interesting things.
Harvesting at night saves electricity and gives better wine
Once, a while back, I was harvesting grapes in the middle of the night. It was in Cachapoal in Chile. We had headlamps to see what we were doing and to avoid as much as possible cutting off our, or anyone else’s, fingers instead of the bunches of grapes. (Read more about our night harvest in Chile in this BKWine Magazine article.) In Europe, harvest by machine at night or early in the morning happens. However, it is unusual to pick the grapes manually in the dark.
The cooperative Tutiac in Bordeaux has been harvesting, mechanically, its white grapes and red grapes for rosé at night for 15 years. The cooperative believes there are advantages to harvesting during the cool hours of the day if the daytime temperature is high. You save electricity, and you get better quality. The bunches enter the fermentation hall at a lower temperature; they do not need to be cooled down, and there is a reduced risk of oxidation because the grapes are less likely to be crushed if they are cold, and the cool temperature reduces the speed of oxidation too. This is important not least for the rosé wines. You want to get the right, light colour, and the cooler the grapes are when harvested, the smaller the risk of the juice being coloured by the skins. Read more: larvf
Read more on the advantages and drawbacks of machine harvest and manual harvest in this BKWine Magazine article. There are many myths on this subject.
Travel: Come on a wine tour to Bordeaux with BKWine. Or alternatively, come on a wine tour to Chile (and Argentina) with BKWine.
How do you identify what grape variety your vine is?
Sometimes it is difficult to know what grape variety you have in the vineyard or at home. For example, in Chile, people thought they had merlot in the vineyard until someone noticed that it didn’t quite look like and behave like merlot. It turned out that most of the merlot actually was carmenère. The traditional way of figuring out the grape variety is to look at the morphology of the plant, the physical form and external structure. For example, the shape of the leaves, the shape and colour of branches, the grape bunches etc. We’ve written about identifying grape varieties here. A legendary ampelographer (botanist specialised in grapevines) was Pierre Galet.
But if you want to figure out what grape variety you have in a vineyard or in your garden at home, there is an easier and more reliable method today. You look at the DNA of the plant. That is, of course, not something anyone can do. But now, one of the great vine researchers and scientists are offering that as a service. José Vouillamoz is a Swiss authority on grape-vine study, and in particular its DNA. He is the co-author of the book Wine Grapes, the seminal contemporary work on the issue. He now offers to identify grape varieties from samples by using genetic DNA markers (microsatellites), for a fee, of course. Read more about José’s work and also his grape identification services, and how you can contact him, here: josevouillamoz
New Zealand is much more than just sauvignon blanc
Sauvignon blanc is the primary grape in the New Zealand vineyards. But several other grapes do very well in the country. If you travel around the different regions, you realise that the variety in wine styles is more significant than you would have thought. Sauvignon blanc thus leads the way with around 27,000 hectares (a touch smaller than the Champagne region), much of it in Marlborough in the northern part of the South Island. Pinot noir comes in second place with about 5600 ha. A lot of it is in Central Otago, but there are excellent pinot noir wines in Wairarapa in the North Island, too. In third place will be chardonnay, with just over 3,000 hectares in the various regions.
Pinot gris is increasing and is now in fourth place with around 2800 ha. Central Otago is the region best known for its pinot gris. Merlot in fifth place with approx. 1000 ha is often used for Bordeaux blends. Riesling in sixth place has dropped slightly to just under 600 ha. It thrives well in Central Otago, where autumn is long and sunny. We have had fantastic syrah wines from Hawke’s Bay on the North Island. Syrah has 430 ha and is in seventh place. With just under 300 hectares, cabernet sauvignon is used for some highly sought-after Bordeaux blends, several from small picturesque Waiheke Island close to Auckland. Last on the top ten list are gewurztraminer and malbec. Read more: nzwine
Do not miss the last chance to sign up for our New Zealand adventure in March 2024.
Travel: Come on a wine tour to New Zealand with BKWine.
France and the USA are the biggest markets for French oak barrels
Oak ageing is closely associated with quality wines, and the French barrel makers are masters at producing the oak barrels wanted by the entire wine world. After several difficult years affected by fires in California and Australia, small harvests in France and problems with sea transport after Covid, the activity of the French coopers is now back to its usual level. Between April 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023, 684,912 oak barrels were sold, an increase in volume of 20% and value of 27% compared to the previous year. Exports increased by 18% in volume and 25% in value.
French wine producers bought 33% (30% in value) of this volume and the US 29% (31% in value). This is followed by Italy (7% in volume), Spain (7%) and Australia (5%). Considering that France produces more than twice as much wine as the US, we can conclude that oak ageing is more popular in America.
Silver Heights, China’s first biodynamically certified vineyard
China has received its first Demeter-certified vineyard. Demeter is the worldwide (private) certification for biodynamic agriculture. The winery is Silver Heights and is located in Ningxia in north-central China. We visited Silver Heights a few years ago; read more about that here
Silver Heights is run by Emma Gao and her French husband, Thierry Courtade, whom she met in Bordeaux while studying oenology. The winery previously had organic certification both in China and in the EU. It took six years of hard work to convert the property’s 70 hectares to biodynamic farming. Ningxia has good conditions for organic agriculture. They only get 200 mm of rain annually, so irrigation is necessary. On the other hand, they have few problems with fungal diseases. Read more: vino-joy
Read: more on organics and biodynamics in BKWine’s book Organic, Biodynamic and Natural winemaking.
Why haven’t Americans discovered the South African wines?
Many European countries (including Sweden) drink and appreciate South African wines. It has been that way ever since Sweden and other countries started importing the wines again after the fall of the apartheid regime in the early 1990s. The USA, albeit with an extensive wine import, has not at all discovered the charm of the wines from South Africa. Why is that?
It cannot only be because the country is far away, and few Americans have been there. Australia is also far away, but its wines are known. At the same time, South Africa’s are entirely unknown. South Africa has the smallest volume share of imported wine to the US at less than half a per cent, according to data from the IWSR Drinks Market Analysis from 2022. This is significantly lower than other major non-European wine countries. The next smallest volume share is Argentina, with four per cent.
Perhaps it is because South Africa lacks a locomotive, a well-known producer with the resources to market itself in the United States. And who can thus pull others into the limelight. But American importers and sommeliers with great enthusiasm for South African wines are doing their best. And as more famous regions, for instance Burgundy, are getting increasingly expensive, they are looking for alternatives, and why not a South African chenin blanc? Read more sevenfifty
Travel: Come on a wine tour to South Africa with BKWine.
Book now! The book before-date approaches rapidly.
The Sustainable Wine Roundtable promotes lightweight glass bottles
On our Austria tour earlier in September, we visited Birgit Braunstein in Burgenland, a biodynamic producer and tasted some of her delicious wines. Her focus is on sustainability, and her entire range is bottled in bottles weighing only 420 grams. It is still rare to come across higher-quality wines in such light bottles. We will therefore, with interest, follow a new project initiated by The Sustainable Wine Roundtable (SWR), an environmental forum for the wine industry where the Swedish and Finnish alcohol retail monopolies Systembolaget and ALKO are two of the founders.
Due to launch in October, the SWR “Bottle Weight Accord” aims to reduce the bottle weight of wine bottles. The goal is initially to reduce the current average bottle weight among SWR’s retail members from 550g to 420g before the end of 2026. SWR has done an in-depth study on wine bottle weight reduction co-financed by SWR’s retail members Alko (Finland), Lidl GB (UK), Systembolaget (Sweden), The Wine Society (UK) and Whole Foods Market (USA). Read more sustainablewine.
Read: more on wine and the environment in BKWine’s book Organic, Biodynamic and Natural winemaking.
Vintage 2023 in Bordeaux, somewhat happy faces after all
We ended up in the middle of the harvest when we visited Bordeaux around September 20th. We had expected to see some gloomy faces, but it was mostly happy faces. We knew about the severe attacks of downy mildew, a fungal disease that affected large parts of Bordeaux this summer, especially merlot, which accounts for over 60% of the plantings. And it didn’t look good in some places. At the small vineyard Paradise Rescued in Entre-deux-Mers, David Stannard says that parts of his vineyard turned completely grey in two days. “I estimate that 75% of all merlot in Bordeaux has been lost this year,” he says. He did 14-15 sprayings in his small vineyard, but even that was not enough.
The problems with mildiou, and in some places hail, does not necessarily affect the quality, it will probably be excellent this year, if you are careful with the sorting.
Travel: Come on a wine tour to Bordeaux with BKWine.
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Features of the Month
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Articles and features published on BKWine Magazine and on our wine travel blog and (occasionally) photography blog in the last month.
The richest people in France who also owns vineyards | Per on Forbes
You’ve probably heard it before. “How do you make a small fortune in wine? You start with a big fortune.” Looking at the list of France’s riches people, this seems to be only partially true. Many of France’s wealthiest persons or families own vineyards. However, there are only a few who have become wealthy thanks to their winemaking. In this article we look at who on France’s Rich List also own vineyards and which vineyards they own.
It is an impressive list with many famous, not to say super-famous names. For example, almost all of the big, famous champagne houses, the ones that “everyone” drinks, are owned by one or another of France’s multi-billionaires. (Perhaps one should instead go for the growers’ champagnes instead if one is not so keen on making the rich even richer.)
Read more in Per’s article on BKWine Magazine, originally published on Forbes: The richest people in France who are also vineyard owners | Per on Forbes
Travel: Come on a wine tour to Champagne with BKWine and meet the real people who make personal and characterful champagne.
An introduction to the wines of Etna
We have just launched this spring’s wine tour to Sicily. The trip takes you to the spectacular scenery of Etna so we could actually call it an Etna wine tour (but it is currently only on the Swedish tour program, but we can organise it as a custom tour in English). To give you some inspiration about Etna, here are some tips about wines you can buy and drink from outstanding producers. But first a general introduction to the wines on the slopes of the volcano.The volcano rises to an impressive 3,300 meters above sea level; the vineyards reach up to 1,200 m. At these high altitudes the climate can be surprisingly cold at night and in winter. It contributes to the elegance and lightness of the wines, which is dramatically different from the otherwise often very powerful Sicilian wines.
Read more in Per’s article on BKWine’s Travel Blog: An introduction to the wines of Etna and the wine tour to Sicily launched.
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Wine Tours
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Details 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).
Treat yourself to an unforgettable experience in the beautiful wine-lands together with some of the most knowledgeable wine people around. Book now!
Discover Champagne’s nine (!) grapes on the wine tour to Champagne
It is traditionally said that there are three grape varieties in Champagne, chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier, two red and one white. On the champagne tour we just recently did, we had the opportunity to get to know them, we tasted single grape champagnes of all three grape varieties, light elegant chardonnay, full-bodied, vinous pinot noir, and fruity, charming pinot meunier (or just “meunier” as it is sometimes called). But, as is almost always the case with wine, a truth is often one “with modification”. The three grapes are really only two, pinot noir and pinot meunier are genetically the same grape variety (but they certainly taste different). But, says the one who’s looked at the details, there are four more grapes! Yes, pinot blanc, pinot gris, arbane and petit meslier, so there are seven grapes in champagne. But these make up far less than one percent of the area so the chance of finding them is slim. But then there is a new grape: voltis, a “hybrid” allowed since 2021, but only as an experiment on a very limited area and thus nothing available to taste in a long time. In other words, eight (!) grapes. But it doesn’t stop there, they have also recently allowed chardonnay rosé, so there are actually nine grape varieties in Champagne. Or three, if you like. Easier to remember and closer to reality. And you will get a deep dive into all three on the wine tour in Champagne. Join us on this adventure.
Come on a wine tour to Champagne with us.
Book now!
- Champagne, September 27 — October 1, 2023 (next year’s dates coming soon)
And also: We have written an internationally award-winning book on Champagne, so you can hardly get a better guide to the region.
Your best wine and food experience in France? Bordeaux and Champagne combined wine tour
Where should you go to experience the best wine and food in France? In a way, one could say “anywhere”, because almost everywhere you go in France, you find outstanding cuisine and excellent wines. And yet, the two wine regions that stand out as role-models are Bordeaux and Champagne. It is these two that others strive to imitate. Or that’s perhaps not quite right. It is rather that others, who want to make excellent red or sparkling wine take inspiration from them. And, of course, both in Champagne and in Bordeaux you can find outstanding gastronomy. It is not necessarily the “flashiest” with crystal glasses and silver cutlery, but it is with magnificent raw material and world class talent. Some (most) of the meals we present you on this tour is in the cosy atmosphere of a small chateau or the private dining room of a wine producer. But we also show you the true soul of the wine makers and the wine region. You get to meet people who are really involved in the making of wine, whose life it is to make outstanding wine. That they will share with you, both their wine and their knowledge. A very special wine tour to two of the world’s top wine regions.
This is a unique opportunity to visit France’s two most famous wine regions in one enjoyable go.
Come and discover Champagne and Bordeaux with us.
Book now!
- Champagne and Bordeaux, September 27 – October 5, 2023 (dates for next year coming soon)
PS: We have written an internationally award-winning book about Champagne, and also one on Bordeaux. And nine other wine books. Can you think of any other wine tour operator with that in the baggage?
Royal wines, yes, but there is also another reality, which you get to experience on the wine tour to Bordeaux
King Charles III was recently in Bordeaux visiting a wine château on his French state visit. At the same time we had a visit on our most recent Bordeaux tour and happened to be at a château just five minutes away. King Charles should have come over to us because I can almost guarantee that we got better food and better wines. Our lunch visit is to a small chateau where, after the tour of the vineyard and the (spectacular) wine cellar, we sit down to lunch in the château’s dining room. And what a lunch. A lunch that does not pale in comparison to a two- or three-star restaurant. And, since we are at the chateau, of course we enjoy a series of wines from its own production. Nothing you can reasonably afford to treat yourself to in a restaurant… I would also say that the wines of “our” castle rate even a notch higher than the “king’s”. He should have come over! At another of our Bordeaux lunches, our host usually rummages around in the cellar and sees what he can come up with to treat us to this time. A gem from 199X perhaps? A 2011 magnum? Or why not both and some more? We never know in advance. But I digress, the tour is about wine, not just lunches. It will be a wine tour where you get to see what happens behind the scenes, not just the glossy facades, and discover lots of wonderful wines.
Join us for a fabulous Bordeaux wine tour.
Book now!
- Bordeaux, October 1-5, 2023 (dates for next year coming soon)
PS: We have written a book about Bordeaux, and have been travelling there since 1986. Can you find a better guide and tour operator?
Chile and Argentina, a thriving wine culture | the South America wine tour
Argentina and Chile are two exciting wine countries. On this tour, we explore the wine culture that exists in these countries. It has a longer history than you might think. They make wine here since before vineyards spread across the Medoc in Bordeaux. Today, the create wines with a lot of personality, while continuing to refine which grape variety is best suited to grow where. They push the limits of viticulture and venture to high altitudes (in Argentina) and far south (in Chile) in search of slightly cooler climates. We visit some of our favourites in Mendoza, Argentina, the district that accounts for 70 percent of the country’s wine production. In Chile, we will go to Maipo and Colchagua and we will also reach the Pacific coast and visit the wine districts of Casablanca and San Antonio and the amazing city of Valparaiso. Another highlight of the trip is the bus trip over the Andes. Unforgettable. We also manage to visit the big cities of Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile.
Come with us and discover the wine countries of Chile and Argentina.
- Chile-Argentina, 15-28 January 2024 (Dates for 2025 coming soon.)
More inspiration: You can get an even better feeling for what you will experience on this tour if you visit the latest tour’s own Facebook group. Lots of pictures and videos from the tour (join the group and you’ll get an update when we post new contents): The wine tour to Chile and Argentina 2023.
South Africa, a quality country to be reckoned with for wine | wine tour
Book before October 15!
People like to go to South Africa for various reasons, not least the nature, the beautiful location at the southern tip of Africa, safaris, golf… and then of course we have the wine. Which we want to make more people discover. South African producers had a tough time during the pandemic, even periodic sales bans. But now they are starting to feel optimistic again. There are still challenges to overcome but there is a lot of positive things happening in the wine industry today and it is becoming more and more dynamic. You will notice that during our visits when we talk to the winemakers who like to experiment and who fight to show that South Africa is a quality country to be reckoned with. We ourselves are already convinced of that. We know it is a fabulous wine country.
We visit the classics, Franschhoek and Stellenbosch, and also some of the “new” districts such as Walker Bay and Swartland, which will make you an avant-garde connoisseur of South African wine. The food is fantastic; it has influences from near and far. Cape Malay cuisine is a favourite. Join us in February next year, summertime and harvest time. It cannot get better.
Discover South Africa, the fantastic wine country, with us.
Book now!
Book before October 15!
More inspiration: You can get an even better feeling for what you will experience on this tour if you visit the latest tour’s own Facebook group. Lots of pictures and videos from the tour (join the group and you’ll get an update when we post new contents): The wine tour to South Africa 2023.
The wine tour with extra everything – wine, culture, nature, wilderness, big cities, gastronomy, and extra far away | the wine tour to New Zealand
Book before November 15!
In a fairly short time we have become accustomed to drinking wines from New Zealand. The world’s wine consumers quickly embraced the crisp and aromatic sauvignon blanc and the elegant and complex pinot noir. These two are the most widely grown grape varieties but on our journey from Auckland in the north to Central Otago in the south we will come across many others, such as chardonnay, riesling, pinot gris, syrah and merlot. Wines are the focus, but there will be a lot of other things on this tour as well. We enjoy amazing nature, meals with many different specialties, natural phenomena such as geysers and hot springs, the beautiful capital Wellington and some of the small towns that we pass on our journey through the country, a lovely boat journey between the North Island and the South Island. We cover a lot of things, but it never feels stressful. It is an extended pleasure.
Join us for a great wine, nature and culture experience on the New Zealand wine tour.
Book now!
Book before November 15!
More inspiration: You can get an even better feeling for what you will experience on this tour if you visit the latest tour’s own Facebook group. Lots of pictures and videos from the tour (join the group and you’ll get an update when we post new contents): The wine tour to New Zealand 2020.
