—
Is a number worth a thousand words?
—
Everyone who reads the Brief is probably more or less a wine enthusiast. We are, of course. We have been called geeks and it has probably happened to one or two of our readers as well. Where the line is drawn between an enthusiast and a geek is not clear to me. Is there anything wrong with being a wine geek, other than being a bore when talking about wines to non-wine geek friends? Maybe it is the obsession with numbers.
You can drown in numbers when it comes to wine. How many grams of sugar and acidity does the wine have, what is the pH, how big were the barrels the wine was aged in and for how many months has the wine been there, how old were the barrels, how old are the vines, how many milligrams of sulphites does the wine contain, what is the percentage merlot, cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot (or any other grape varieties)? A non-wine nerd yawns and wonders why all this matters. But it is fascinating information. Numbers mark everything we learn about wine, from how many hectares the different regions have to the production of the last vintage.
Are wine lovers too hung up on numbers?
Numbers are important to the winemaker. The pH value shows whether the wine is stable, the residual sugar content, whether it is as dry as it should be, etc. Many numbers must be reported to the authorities. Winemakers are sometimes very precise. We met someone recently who wants 11.5% alcohol for the wines that are to be drunk young and a maximum of 13.3% for the more complex wines. But sometimes we must settle for a “it depends”. Sometimes they go by gut feeling. Sometimes they taste the grapes to decide whether to harvest them, instead of analysing and giving us an easy-to-understand number.
Perhaps we wine enthusiasts are exaggerating when we keep asking for more and more detailed specifications. Does it matter if it is 48% merlot and 52% cabernet sauvignon in a Médoc wine or vice versa? Not really, but still, it is useful to know. Wine is a large and complex subject and the numbers help us bring order to the chaos.
Young consumers today apparently just want to drink wine, not read about it. Wine is complicated, they think. There is a lot of speculation in the wine press about what it takes to lure them over from easy-to-understand beer to difficult-to-understand wine. Does it require glamour, celebrities, influencers or simply a different type of information with fewer numbers? Studies show that a back label with information about how the wine tastes is more appreciated than the number of months it has been in French oak barrels.
Not least, a sommelier must have a feeling for the kind of guests he is serving. No one wants to be fed (!) information they could not care less about at the dinner table. It is essential to know when it is appropriate to tell them that 50% of the wine has undergone malolactic fermentation and when it is more appropriate to tell them about the sheep that graze in the vineyard in winter.
Travel season
Now we have already made it through several tours, Champagne, Mallorca, Portugal, Austria and more. But it continues throughout October and ends in November with our new tourto the sherry district of Andalusia.
Winter wine tours
A tour that is really special is our South America wine tour that takes you to Chile and Argentina in January. It is perhaps our most exotic trip juxtaposing these two Latin American countries and also an absolutely fantastic journey over the Andes. If you want to come along, you need to act NOW. Book before 15 September. Booking extended to let more wine enthusiasts join: book now!
We have two other very special tours this winter. First, The Great South Africa Tour, which takes you to almost every wine region in South Africa. A unique insight into South Africa’s wines that no other tour can give you. Book before: 15 October.
The third winter tour is to New Zealand. I should probably also call it “The Great” New Zealand tour. From north to south over 16 days, you get a view of this new and modern but far-away wine country that few others have. Be one of the first to realise that New Zealand has so much more to offer than “just” sauvignon blanc. Not least nature and culture. A so charming wine country. Book before 15 November.
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
Wine editors to the national encyclopaedia, Forbes.com contributors, award-winning wine book authors, wine tour advisors to the UN and national wine organisations, wine judges … and, above all, passionate wine travellers.
If you appreciate what we do, you can help us:
Tell your friends about the Brief or send it to them.
Like us and follow us on social media:
BKWine Magazine on Facebook | Wine Tours on Facebook
—
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:
- Chile-Argentina, 13-26 January 2025
- South Africa, 14-24 February 2025
- New Zealand, 11-26 March 2025
–
- Burgundy and the Rhone Valley, 17-25 September 2025 (program coming soon)
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:
—
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.
—
Natural virus control instead of spraying in South Africa
Mealybugs are a feared enemy in the vineyards in California, Oregon, South Africa, and other places. These tiny bugs are dangerous because they spread the leaf roll virus (court noué in France) which causes the vine’s leaves to turn red and shrivel with reduced harvest volume as a result. Infected vines only live for 15–20 years and produce lower quality. One way to combat mealybugs is to buy canned predatory insects that you release into the vineyard. That is precisely what the well-known South African winery Vergelegen is doing. Together with the companies SkyBugs and Aerobotics, they release predatory wasps and ladybug beetles, indigenous to South Africa, on their vineyards. SkyBugs provides the insects, while Aerobotics supplies the drones that drop them from 30 meters (in the pupa stage) above the vines. A natural way to keep the vineyards free at least from this pest. Read more: vergelegen
Travel: Come on a wine tour to South Africa with BKWine. 2025 tour soon to be launched.
A few places available on the February tour!
See: See pictures and videos from South Africa 2024 in the wine tours Facebook group.
Reduced wine harvest volume in France after an unequal battle against the forces of nature
In France, the harvest and fermentation are in full swing. In many places the harvest is finished. The weather has caused problems in many regions, and the Ministry of Agriculture estimates that the harvest will be around 18% lower than last year. The volume is estimated at 39.3 million hectolitres. Some regions have been hit harder than others. In the Jura, the harvest is about 70% lower than usual due to spring frosts and fungal diseases. The volume in the Loire Valley has decreased by 30% and in Bourgogne-Beaujolais by 25%. The fungal diseases have also been challenging to combat here, and Beaujolais was also severely hit by hailstorms.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, this year has been particularly challenging for almost all wine regions in France. The severe fungal disease downy mildew, hailstorms, frost, as well as coulure and millerandage, two diseases that occur during damp and cool weather and that cause the bunch to have much fewer grapes, have all had a significant impact on the harvest. Despite the challenges and reduced volume in some regions this year, many winegrowers are optimistic about the quality of the wines.
You will get more fresh and direct harvest reports when our hectic wine tour season is over.
Who uses French oak barrels?
That France has the world’s largest production of oak barrels will come as no surprise. Most of the world’s wine regions buy French oak barrels of various sizes and shapes. But which country buys the most barrels? France has the largest market share in both value (33%) and volume (36.5%). This is followed by the USA (31% in value, 28% in volume), Spain (7% in value, 8% in volume), Italy (6% in value, 6% in volume) and Australia (4.5% in volume, 4% in value).
The French coopers sold 640,600 oak barrels of various sizes in the last financial year. That is a decrease of 6%. This decline applies above all to the export market; sales in France have been stable. The decline in the export market could partly be due to an increase in the production of white wines (which are generally less aged in oak) and reduced volume in some countries/regions due to difficult weather conditions. Read more: tonneliersdefrance
Why not go to Mallorca for a wine tasting of unique grapes?
Local grapes are on the rise in many parts of Europe. This is also noticeable in Mallorca, an island that is so far better known for its beaches than for its wines. But it is only a matter of time. Plenty of delicious wines with character are made here. Although around half of the vineyard surface is planted with French and Spanish grapes, the indigenous varieties are coming more and more and we guess that it is precisely these unknown grape varieties that the tourists want to discover when they come to Mallorca.
One of our September wine tours went to Mallorca and one of my favourite discoveries was the red grape callet. Don’t be fooled by the colour, which is light as a cinsault. There is a lovely intensity in the aromas and a refreshing red berry fruit. Another unique variety is mantonegro. You can read more about wine and exciting producers from Mallorca on BKWine Magazine soon.
The frost was worse than the rain for wine producers in Austria
We just got back from Austria and of course we were wondering how the vineyards had coped with the huge amounts of rain that came around the 20th of September. ”We will have one of the smallest harvests for many years”, says Franz Leth Jr, at Weingut Franz Leth in Wagram in Lower Austria. But the fact is that it is not because of the rain. “We had massive frost damage in April. We didn’t need the heavy rain (280-300 mm) but it didn’t do that much damage to the grapes.” He is happy with the quality though and that is the case with all the wine growers we met. But most of them will have smaller volumes. Birgit Braunstein in Burgenland brought in her harvest before the rain. But she will still only get 50 % of a normal harvest. But yes, some growers did unfortunately suffer from the rain.
The harvest started very early this year in Austria due to early budding of the vines and periods of very hot weather during summer. At 2 million hectolitres, the volume of wine will be considerably lower than the average over the last few years, says Austrian Wines.
—
Features of the Month
—
Articles and features published on BKWine Magazine and on our wine travel blog and (occasionally) photography blog in the last month.
—
Baden, challenges Burgundy with its red wines | German tour, part 4/6
The Baden wine district stretches 400 kilometres in a north/south direction along the border with France all the way down to Lake Constance. The most famous of the areas in Baden is the Kaiserstuhl, which is among the warmest and sunniest in Germany. This is home to some of the most famous spätburgunder wines in the country. The warm climate here means that the wines are often fuller and stronger than further north.
Producers in this episode:
- Franz Keller, Oberbergen
- Bernhard Huber, Malterdingen
This is part of a series on German wines, and above all a selection of quality German producers in five wine regions in Germany. This is the result of BKWine’s reporter Göran van den Brink’s big German tour in the summer of 2024, in six parts.
Read more in Göran van den Brink’s article on BKWine Magazine: Baden, challenges Burgundy with its red wines | German tour, part 4/6.
Palatinate (or Pfalz), Germany’s Orchard, 2023 | German tour, part 5/6
The Palatinate, or Pfalz in German, with its warm climate grows all kinds of fruits and perhaps Germany’s best asparagus. The wines from here are a little more broad-shouldered and fruit-dominated than from the cooler Rheingau and Nahe, but it is a large district with many different microclimates and soils so it is difficult to generalize.
Producers in this episode:
- Bürklin-Wolf, Wachenheim
- Christmann, Gimmeldingen
- Rings, Freinsheim
- Seckinger, Niederkirchen bei Deidesheim
This is part of a series on German wines, and ,above all, a selection of quality German producers in five wine regions in Germany. This is the result of BKWine’s reporter Göran van den Brink’s big German tour in the summer of 2024, in six parts.
Read more in Göran van den Brink’s article on BKWine Magazine: Palatinate (or Pfalz), Germany’s Orchard, 2023 | German tour, part 5/6
Rheinhessen, from bulk to Weltklasse | German tour, part 6/6
Rheinhessen is Germany’s largest wine region both in terms of area and volume. Most of the German bulk wines that are sold in bag-in-box and funny bottles are made here. But Germany’s answer to the DRC (Domaine de la Romanée Conti), Keller riesling G-Max and a number of other top wines from world producers such as Wittmann, Thörle and Battenfeld-Spanier and Kühling-Gillot are also made here.
Producers in this episode:
- Weingut Thörle, Saulheim
- Wittmann, Westhofen
- AdamsWein, Ingelheim
This is part of a series on German wines, and above all a selection of quality German producers in five wine regions in Germany. This is the result of BKWine’s reporter Göran van den Brink’s big German tour in the summer of 2024, in six parts.
Read more in Göran van den Brink’s article on BKWine Magazine: Rheinhessen, from bulk to Weltklasse | German tour, part 6/6.
Wines from North Macedonia, with Zvonko Herceg | Per on Forbes
Nestled in the centre of the Balkans is the country called North Macedonia. It is a mountainous place that reaches an impressive 2,752 metres (9,030 feet) at Mount Korab on the Albanian border. They are famous for their intense and powerful wines made from the vranec grape, but that is not the only thing they have to offer the curious wine lovers. There are several other exciting local grape varieties, as well as international grapes. To get a better understanding of the Macedonian wines, I sat down and had a chat with someone who knows them better than most, Zvonko Herceg, the president of the Macedonian Association of Sommeliers. We talked about some of the unique qualities of Macedonian wines and what to look for if you’re a novice drinker of Macedonian wines (to be honest, most of us are). And, of course, some details about the famous vranec (vranac) wines.
Read more in Per’s article on BKWine Magazine, originally published on Forbes: Wines from North Macedonia, with Zvonko Herceg | Per on Forbes.
The OIV World Wine Congress will be in Moldova in June 2025
The world congress of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) will take place in Moldova in 2025. The OIV is an intergovernmental body reuniting almost all the world’s wine producing countries. It works on technical issues, regulations, health, statistics, and other critical issues for the industry. And it organises the OIV wine book awards competition. Moldova is a small country in eastern Europe, but a country where wine counts big, perhaps the country where wine counts the most for the national economy.
Read more in Per’s article on BKWine Magazine: The OIV World Wine Congress will be in Moldova in June 2025.
Continued renaissance for Moldovan wines, dinner with Moldova’s Wine Boss | Per on Forbes
Although wine has been made for thousands of years in eastern Europe, many of the countries can really be thought of as “New World” wine countries. During the Soviet repression, the focus was on producing large quantities of bulk wine. It is only after the disappearance of the Iron Curtain that the quality of the wine became a factor. But today it is a critical factor, in an increasing international and increasingly competitive wine world. One of those countries is Moldova, wedged in between Ukraine and Romania. A few years ago (before covid) we, BKWine, had the opportunity to make a thorough review of the wine industry in Moldova, visiting almost all of the wineries of note. At the time, we noted that there was a great potential but that there was also much work to be done. What has happened since? We had the opportunity to explore that over a delicious French dinner together with Stefan Iamandi, the new director of the National Office of Vine and Wine (Wine of Moldova), when he visited Paris earlier this year. The story he told was exciting.
Read more in Per’s article on BKWine Magazine, originally published on Forbes: Continued renaissance for Moldovan wines, dinner with Moldova’s Wine Boss | Per on Forbes.
—
Wine Tours
—
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!
—
What is better, Valparaíso, the Andes, the wine or the gastronomy? | wine tour Chile-Argentina – URGENT!
Everyone probably has some inner vision of what it is like in South America. And everyone probably has some small (or big) longing to get there at some point. But what attracts you the most? Who can’t imagine views of the Pampas with Carmencita (ie little Carmen) or Valparaíso? Who doesn’t know the great Argentinian beef (which is actually just as good in Chile)? Usually, they even indicate it on menus. The Andes mountain range where the condors fly high, actually up to 6500 meters (21,000 ft), as high as the highest mountain peak. But one should not forget Buenos Aires and its tango. Today, malbec from Argentina and carmenère from Chile are also world famous. Everything is special and very uniquely South American. And nothing is quite as one imagines. Only more amazing. This South American tour is of course a bit special, with a focus on the fantastic food and wonderful wine, but we have time for everything else too. Everyone deserves to come to Chile and Argentina at some point in life.
Join us for a wine adventure on the wine tour in Argentina and Chile.
Very urgent to book! Only a few places left.
- Chile-Argentina, 13-26 January 2025
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.
A wine and gastronomy tour to South Africa like no other
You may think that it is easy to arrange a wine tour to South Africa, whether you do it yourself or use a “regular” tour operator. And it is in a sense; the language is English, negligible time difference, etc. But then there will inevitably be the usual winery visits that everyone does, the (mostly) big famous houses with international marketing, the restaurants and places that receive tens of thousands of tourists. That’s not what we want. (And you?) We’ve been doing wine tours to South Africa for fifteen years and know where to find the gems. We take you to what has to be one of South Africa’s very best winery restaurants where we eat and drink at international top class level. But it is a bit out of the way, so few find it. We show you the breadth of wine styles, the very changing climates and nature from cool on the coast to next to desert inland – not just the plain old places closest to Cape Town. Or the hotel that gives one the feeling of being a colonial mansion from the 19th century. And much else, which others cannot find or think is too complicated to do. If you want a very special wine and food tour to South Africa, you have found the right place.
Urgent to book! Last booking date: 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 2024.
An adventure on the other side of the globe, with wine, food, nature, culture | New Zealand wine tour
It is in a way hard to imagine what it’s like on the other side of the globe. That’s where New Zealand is (if you’re in Europe). A line through the centre of the earth ends in Spain. When you go there, to NZ, you often take the opportunity to stop on the way, Singapore, Hong Kong, Sydney, Seoul, Los Angeles… until you reach the fantastic final destination New Zealand. The country is a mixture of many different things. A spectacular nature that has beautiful subtropical beaches, coasts with fish and shellfish, Mount Cook with its glaciers (we visit it) almost as high as Mount Everest, green meadows with sheep and cows, bubbling hot geysers, a west coast where it rains 5000 mm (we don’t go there, we stay on the sunny side). So beautiful! A culture that mixes Old English with Māori with Asian. Then we have the fantastic wines that are much more than “just” sauvignon blanc; we meet several of the original pioneers (the wine business is actually quite new here), who welcome us with open arms. It is difficult to describe such a “big” and long journey in a few short words. It’s an exciting adventure and a fantastic tour!
A great wine, nature and culture experience on the New Zealand wine tour.
Urgent. Book now! Only a few seats left.
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 2024.
Burgundy and the Rhône Valley, two role-models for the wine world | wine tour
This 9-day tour is a great way to experience exiting wines, stunning scenery and world class gastronomy in France. We will take you through Burgundy, Northern Rhône and Southern Rhône. Our bus will take us from Beaune down to Avignon, which is close to the Mediterranean.
The tour starts in the Côte d’Or, Burgundy. We will stay in the charming town of Beaune, famous for its many wineries and its stunning Hôtel Dieu (also called Hospice de Beaune). After three days of tasting Burgundy wines, we continue to Tain l’Hermitage in the northern Rhône, known for its elegant Syrah wines. The tour ends in Avignon with visits to Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas and other famous wine villages.
A perfect combination of wine, food, and culture! Program will be published soon.
- The Grand French Wine tour to Burgundy, Northern Rhône, and Southern Rhône, 17-25 September, 2025
