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Are we drowning in labels?
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The wine world is being flooded with labels. I recently read that Champagne Bollinger was awarded the label “Entreprise du Patrimoine vivant” (roughly “a company that keeps historical tradition alive”); I didn’t even know one existed. On the same day, I saw that a French wine producer had been certified regeneratively for the first time. Regenerative agriculture is about to become big in the US but is still relatively unknown in Europe. There are labels for volcanic wines, old vines (the OIV just defined it as more than 35 years, but do we really need such a definition?), vegan wines, heroic growers and much more.
And this is still before we have even seriously started looking at all the sustainability labels, far more important than the others. Labelling hysteria is big business. The producers of course pay for their certifications so they must think it’s worth it. But does the consumer care about which label(s) a wine has before buying it? When times are tough, research shows that the price determines what you buy. Among wine enthusiasts, it is region or producer, sometimes grape variety. If the wine then happens to be organic, it’s a bonus.
There is a group of consumers who absolutely want organic wine, but that group is small. More people buy organic than this small group of course, but then the organic label is not the main thing. The Swedish monopoly Systembolaget says their “sustainable choice” labelling (a home-grown umbrella label) is selling well, but since most “sustainable choice” wines are – slighlty contradictory – in the lower price ranges (so wines that sell well anyway) it’s hard to know if environment concern really played a role in the decision-making process.
Maybe the group looking at sustainability labels is bigger but probably not. Sustainability labels are so far quite unknown. There is a plethora of them, HVE, Terra Vitis, Fairtrade, Fair for Life, Carbon Neutral, Certified California Sustainable Vineyard, B Corp, Fair ‘n Green to name just a fraction. It is not easy for anyone to keep track of what they all stand for. Everyone wants to work for a better environment but focuses on different things. Maybe it is enough to see that there is a label, any label?
Some include everything from working in the vineyard to social justice. Others are more specific, such as Carbon Neutral, Zero Pesticides (zero traces of pesticides in the wine), Fish Friendly Farming, Salmon Safe (improve water quality), Fair Trade and Fair for Life (focus on workers’ conditions). Bee friendly encourages the planting of certain specific plants and bans spraying when the bees are most active. And so on.
Some labels have caused consumers to open their eyes, or alternatively to be unnecessarily alarmed (depending on how you want to look at it). “Vegan” – how can a wine not be vegan, people wonder, a legitimate question. “Zéro pesticides” – oops, do other wines contain pesticides? (No, hardly.)
Consumers being ignorant or uninterested may not be a big problem. The labels are just as much for the producers themselves. More probably. And that’s just fine. A label, whatever it may be, perhaps makes the producer make an extra effort. A sustainable certification forces the wineries to think about and rethink how they work. That a well-known Bordeaux château becomes B Corp-certified will probably not matter to the customers, but possibly to other châteaux and perhaps to some importers (and the monolith Systembolaget).
Many countries have set goals for their environmental ambitions, goals that will probably not be reached unless the governments tighten the environmental requirements on industry and agriculture. Soon, producers may be so tightly reined in by national or EU regulations that environmental labels on wine bottles will become redundant.
Until then, make time to read the label. And now there is also the ingredient list. My first was on the Beaujolais Nouveau bottle last week. Have you seen any yet?
If you want to know more about labels, sustainability, additives, spraying and how the wine affects the environment for better or for worse, you can read “The wine for the future”, perhaps the only book that in a thorough and concrete way – without myths or tricky shortcuts – covers these questions from a consumer perspective. Already published in Swedish under the name “Framtidens vin” and in the process of being published in English.
Our short travel notes at the end of the Brief
Perhaps – hopefully – you have noticed that at the end of the Brief, we always have some short text snippets that tell about upcoming wine tours. Maybe you think that it is the same text that is used over and over again. But that is not the case. Every month we make new short descriptions of our trips to give you a different angle, a new perspective on each destination. They will be published later on the travel blog at BKWineTours.com
If you are a little curious about one of our travel destinations, remember to take a quick look at the “travel snippets” at the end of the Brief.
Who is “I”?
Not a philosophical question at all, but just a purely practical matter. The brief is sent every month from Britt’s email address. This does not mean that everything is always written by Britt. BKWine is Britt and Per. We both stand for everything that is included in the Brief, especially the introduction where we share different thoughts and opinions on the wine world. But also the rest. Everything are things that we both stand for. Who wrote it doesn’t matter. Often it’s a bit of both of us. So “I” is actually “we”. As you can see from the signature.
Customised tours too
In the travel notes, you can read about the tours on our “open” program. But we also do many tailor-made trips, for private groups, wine clubs or the like. It can be to anywhere in the wine world. We have experience from around 40 wine countries (yes! Some yet to visit). It can be small groups or large. We have even done a wine tour for one person and for two. Once we had a quote for two hundred (which thankfully never materialised). The number of people is only a matter of price. The wine region to travel to is just a matter of inspiration. Always with transport and guide included, never “drive yourself”. And with some of the world’s leading wine experts as a guide as well. Can it get any better? Contact us if you are curious about a tailor-made wine trip.
We have tours in English and tours in Swedish. We do many more destinations in Swedish since we have many more Swedish customers. But we do all those destinations in English too, for bespoke tours, Bordeaux Burgundy, Rhone Valley, Piedmont, Rioja, Tuscany, Douro Valley, Austria, Sicily, Languedoc, and many, many more. See a longer list below.
The travel season is over. Long live the travel season!
Now all the autumn wine tours are over. It has been – we think – a fantastically successful season but many wonderful visits, excellent wines and gastronomic meals. And lovely travel guests!
It was particularly fun with this year’s new destination – Andalusia with a focus on sherry. All of us who were on that tour probably got a completely new view of what sherry is, it opened our eyes to what fantastic and surprising wines there are in the sherry district. And we got a good dose of Spanish gastronomy. We look forward to our next tour there to share this dramatically underrated wine with more wine lovers.
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 really last minute but we can, as it looks, take a few more guests on this tour.
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. No more bookings on this.
The third winter tour is to New Zealand. I should probably also call it “The Great” New Zealand tour. Very few seats left on this. Book now.
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.
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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:
- Chile-Argentina, 13-26 January 2025
- South Africa, 14-24 February 2025
- New Zealand, 11-26 March 2025
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- 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:
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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.
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Biodynamic agriculture turns 100 years old
Biodynamic agriculture turns 100 this year. It was in 1924 that Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy, gave his famous lectures to a group of anthroposophical farmers who worried that the new artificial fertilisers would deplete their soil. Anthroposophy is a controversial and difficult-to-understand “spiritual” philosophy and biodynamic agriculture is not easy to understand either. And it has its detractors. However, a number of wine producers, among them some famous ones, have adopted Steiner’s methods. (However, it is not at all the case that “almost all high quality producer works more-or-less biodynamically although they are not certified”, as is sometimes said.) Biodynamic viticulture is more popular than one would think, considering the strange preparations used in the vineyards. Demeter, headquartered in Germany, is the dominant biodynamic certification body, certifying around 1500 wine producers worldwide.
Read: Read more on biodynamic wines in BKWine’s book Organic, Biodynamic and Natural winemaking.
Serious surplus of grapes in California
Being a grape grower in California has not been easy this year. Nobody wants to buy their grapes. Even normally highly sought-after grapes like chardonnay from Sonoma and cabernet sauvignon from Napa have been hit by the drop in demand. Some grapes have not even been harvested; as recently as last year, they sold for $8,000-$12,000 per ton (which sounds like incredibly high prices). Experts estimate that thousands of hectares of vines will have to be pulled up to deal with the surplus. That a surplus crisis was on the way for several years has been clear, some experts now believe. Wine consumption in the US began to decline already in 2021. However, the experts also believe the balance will be restored as early as 2026. Now, it’s just a matter of uprooting the right vines, not the grapes that will be in demand again in two years. It is also very important that the vineyards are not just abandoned (and not torn up) – that could create a disaster for the whole area. Read more: winespectator
There is a similar issue with over-supply in France, but the way it is handled is quite different. See our other news item on France.
France will lose almost 30,000 hectares of vines
France will uproot almost 30,000 hectares of vineyards shortly. This was announced by FranceAgriMer, which is attached to the French Ministry of Agriculture. The growers who want to uproot vines have been able to apply for aid and the application period is now over. A total of 5,418 applications were submitted for an area of around 27,500 hectares. Among these requests, around 1,300 winegrowers intend to completely cease their activities. This applies to approximately 8,700 hectares. For others, no new plantings are permitted for the next five years.
The applications have come from several different wine regions around France. In Bordeaux, about 4,220 hectares will be uprooted; in Languedoc-Roussillon, around 10,500 hectares. The producers can now start to rip up their vines, a work that must be completed by June 2, 2025. €109.8 million will be paid in aid. It is vital that you really tear up your vineyard if you do not intend to take care of it anymore, which is why the state grants aid to the producers. There is a significant risk that abandoned vineyards spread diseases to other vineyards that are in use. Read more: franceagrimer
Beaujolais Nouveau is making a comeback
I drank an excellent Beaujolais nouveau on November 21st, and I’m sure many of our readers did, too. There is a cautious optimism among Beaujolais growers. Indeed, the Beaujolais nouveau celebration isn’t what it was even if Japan is doing its best to keep the tradition alive. The wine shops in France still proudly announce with a sign that “Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé” The glory days are over, but that does not mean that Beaujolais Nouveau is down for the count. Demand and price have stabilised, both at home and in the export market where, as mentioned, Japan is a big customer.
15 million bottles of Beaujolais nouveau went on sale on November 21 in 110 different countries. Roughly 50% of the production was exported this year. Beaujolais nouveau as a phenomenon was created in 1951, and until 1967, the official launch day was November 15. However, this created administrative problems when the 15th happened to be on a Saturday or a Sunday. In 1985 it was decided that Beaujolais nouveau would always be launched on the third Thursday of November. Beaujolais nouveau accounts for 30% of Beaujolais’ total volume. Read more: Vitisphere
The United Nations of the wine industry – OIV – turns 100 this year
The OIV (The International Organisation of Vine and Wine) was founded 100 years ago. Congratulations! OIV fulfils an essential function in the world of wine. The organisation currently has 50 countries as members, in other words, most of the world’s wine-producing countries. The organisation is based in Dijon in Burgundy and works with technical issues, regulations, and other relevant issues for the wine industry, in other words, everything that is vitally important for wine production and laws. OIV also publishes the wine world’s most reliable statistics on grapes, vineyard area, production, harvest reports, etc.
The OIV itself cannot decide, it is an “intergovernmental organization” that relies on the competence and authorities of the member countries. But they act as a forum for the member states to decide on common rules and standards and can also come with advice and recommendations. The result is that most countries thus agree on industry best practices. Read more: OIV
Prestigious award for photography on the theme of climate change from OIV to BKWine’s Per Karlsson
OIV (The International Organization of Vine and Wine) organised a photo contest in connection with its centenary (see separate news item), called The OIV Centenary Photo Contest Pau Roca. The competition is named after the organisation’s former director general, the Spaniard Pau Roca. The theme of the competition was “viticulture and wine production facing climate change”. Four photographers were given awards at the OIV photo contest: Kristian Kielmayer (Hungary), Michel Joly (France), Christophe Der (France) and … BKWine’s Per Karlsson (Sweden and France). We are very proud of this prize and of the appreciation for our photography. More on this later when we have more to report from the awards ceremony itself. You can see all the photos here OIV Centenary Photo Contest Pau Roca.
The cinsault grape – well adapted to cope with the climate crisis
The cinsault grape is unusually well adapted to cope with heat waves and dry weather. So, it is a grape that some wine regions should perhaps pay more attention to. It produces a light and bright wine with intense red fruit aromas and often has slightly lower alcohol levels. An excellent grape in many ways. This uplifting story from Northern California’s Lake County demonstrates the grape’s ability to survive in difficult circumstances. On the abandoned land of their newly purchased property, the Shannons discovered a thick and gnarled trunk half hidden among barbed wire and bushes. It turned out to be a 150-year-old cinsault that a Croatian family brought with them from Europe when they settled here in 1870. In collaboration with a nursery, they took cuttings from the vine and now, in 2024, they have made their first cinsault wine. Read more about this exciting story: wineenthusiast
Christmas wines? We have the recommendations
Portugal is the country to turn to for Christmas wines. They make some stunning fortified wines, very suitable for the winter season and, of course, Christmas. But it is not only port wine. Here are a few suggestions but go for any other wine in these categories too.
Port
Port Quinta da Devesa 10 Years Tawny Port, 0,5 l, ~20 euro. A tawny port has been in barrels for a long time and gets a wonderfully oxidized, nutty note in the taste.
Fonseca Guimaraens Vintage Port 2012. ~40 €. A vintage port has, despite its sweetness, tannins and structure. And a wonderfully intense black fruit. Fonseca’s Guimaraens is also very affordable for a vintage port.
Madeira
Madeira Blandy’s Madeira Colheita Malmsey 2016. 0,5 l, ~18 eur. A high-quality madeira is made from one of four white grapes, malmsey, sercial, verdelho or bual. These are indicated on the label. Malmsey is the sweetest of the four.
Moscatel
Moscatel Bacalhoa Moscatel de Setúbal 2021. Not as well-known as Portugal’s other fortified wines but well worth discovering. Moscatel de Setúbal ferments slowly with the skins and after a period of aging in oak acquires intense aromas of orange peel, dried apricots, figs, nuts…a true Christmas wine.
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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.
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A journey through Germany’s vineyards with wine styles, soil and terroir
“There is something very special about hearing Romana Echensperger talk about wine. She is not only one of the few to hold the prestigious title of Master of Wine but also a master at captivating audiences with her infectious laugh and engaging style. During a masterclass in Stockholm organised by German Wines, Romana took us on a journey through Germany’s various wine regions, where we got to dive into what terroir really means and how it affects the wines we drink.”
Read more in Göran van den Brink’s article on BKWine Magazine: A journey through Germany’s vineyards with wine styles, soil and terroir.
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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!
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Cousins in wine on the wine tour to Chile and Argentina
Chile and Argentina are neighbours. They share a very long border, 5,308 kilometres (3,298 miles), all the way down to Tierra del Fuego. But the wine industry is quite different on one side and the other as are the culture of the two countries. Argentina is very much a cousin of Europe, some six million Europeans arrived here in the glory days of the late 19th and early 20th century, mainly from Italy and Spain. Argentina benefitted economically from this immigration, as is often the case (it still is!). Europe was poor and Argentina was rich. This European influence can be seen both from the architecture and the wine culture. Argentinians are a wine drinking people. Chile, on the other hand, has had much more influence from the United States, although there’s also some European influence. It is today more prosperous and commercially much more outward looking, most of the wine is exported. The wine tour is a fascinating opportunity to discover these three pairs of cousins, Chile-Argentina, Argentina-Europe, and Chile-USA, while enjoying some of the continent’s best wine and food.
Travel with one of the world’s leading wine tour companies (*) and Britt & Per on this 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.
(*) And the only one whose partners have written 13 internationally award-winning wine books. :-)
Our most ambitious and best wine tour ever to South Africa
We’ve been doing wine tours to South Africa for fifteen years. We can’t get enough of it. It is such a great wine country and great country to visit. We originally started out with an itinerary that included Cape Town, Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. No surprises. Best-known regions. However, every time we go there we say to ourselves, “XYZ wine is so exciting, we must go there too”. And so it is. The tour plan has gradually grown to include almost every wine region of any importance in South Africa. We still start with Cape Town, of course, and also have Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, but now we also include Bot Riever (or Elgin), Walker Bay, Hemel en Aarde, Stanford, Swartland, Tulbagh, and Constantia. This is the best South Africa wine tour we have ever done and that’s what we want you to experience. You will come back home with some of the most wonderful experiences from the South African wine lands.
Travel with one of the world’s leading wine tour companies (*) and join Britt & Per on this South African wine tour.
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.
(*) And the only one whose partners have written 13 internationally award-winning wine books. :-)
Why should you travel all the way to New Zealand for wine?
I have not done the statistics, but it is quite possible that New Zealand is the country with the highest portion of quality wine compared to total production. (Let’s not get into the question of what “quality” is here. It’s complicated and we can discuss that we you come on the tour.) It is certainly one of the countries with the highest per-bottle price for the wine they export. Another reason to go there is that it has developed into one of the world’s top producers in a very short time. A success case story. The great thing with this is that when you go there you are likely to meet several of the original wine entrepreneurs, those who started the wave of good wine. A third reason is that export markets tend to focus on sauvignon blanc. There’s nothing wrong with “SB”, on the contrary, it’s great, and much more diverse than you would think. But there’s so much more. World-leading pinot noir, of course, but also syrah, cabernet, viognier, fiano, riesling, and so on. Finally, it is such a beautiful country to travel in, stunning nature, vast spaces and wonderful people. Join us on the New Zealand wine tour. We’ll show you all that.
Travel with one of the world’s leading wine tour companies (*) and join Britt & Per on this stunning 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.
(*) And the only one whose partners have written 13 internationally award-winning wine books. :-)
Next level up in your French wine exploration is, of course, Burgundy and the Rhône Valley | wine tour
You’ve been to Bordeaux. You’ve been to Champagne. What’s next? Why, Burgundy and the Rhône Valley, of course!
Burgundy and the Rhône valley in combination is what we offer you on the Grand French Wine Tour in 2025. It is actually amazing how different these four wine regions are, and we’re still in the same country. Bordeaux with its grand chateaux and famous wines. Champagne with big houses and small, independent “growers” and lots of glamour and glitter. Burgundy, on the other hand is rural. It is real French countryside. But today, thanks to their world-famous wines, a very thriving countryside. Small villages, narrow country roads, a bakery at the corner on the square offering fresh baguettes. With magnificent grand cru (and other) wines. And then we go south. Having passed Lyon (or, if you prefer, Lyons) we’re leaving butter country approaching olive oil country. Steep slopes along the Rhône River progressively give way to apricots and lavender. Thyme and rosemary in the air. And everywhere, there’s vineyards. From the Dense and dark syrah wines in the north to the opulent Châteauneufs in Provence in the south. This will give you an entirely different picture of France than what you’ve seen before.
Travel with one of the world’s leading wine tour companies (*) and join us on this luxurious Burgundy-Rhone wine tour.
- The Grand French Wine tour to Burgundy and the Rhône Valley, 17-25 September, 2025 (detailed programme coming soon)
(*) And the only one whose partners have written 13 internationally award-winning wine books. :-)
Dispel the wool over your eyes on champagne and experience the genuine side | wine tour
There is quite a lot about champagne that makes you think of wool over your eyes. “Buy our champagne and you’ll get it in a box that you can turn into an ice bucket”, “see our glittery (or golden) bottle”, “our fantastic multivintage cuvée ” (when it’s really just a regular blend) and so on . Champagne is the master of marketing. But champagne is also a great drink. It is an extraordinary and unusual wine. Some producers say that the best raw material is a neutral still wine, which then gets bubbles. It is also one of the most complicated wines to make with its double fermentation and long ageing. Don’t be mesmerised (blinded?) by the marketing glitz. Instead, let yourself be charmed by the good wines and fascinated by the real people behind the wine and their stories (forget the glossy marketers). That’s how we do our champagne tours, with excellent wines, the real people behind them, the wonderful gastronomy. And just a little, little glamour too.
- This tour can be made as a bespoke tour and is sometimes on our public programme.
Bordeaux gastronomy on a wine tour
What to eat in Bordeaux? What they don’t have in Bordeaux is any famous local cheese, but otherwise you have many gastronomic specialities. Grilled meat is high on the list, e.g. entrecôte grilled on vine branches (“sarments“) à la bordelaise served with bordeaux wine sauce, oysters from the Atlantic coast, lamb from Pauillac, duck e.g. in the form of a grilled duck breast or the tasty foie gras… There is even a local production of sturgeon caviar (like “Iranian”). Just a few examples, we cannot promise that all of this will be on our menus at the bordeaux tour but we can guarantee that there will be gastronomic highlights in some beautiful private château salons. Our meals in Bordeaux are star quality and accompanied by delicious vintages of wines from the châteaux’s own cellars. Sometimes they pick out some extra surprises just for us. That’s how it is when you arrive with curious and interested wine enthusiasts. In fact, not infrequently we hear this comment from the wineries visit, “it’s so fun when you come, you have such nice travellers”…
- This tour can be made as a bespoke tour and is sometimes on our public programme.
