Ninety nine and a half – November was quite simply not a good month to make issue one hundred. You will have to wait until December!
We have just arrived home after 5 days in Apulia in southern Italy. We took part in an event called Apulia Wine Identity, initiated by 21 producers in the area who want to make their wines more known to the world. They particularly wanted to highlight the three local grapes primitivo, nero di troia and negroamaro. We will tell you more about the wines and the producers in coming Briefs but we can already now reveal that we tasted a lot of wines that were both interesting and delicious. And sometimes simply delicious. And sometimes simply interesting…
Puglia is well worth visiting, not only for the wine but also for its magnificent towns. We spent a few nights in the amazing baroque city of Lecce which is truly a unique city with well preserved and beautifully renovated palaces, houses and churches from the 17th century. We also visited Trani a little bit further north, splendidly situated by the sea. In the harbour the fishermen deliver their daily catch of the local speciality canocchie. I think the English name is mantis prawn (and in French it is cigales de mer). In any case, they are delicious.
Back in Paris the sky is not Mediterranean blue but of a more greyish colour. But the Christmas decorations are all in place and now it is soon time to open a bottle of port wine and to sit by the fire (if you are lucky enough to have one) and crack some walnuts.
Earlier in November Britt was in Sweden to visit one of the big food and wine shows in Stockholm. Unsuspecting she was invited for lunch by Munskänkarna (the world’s biggest wine tasting association), which was just a ruse to get her close to the stage – she was called up on the stage and given the honorific title Wine Personality of the Year 2012 for her long time promotion of good wine and wine culture. i can tell you she was surprised! Read more about that later in the Brief. We cannot help being quite proud and we hope you permit us to show off a little bit: Wine Profile of the Year 2011, Best Wine Book of the Year 2010 (in Sweden), World’s Best Wine Book for Professionals 2011, World’s Top Wine Tours by Travel+Leisure…! :-)
But before we leave you to this month’s Brief, don’t forget to look at our wine tours for next year. We offer tours to classical regions like Bordeaux, Champagne and Tuscany. If you are a group of people, small or large, we will be happy to organise a tour for you, to a wine region anywhere in Europe, or even in the rest of the world!
That would also make an excellent Christmas gift for the wine lover. (You can always give it to yourself….) We can arrange for a beautifully printed gift card if you want to give a gift. Just let us know and we will send it to you
And if we may wish for a Christmas gift from you, or actually two:
1 – Tell your friends about the BKWine Brief! Make sure they sign up for our free subscription!
2 – Try social media! “Like” us on Facebook or “Plus 1” us on Google. Click on the Facebook and +1 buttons on our pages. Try it for example on BKWineTours.com: click on FB Like and on G+1! The buttons are on every page. Try it! It will be a of great service to us.
And now, on to the Brief!
Britt & Per
PS: Recommend to your friends to read the Brief!
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What’s on at BKWine Tours
“World’s Best Wine Tours” – Travel + Leisure Magazine, on TravelAndLeisure.com
Preliminary 2012 wine tour program
- Bordeaux 9-13 May
- Bordeaux 19-23 September
- Toscana 10-14October
- Champagne 14-18 November
Details soon to be published.
For more information please contact us on email or on phone (we’re on French time), or go to our wine travel site on www.bkwinetours.com!
What do people think about a wine tour with BKWine?
That is of course a question that we think is very important. We want it to be a wonderful and memorable experience for everyone. Here are some of the comments we’ve had from customers this season:
- “Many thanks for a fantastic trip. You are so keen to make everything the best for your guests and you are so knowledgeable about wine. A pleasure to travel with you.”, W-A
- ”Thank you for a wonderful trip to Umbria and southern Tuscany. Wonderful in many ways – our initial ideas for the trip on food and wine in Umbria and Tuscany – and discovering sagrantino and sangiovese – were more than fulfilled”, I & P in Umbria and Tuscany
More wine tour customer testimonials here.
Custom wine tours
We also make custom designed wine tours – on-demand tours for you and a group of friends, for your company (maybe to scout new winegrowers?), for a special event… We can combine winery visits and wine touring with other activities: gastronomic workshops, visit to an oyster farm, truffles hunting, cheese making, and more. We’ve done tours for wine clubs, for sommelier educations, for corporate events, for wine importers, for wine course study groups… just to mention a few.
More info on the custom designed and bespoke BKWine wine tours and travel here!
Wine tours in Finnish
We also do wine tours in Finnish. And in German, Norwegian, Spanish…
Do you want the latest news and updates on our wine travel activity? Subscibe here! (Second alternative BKWineTours.com)
From the World of Wine
Domaine de la Meulière, Chablis Premier Cru Mont de Milieu Vieilles Vignes 2008 | Britt’s Wine of the Month
I normally prefer the crispy, fresh style of Chablis but I also like this powerful Mont de Milieu, a delicious wine made by Vincent Laroche at his family vineyard in the small village of Fleys (another Laroche family than the one one thinks of usually in the context of Chablis). A very small part, 5 %, of the wine is aged in barrels. I don’t want the wine to get oak aromas, says Vincent, but the oak gives some oxygen to the wine and it opens up the aromas. The wine if fresh despite the full bodied character and there are some butter scotch and honey in the aftertaste. Drink with a fish or a fowl. A creamy sauce will be perfect. www.chablis-meuliere.com
Britt Karlsson, BKWine, elected Wine Profile of the Year
Munskänkarna is the world’s biggest wine tasting club with almost 24 000 members (yes indeed!). Since a few years back the pick each year a person that they honour with the title “Wine Profile of the Year”. This year the honour was bestowed on Britt Karlsson, BKWine, when she, unsuspecting, was visiting the biggest Scandinavian gastronomy and wine show in Sweden in November (Mitt Kök).
The motivation reads like this:
“For many years Britt Karlsson has promoted the interest for wine. With her newsletter, articles, books, conferences and wine tastings she has contributed to an increased awareness and knowledge of wine and of wine producers. Stories of the individual wine producer and his ideas on how to grow and make wine are often brought to the fore and show in interesting ways the people behind the wine.
Through a broad program of exciting wine tours both the beginner and the more experienced wine enthusiast can get their appetite for both food and wine satisfied.
Britt shares in a commendable way all her knowledge and experience to the benefit of all wine lovers.
With this, the Munskänkarna Association can with joy and pride honour Britt with the title Wine Profile of the Year 2011.”
A big thank you!
Buvons Nature, wine show for ”natural wines” in Paris 9-11 December
Buvons Nature (~ drink natural) is the name of a wine show for “natural wines”. “Natural wines” is a rather vague denomination for a philosophy that wants to reduce (but not eliminate) the intervention / treatment in the vineyard and in the wine cellar. Sometimes they are touted as more healthy wines, with often quite dubious arguments. But it is certainly a growing trend today, or at least a strong wine niche. One should not confuse “natural wines” with organic or biodynamic wines. These follow strictly defined rules, which “natural wines” do not. If you are interested in “natural wines” you should come to Paris on December 9-11 when the wine fair Buvon Nature is on at Espace Beaujon, 208 rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré buvonsnature.over-blog.com
Champagne in Beaujolais?
We all know that Champagne is protecting its name with an almost fanatical intensity. God help the non-champagne-producer who puts the name of Champagne on the label. We read in the French wine magazine La Revue du Vin de France that the latest region to experience the wrath of the Champagne producers is Fleurie, one of the cru villages in Beaujolais. In Fleurie there is a vineyard (lieu-dit) with a very good terroir, called ”En Champagne”. Apparently it has been called that way for great many years. Some producers but the name of the label, the way they do in Burgundy. But if the mighty Champagne wins the case they have to stop. Is it reasonable to monopolize a name like that?
Åsa’s Pick of the Month is not a wine but: the best way to taste olive oil!
This month I will not give you a wine pick, says Asa. Instead I will recommend something that can be more of a gastronomic experience. When the tourist season is finished, the harvest is over and stored in the barns, or the cellars, the Italians begin putting on the table all the delicacies that autumn and winter brings.
End of October is when you press the olives and who can resist a novello, the newly pressed olive oil on a slice of grilled bread (or toast if you do not have an open fire) that has been rubbed with a clove of garlic and sprinkled with salt? Try it! Even if you can not get your hands on a novella you can do it with any good quality olive oil. It requires a little bit of preparation but it is well worth it. I have tried it and I promise you it is delicious.
This is how the Italians do when they taste the Olio Novello on a bread: Make think slices of fresh white bread. Grill the slices over a fire or in the oven (it is preferable to do it this way rather than in a toaster). When the bread is golden-brown you rub the surface with a clove of garlic that you have cut in half. Sprinkle with some salt and pour a good measure of olive oil on the bread. Don’t skimp on the oil. You’re supposed to get all oily and messy. (You can always lick your fingers afterwards.) You also need a glass of decent quality Italian everyday wine: a Chianti, Valpolicella or a Dolcetto would go perfectly with it. And then you can just sit back and enjoy. Just like we do in Italy at this time of the year!
Michelin star to Porto: The Yeatman
Porto, the second city of Portugal, has received its first Michelin star. The honour went to the restaurant at the new luxury hotel The Yeatman that opened in the summer of 2010. Well, actually it is not Porto that has received the star; it is Vila Nova de Gaia, where The Yeatman is situated with a spectacular view over the Douro River and the city of Porto on the other side. We have not yet eaten at the Yeatman but le chef Ricardo Costa is said to cook Portuguese food with a modern twist.
Read more here www.the-yeatman-hotel.com
New muselet for the champagne bottle
Will this new invention be accepted by the Champagne producers? It is not easy to introduce new closures in the Champagne region (we recall Champagne Duval-Leroy’s attempt a couple years ago, that failed due to regulations). Perhaps Pierre-Eric Jolly will have more luck with his invention. At first sight, it is not a great revolution. He has simply invented a wire cage (muselet) that has three wire legs (shaped like a Y) instead of four. This new wire cage will be combined with a plastic cap, made to 80% of recycled plastic. Pierre-Eric Jolly produce champagne in the Aude and he sees his invention as a saving of both money and the environment. With the Y wire cage you use 41% less steel wire. Pierre-Eric Jolly estimates that if all producers in Champagne changed to the Y wire cage it would save 105 000 km of wire each year (two and a half times the circumference of the earth!).
Who will win – Champagne or Burgundy?
At the beginning of next year president Sarkozy will decide if he will choose Champagne or Burgundy to be the French candidate for the 2012 UNESCO world cultural heritage. There is of course also the possibility that none of them will win. There are other cultural candidates.
Burgundy is stressing the climats in its application. Climat is something very Burgundian. It is the name of the many small vineyards and parcels of land that have been identified, often a very long time ago, as specific terroirs. The Côte d’Or has hundreds of them, they are all called something and this name is often mentioned on the label. Some are more famous of course, like the grand cru or the premier cru, but also many climats in the village-appellations are recognized as having a specifically favourable terroir.
Champagne, in its application, is stressing not only the landscape of vineyards, but also the treasures that are found underneath Reims and Epernay. The cellars with millions and millions of bottles. Read more about the Burgundy application here: www.climats-bourgogne.com and more about Champagne here www.paysagesduchampagne.fr
In 1999 Saint Emilion in Bordeaux was included as a UNESCO world cultural heritage. Some other wine regions on the list are the Douro-Valley in Portugal and Tokay in Hungary.
Château de Respide, vineyard in Graves | BKWine Tips
There is much talk about the expensive Bordeaux wines but when you know where to look you can find very well made and delicious wines for 10-12 euro. A fairly new acquaintance is Château de Respide, owned by Pierre Bonnet. The chateau is in the southern part of Graves, just outside of Langon. Pierre makes white and red wines. The first white, made of Sémillon and Sauvignon blanc, is an early bottled, very fresh wine with a pleasant minerality and almost a saltiness in the taste (5.40 euro). The second white, Château Respide Callipyge, is aged 9 months in oak barrels which give it a very different character compared to the first white. This is a full bodied wine with some fatness although the freshness is still present. Will go very nicely with a curry, says Pierre.
The reds are also made in different styles. The Château Respide Rouge ages six months in oak and is made in a fruity, easy-to-drink style. A good quality Bordeaux for 8.10 euro. Château Respide Callipyge is made from 45% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% of Petit Verdot. This wine spends 12 months in oak. A more “serious” Bordeaux, for storing up to 15 years if you like, but you can also drink it young. A bargain at 11.50 euro.
Château de Respide, Graves, Vignobles Pierre Bonnet, www.chateau-de-respide.com
December – the port wine mont
December is a good month for port. Some people do not drink port wine at any other period. And that is a shame of course. Port wine is well suited for many occasions.
The grapes for the port wine are grown in the Douro Valley in northern Portugal. It is a spectacular wine region where the grapes grow on steep, sometimes very steep, slopes. Today not only port wine is made here. The traditional grapes also perform well on their own, with no alcohol added, which is perhaps not so surprising.
Some interesting figures:
Area Douro Valley: 45 700 hectares of which over 32 000 hectares can be used for port wine.
Exports: The most important markets are:
- France is by far the largest market with a market share of 29%. Most of what is drunk in France is simple ruby being drunk as an aperitif at bars or at home.
- The Netherlands (14.7%)
- Belgium (12%)
- Portugal (11.4)
- Britain (9,9 %)
It is a bit surprising that Britain, which is the classic port wine country, is only the fifth largest market. But perhaps the days are long gone when the ladies left the room while the men lit their cigars and passed around the port? But England is different from the other major markets. Only half of the port wine imported is standard port, the rest is premium port. Other countries that prefer the premium quality over standard port is the U.S., Norway and Canada.
What type of port wine do you prefer – bottled aged or oak aged?
Vintage Port
Vintage means that the wine comes from a single vintage. Vintage is not made every year, on average, about four years out of ten. Each house decide if it wants to declare a vintage but as the climate in the Douro valley is relatively uniform the houses often agree. You apply for permission to declare a vintage at the Port Wine Institute.
Port wine houses often use grapes from specific vineyards with good locations for their vintage. This wine is stored separately after fermentation and is tasted regularly and if the quality is exceptional, the house or the producers decide to “declare” a vintage. The wine is then bottled after only 18 months to two years in oak barrels and continues to develop in bottle over many years. Ideally, a vintage port should be aged in your cellar at least ten years before you drink it and it lasts a long time.
A vintage is always very powerful and packed with fruit and complex aromas. It will keep its young, fruity character for many years. With time it will mature and soften. The fruit and power is sometimes so great that a vintage can feel quite dry despite between approximately 80 and 100 grams of residual sugar.
Late Bottled Vintage
If you like the vintage port style but want something to drink a little earlier, you can buy a Late Bottled Vintage. This port is also from a single vintage, but it has been longer in the oak barrels, between four and six years, before bottling.
As the maturation process is quicker in the barrel than in the bottle, a Late Bottled Vintage can be drunk earlier than a vintage port, basically as soon as it is bottled. The label will state both vintage and the year that the wine was bottled. The fruit is rich and powerful but you feel the softness and roundness from the oak aging.
Tawny
A tawny port spends most of its life in the oak barrel and gets its character and maturity from the oak. Port wine houses offer as a rule both a simple tawny with just a few years of oak ageing and tawnys that have been aged 10, 20, 30 and even up to 40 years in barrels.
The last two are very exclusive wines that are made only in small quantities and they sell for the same prices – or more – as a vintage. An old tawny (from 10 years and older) have the characteristic light brown colour and a velvety, mature flavour which is reminiscent of nuts, dried fruits, coffee, spices, orange and raisins. Such a tawny is delicious to drink at the end of a meal with some blue cheese or with a dessert with chocolate and almonds
Colheita
Colheita is a vintage tawny. It must be at least 7 years in barrel before being bottled. A Colheita must be approved twice by the Port Wine Institute (for the other ports, once is enough).
Ruby
The most unpretentious port wine is the ruby which preserves its bright red colour because it is bottled and sold after only a short time in big oak barrels, 1-3 years. A ruby is light in flavour, fruity and easy to drink without the complexity that you get in the other port wines.
White Port
Although Churchill considered a port wine’s first obligation to be red, there has been a slight rise in popularity in recent years for white port. A white port can be pretty dry, but never completely dry. Several houses have recently launched white port wines of better quality.
So, as we asked at the beginning – what kind of port wine do you prefer? And with what?
Cave L’Oenolimit, wine shop | BKWine Pick
A new (2009) wine shop open seven days a week until 22.00. A very well chosen but not extensive selection of wines. Good choice if you want to go shopping in the evening after visiting vineyards. Located just off the Place Fernand Lafargue. Open every day (even Sundays!) from 10.00 to 22.00. Certainly merits a special mention for the consumer-friendly opening hours! It is rare to find a wine shop open after 19.00 or 19.30 so l’Oenolimit is the perfect place to go shopping when one comes back late after a day in the vineyards. But the opening hours are not the only reason to go there – a good selection with a focus on lesser known producers; they sometimes do tastings, art exhibitions and other events.
Cave l’Oenolimite, 2 rue des Ayres (off the Place Fernand Lafargue), 33000 Bordeaux, ph 05 57 88 34 19, https://www.loenolimit.com
And a video from their inaugruation.
What people say about the wine tours
It is always exciting to hear what travellers have to say about BKWine’s wine tours. We always try very hard to make sure that a wine and food tour will be a very special experience: exciting wine tastings, interesting discussions with the wine makers, and a very special gastronomic experience with the wine and the food. We have had several guests giving us feedback from this past season’s tours – thankfully positive! Here are some:
– “A fantastic experience. All worked perfectly. We look forward to coming on a new tour.”, J & A in Verona with Amarone
– “We are all very happy with the wine tour to Burgundy!”, CS
– “What wines, what food, and what people!!!!”, AE in Piedmont
– “We are happy, very happy with the wine tour! Perfect planning”, N with family in Piemonte
Events calendar for wine events
We used to have a wine agenda at the end of each Brief. Now we don’t. Instead we have a brand new gleaming wine events calendar on BKWine Magazine. There you will find dates and links for wine shows, wine tastings, wine and food tours and other wine related things. (But it requires that someone sends us the info of course. Yes please! Please send us info!) You can find the calendar on BKWine Magazine in the menu Resources > Calendar: Wine Events and Tours.
A memorable wine lunch in Languedoc
We were fortunate (you have to create your own luck!) to have a magnificent lunch and wine tasting at the wine tour we recently organised in the Languedoc-Roussillon. This district certainly merits becoming much better known among wine lovers: they make great wine and it is spectacularly beautiful. The small group of wine lovers that we showed around the region met some of the best winemakers and had a fabulous lunch (well, more than one actually).
Pézenas is perhaps best known for Molière having settled there for some time in the 17th century with his theatre company. Today this small Languedoc town would merit to be best known for the excellent wines made in the vineyards that surround it. Pézenas is one of the main “metropolises” (big word for a small place) in The New Languedoc, a region where you can find many exciting wine producers today.
On the wine tour to the Languedoc-Roussillon that we had organised earlier in October we had the opportunity to enjoy a delicious lunch in extraordinary autumn weather with wines from three of the best producers in the region. [. . . . .]
Read more about this wonderful autumn lunch and wine tasting on the terasse in Pézenas here: A memorable lunch and wine tasting on a wine tour to the Languedoc-Roussillon.
This article is published on our travel blog. You can subscribe to our travel blog, with our travel news, here.
Chez Boris, restaurant Montpellier | BKWine Pick
Boris does not have a pinch of Russian in him, at least not when it comes to the restaurant. The style is very French bistro of the “dark wood, no-brass” type. And very friendly. They have a quite good selection of wine, but not enough to make them a dedicated wine buff destination, and a good selection of wines by the glass, from the region (Languedoc), the top one being Mas de l’Ecriture. The food is cafe-bistro style with a penchant for Aubrac meat (yummy!). Don’t go here if you’re looking for salads or pasta. And it is certainly well made. Medium-high price range. A very good address for a good straight forward dinner. And a wonderful terrasse in season at the Boulevard Sarrail location.
Chez Boris, two locations: 17 Boulevard Sarrail, on the Esplanade next to Place de la Comedie, ph 04 67 02 82 38; and 20 rue de l’Aiguillerie, next to Préfecture, ph 04 67 02 13 22, 34000 Montpellier, www.chezboris.com
The Priory travels to Champagne, Chablis and Burgundy
Five days in Champagne, Chablis and Burgundy, is a wine tour that we call The Three Classics. It is one of the most popular tours on our “public” tour scheduled and it is also a tour that we do frequently as a custom made wine tour for private groups.
The Priory (“Prästgården”) is a small wine importer that is a long-time customer of ours for bespoke wine tours. We have organised several tours for them on which we have show what “their” producers (and some which are not theirs) can do. Participants on these tours have been the staff of The Priory, their partner, friends, customers…
The latest tour we did for them was a “Three Classics” to Champagne, Chablis and Burgundy. Here below is their own travel report, written by The Priory (Prastgarden), on what they did and how it all went: Travel report from Champagne – Chablis – Burgundy, testimonial written by a tour guest
Fine Magazine on Bordeaux, exclusively for readers of The Brief
Fine Magazine is a super-luxury-premium wine magazine (that is actually published in Finland!). Their latest issue is a special celebration of Bordeaux wines. The write, among other things, about “the 100 Best Bordeaux Wines Ever Made” (well, let the hyperbole pass for this time). There are articles on several of the most exclusive estates: Château Yquem, Ch Suduiraut, Latour, Cheval Blanc, Chateau Lafite, Petrus, Le Pin, etc, etc, wines that we mere mortals can only dream about these days – or read about. Exclusively for you as a reader of the BKWine Brief and BKWine Magazine we can offer you free access to the electronic version of the Fine Magazine special issue on Bordeaux.
Le Zinzolin, Restaurant Avignon | BKWine Pick
Zinzolin is apparently a dark purple colour. What it has to do with the restaurant we don’t know. You find the Le Zinzolin restaurant in the part of Avignon that use to be the cloth dyers’ and printers’ part (that must be the link), where there is still an old canal. A good ten-fifteen minutes walk away from the Pope’s Palace. But it is worth the excursion (both for the site and the restaurants here). You will see an entirely different part of Avignon (and one where there are many new restaurants since a few years back). Le Zinzolin has a big terrasse on to a cobblestone pedestrian street. The perfect place to sit on a warm summer evening. It is a classic café-style restaurant with a bit of extra colour and imagination. Cooking is classic with a twist, we have had the Corsican Burger (excellent) and a delicious risotto. Other things to choose from: grilled meat of course, gambas, duck’s breast etc. All served fresh, often with a small salad. Nothing spectacular but well prepared and good. Prices are very reasonable. A short-ish wine list with some good names as well as some unknowns on it.
Le Zinzolin, 22 rue des Teinturiers, 84000 vignon, ph 04 90 82 41 55, https://www.lezinzolin.fr/
The great Loire wine show, 6-8 February
If you are seriously interested in Loire wines you should go to the Salon des Vins de Loire wine show. It helps if you are in the trade, since it is a professional event. Perhaps not all, but not far from it, of the producers will be there; thousands of wines to taste, hundreds of winemakers to meet. The latest edition attracted almost 10,000 visitors. The next edition of this important wine show will take place on February 6 to 8 in Anger in the Loire Valley. More info on www.salondesvinsdeloire.com. Loire has (approximately) 77 AOP/AOC which probably makes it the wine region with the largest number of appellations in France. 550 exhibitors are expected at the fair.
Le Carceri, restaurant Florence | BKWine Pick
Le Carceri actually means “the prison” and that is what this place used to be. Now it houses a nice restaurant and apartments (of the more voluntary kind). In a calm court yard hidden from traffic in the old penitentiary this restaurant has a very nice outside terrasse – calm since there are non cars and no scooters in sight. Le Carceri serves typical Italian bistro-tarattoria-pizzeria food: pasta, pizza, grilled meat or in stews, fresh or grilled vegetables etc. Not sophisticated but well prepared and good.
It is also interesting to take a look at the prison converted to housing. It is often quite crowded either with local business people or just neighbours. The location is away from the city centre, a good 10 minutes walk, which you can think is good or bad, depending on your mood. (On the other hand, it is quite close to Hotel Privilege, where we often stay.) A good restaurant to go and relax with friends and have a straight forward Florentine meal.
Le Carceri, ristorante, pizzeria, wine bar, Piazza Madonna della Neve 3, Florence, ph 055 247 9327, www.ristorantelecarceri.it
Wine events calendar
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