March has been filled with some interesting trips for us. We have been in Hungary and tried a variety of Hungarian wines that impressed us a lot. We went there to see the very interesting wine fair VinCE in Budapest. You will soon see more reports on Hungarian wines and winemakers on BKWine Magazine. We were last there some ten years ago. A lot has happened in that time! We tasted many wines that surprised and impressed us.
We also had the pleasure to be invited to participate in the Hungarian wine magazine VinCE’s tasting panel. A very interesting exercise where we tasted a whole series of Hungarian rosés. Overall a very positive experience, which is not always the case for rosé tastings. You can read more about some good rosés in the Brief.
We have also been on tour, almost like a circus, with wine tastings in ten different cities and had some planning meetings for new and exciting book projects.
This week sees the start of the primeurs tastings in Bordeaux. It is the 2014 vintage that will be tasted and rated by wine merchants, importers and journalists from around the world.
There has been much discussion around the “primeurs” in recent years, that they will perhaps lose their significance and so on. It is too early to know. But what we do know is that buying Bordeaux wines en primeur, ie roughly two years before delivery, is a bit of a gamble. Price wise, it may pay sometimes, but not always. But buying en primeur is also a way for merchants to secure their allotment. The chateaux will publish their prices for the 2014 wines later in April or in May. Those prices will be an indication of how the estates perceive the market right now. Is the demand strong or not?
Meanwhile, there is a dawning sense of that the heydays of the “primeur circus” might be coming to an end. Some chateaux have started to take other routes to market and the interest from the market has been subdued in recent years.
We will see what happens in the future. An upheaval in the Bordeaux universe? Whatever happens there are many good wines made there, and often at very reasonable prices. Often far from the sometimes exorbitant prices that make headlines. Read about some good-buys tips in the Brief.
On our balcony our vines just started to show tiny buds. Soon it will be full speed in the vineyards. When the vine grows at most it is sometimes said that it can extend by almost 10 inches a day.
This also means that the spring travel season soon is on full speed too. Take a look at our programs. Maybe you’ll find something interesting, either on the spring or on the autumn programs!
Britt & Per
PS: Recommend to your friends to read the Brief !
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