Learn more about wine with our fact-filled articles under the heading ”wine school”. On how to make wine, on wine regions, on grape varieties, on tasting wine and much, much more. Facts about the wonderful world of wine. Everything from in-depth technical articles on viticulture and winemaking to tasting tips to learn more about flavours and characters.
Having an ideal wine cellar with a temperature of around 10-14 degrees year-round is not common. And the wine “fridges” that are available on the market are so expensive that hesitates to buy one when
Chardonnay? Cabernet? Syrah? Or if you have done your homework (some while ago), airen? No, no, no, and no. But one might say that it is (to some extent) a trick question. The world’s most
In late October, a conference called Tasting Climate Change was held in Canada. The subject was the impact of climate change on wine growing. An important question asked was: is it justifiable to plant vines
One of the most ambitious and fast growing wine regions in China today is Ningxia, at the foot of the Helan Mountains. But few people have heard about Ningxia which is not strange since it
A success story in the Languedoc celebrates 30 years. Robert Skalli and Jacques Gravegeal created IGP Pays d’Oc in 1987. At the time it was called Vin de Pays d’Oc. It became the most successful
Burgundy has a new village appellation. Bourgogne Vézelay has been upgraded to AOP Vézelay. The new village appellation has 70 hectares planted with chardonnay, the only grape permitted. Vézelay is located 50 kilometres south of
Cognac has a long-term plan to reduce the spraying in the vineyards. Currently, four different hybrids are being tested in the vineyards. All four grape varieties have good resistance to both downy mildew and powdery
In the previous issue of the Brief. we wrote about myths in the wine world. Some of our readers have contacted us with comments. Among others, William H. Shoemaker, retired horticulturist from the University of
OIV, International Organisation Of Vine And Wine, presented recently preliminary figures for the world’s wine production in 2017. “As expected,” said director general Jean-Marie Aurand, “the production has been affected by the extreme heat and
Will there be a shortage of wine? The harvest this year will be the smallest one in a long time. It is the smallest production, counting the entire world’s volume, in around fifty years. Read
Natural wines are fashionable at the moment and there is a lot of talk about the difficulty of making wine without adding sulphur. But what if it’s not that hard? Since a few years’ back
It is much debated (albeit less and less) whether global warming is a real phenomenon or not. I saw an interesting illustration of how the harvest dates have evolved in different wine regions in France
Every wine lover is familiar with some of the well-established wine regions in New Zealand, but they may not always have been so well-defined and protected from abuse. From July 27 new rules govern 18
The wine world is not only small picturesque vineyards in a rural setting with a horse pulling a plough between the vines. There are also large groups with international businesses. Euromonitor has listed the top
Wine myths… I recently wrote an article about a myth on wine that has been very difficult to kill. It struck me that it could be a good theme for a series of articles. There
Truth: Irrigation is allowed, but it is strictly regulated It’s a persistent myth that it’s forbidden to irrigate in the vineyards in Europe. In the past, the rules were stricter, it was even sometimes forbidden,
Traditionally, Rioja is simply Rioja. No vineyards or villages or the like on the label. But in the same way that Rioja wines are exciting and modern today, the rules also evolve. A little while
The French nurseries that supply wine producers with vines face major challenges. At the end of June, 120 of them gathered to discuss the future. The most important thing they discussed is the withering of
Henceforth it is allowed for Rioja to indicate the name of the vineyard from which the grapes come from on the label. Many producers have impatiently been waiting for this. Consumers want, says the Rioja
More and more wineries and wine regions launch into wine tourism. All sorts and flavours of wine tourism projects pop up in the wine regions. This is not surprising considering how much money and reputation
Just a few years ago, or perhaps mainly in the mid 90s and early 00s, corked wines were a big discussion subject. Some people reported 4-5% cork defects in wine, sometimes even 10%. We started
Over the last couple of decades German wines have changed dramatically. Here are some of the NEW keywords: The semi-dry / semi-sweet whites are on the retreat. (Thankfully!) Bone-dry whites with plenty of elegance and
An article about how natural cork has made a comeback in recent years made me look for some interesting cork statistics from Apcor, the association of Portugal’s cork industry. 34% of the world’s cork forests
Of the 28 member states of the EU, 18 counts officially as wine countries. Wine is made also in Denmark, Sweden and Poland but you have to have more than 500 hectares planted to be
The Company Cork Supply Group, a major supplier of natural corks, introduced earlier this year a new cork called VINC. This is a cork that is guaranteed to be free of TCA contamination. In other
For some years, France has seen its market share of wine sales decrease despite a growing total market. The decline has not affected the production and export of prestigious wines from established areas, but mainly
Eurostat has recently published a variety of interesting statistics on the EU’s vineyards and wine industry. The EU currently has more than 3 million hectares of vineyards and 80% of it is classified as quality
There is a lot going on in South Africa on the wine scene. Although they have been making wine for more than 350 years here the wine industry was under-developed during the apartheid era. A
Demeter is a large, global organization that certifies biodynamic wine growers and other farmers. But Demeter is not alone in doing this. In France, Biodyvin certifies around 100 members. And now there is also a
Jura is the smallest wine region in France. Although the region is small, there is plenty to choose from. The region’s wines are of high quality and there are many different wines to discover. BKWine
Having an ideal wine cellar with a temperature of around 10-14 degrees year-round is not common. And the wine “fridges” that are available on the
Chardonnay? Cabernet? Syrah? Or if you have done your homework (some while ago), airen? No, no, no, and no. But one might say that it
In late October, a conference called Tasting Climate Change was held in Canada. The subject was the impact of climate change on wine growing. An
One of the most ambitious and fast growing wine regions in China today is Ningxia, at the foot of the Helan Mountains. But few people
A success story in the Languedoc celebrates 30 years. Robert Skalli and Jacques Gravegeal created IGP Pays d’Oc in 1987. At the time it was
Burgundy has a new village appellation. Bourgogne Vézelay has been upgraded to AOP Vézelay. The new village appellation has 70 hectares planted with chardonnay, the
Cognac has a long-term plan to reduce the spraying in the vineyards. Currently, four different hybrids are being tested in the vineyards. All four grape
In the previous issue of the Brief. we wrote about myths in the wine world. Some of our readers have contacted us with comments. Among
OIV, International Organisation Of Vine And Wine, presented recently preliminary figures for the world’s wine production in 2017. “As expected,” said director general Jean-Marie Aurand,
Will there be a shortage of wine? The harvest this year will be the smallest one in a long time. It is the smallest production,
Natural wines are fashionable at the moment and there is a lot of talk about the difficulty of making wine without adding sulphur. But what
It is much debated (albeit less and less) whether global warming is a real phenomenon or not. I saw an interesting illustration of how the
Every wine lover is familiar with some of the well-established wine regions in New Zealand, but they may not always have been so well-defined and
The wine world is not only small picturesque vineyards in a rural setting with a horse pulling a plough between the vines. There are also
Wine myths… I recently wrote an article about a myth on wine that has been very difficult to kill. It struck me that it could
Truth: Irrigation is allowed, but it is strictly regulated It’s a persistent myth that it’s forbidden to irrigate in the vineyards in Europe. In the
Traditionally, Rioja is simply Rioja. No vineyards or villages or the like on the label. But in the same way that Rioja wines are exciting
The French nurseries that supply wine producers with vines face major challenges. At the end of June, 120 of them gathered to discuss the future.
Henceforth it is allowed for Rioja to indicate the name of the vineyard from which the grapes come from on the label. Many producers have
More and more wineries and wine regions launch into wine tourism. All sorts and flavours of wine tourism projects pop up in the wine regions.
Just a few years ago, or perhaps mainly in the mid 90s and early 00s, corked wines were a big discussion subject. Some people reported
Over the last couple of decades German wines have changed dramatically. Here are some of the NEW keywords: The semi-dry / semi-sweet whites are on
An article about how natural cork has made a comeback in recent years made me look for some interesting cork statistics from Apcor, the association
Of the 28 member states of the EU, 18 counts officially as wine countries. Wine is made also in Denmark, Sweden and Poland but you
The Company Cork Supply Group, a major supplier of natural corks, introduced earlier this year a new cork called VINC. This is a cork that
For some years, France has seen its market share of wine sales decrease despite a growing total market. The decline has not affected the production
Eurostat has recently published a variety of interesting statistics on the EU’s vineyards and wine industry. The EU currently has more than 3 million hectares
There is a lot going on in South Africa on the wine scene. Although they have been making wine for more than 350 years here
Demeter is a large, global organization that certifies biodynamic wine growers and other farmers. But Demeter is not alone in doing this. In France, Biodyvin
Jura is the smallest wine region in France. Although the region is small, there is plenty to choose from. The region’s wines are of high
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