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.
Something new happening in Alsace? Yes, is my answer to that question after my visit to the annual wine fair in Stockholm arranged by Vins d’Alsace in cooperation with Sopexa. 28 exhibitors / producers, both
Danish company Chr. Hansen, with headquarters on the outskirts of Copenhagen, is one of the major suppliers to the wine industry. The vast majority of wines ferment with cultured yeast (or “selected”) and often this
Where do all the vines come from? In most cases they are purchased from nurseries. Some wine growers take cuttings from their own vineyard, but it is unusual. In France, nurseries have a total of
The saga of the 2012 (2006?) classification in Saint Emilion continues. Maybe. Three chateaux, Croque-Michotte, La Tour du Pin Figeac and Corbin Michotte, disputed the classification because they felt they had been treated unfairly and
The International Organisation of Vine and Wine, OIV, has published figures for this year’s wine production in the world. In total, the world produced 275.7 million hectolitres of wine in 2015. It is 2% more
I hope your appetite for champagne has not waned now that New Year has passed. Champagne is much more than just bubbly for celebrations. It is a very interesting wine. It is also a wine
Nomacorc, manufacturer of synthetic wine corks, has launched a synthetic cork for sparkling wines. The cork will start selling in Italy beginning of 2016. The visual aspect of the cork has been important for Nomacorc
If you are a winemaker, be it “conventional” or organic, you have to spray the vineyards with treatments against diseases. You don’t really have much of a choice. The vines would barely survive and certainly
Why do we no longer drink sweet wines? The Swedish monopoly Systembolaget recently presented the market situation for sweet wines and fortified wines in Sweden. It is catastrophic. And perhaps illustrative of what happens in
Sometimes you need to cool or warm your wine to obtain the right serving temperature. Which way is the best and how do you know how long it will take? An interesting little booklet was
“When making organic wine you use no additives and you don’t spray toxins in the vineyard”. Just a little bit exaggerated (but only slightly) this is what one can both hear said and read sometimes.
Champagne is an easy two hour’s car drive east of Paris. Or you can take the fast TGV train that in just 40 minutes takes you straight into the centre of Reims, the capital of
Wine is an extremely fragmented industry. I know of few, if any, markets that are equally fragmented. Beer, for instance is far more dominated by a few big companies. But even if that is the
For more than a decade there has been research going on in France in order to obtain grape varieties that are resistant to the fungal diseases oidium and mildiou. The research organization INRA believe that
Médoc is the perfect location for viticulture with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Gironde bay on the other. The vineyards are located along the Gironde and the pine forest along the Atlantic
South Africa is in a sense a greater brandy country than wine country. But they keep most of the brandy for themselves. They make large amounts of brandy, of cognac type. It is actually a
The vast majority of wines in the world, probably around 90%, ferment with added cultivated yeast. Most wine producers believe this provides a safer fermentation and a better wine. But a small group of winemakers
Cava, the Spanish sparkling wine, is made in many different price ranges and quality levels. The best cava is a high quality wine and soon some of these better cava will be able to put
Wine lovers often tend to simply ignore wine co-operatives or even look down at them as sources of not so good wine. This is a mistake. It is true that many co-operatives are not tuned
Saint-Emilion and Pomerol are in many ways different from the aristocratic Médoc. Here chateaux are smaller, if at all they can be called chateau. The scenery is prettier with rolling hills and with the lovely
Sauvignon Blanc is a grape that we associate mainly with the aromatic Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé wines but another well-known French district uses this grape too, namely Bordeaux. These wines were long suffering from a bad
They make great wines in South Africa. It is generally considered as a New World wine country but they have been making wine there for more than 350 years. Unfortunately South Africa is best known
Entre-deux-Mers is a huge piece of land that spreads out like a triangle between the rivers Garonne and Dordogne. For many, the area becomes only a transport route to get from Médoc to Saint-Emilion. This
Portugal is not a big wine country but they make some excellent wines. But they are not always easy to understand since the wine regions are little know and the grape varieties are even more
What do you most associate with Bordeaux, if not the grape cabernet sauvignon and the chateaux of the Médoc? Cabernet Sauvignon Among red grapes there is hardly any grape that is so well-known as cabernet
Almost all champagne is made with some added sugar. Some is added to increase the alcohol level and then some more is added for the second fermentation in bottle. But there is also a third
Some of the French wine cooperatives are big players in the French wine world. Which is not surprising. Nearly half of all French wine comes from cooperatives. The biggest is Val d’Orbieu in the Languedoc
The making of a wine is much about chemistry. Without knowledge of chemistry it becomes difficult to really understand what is going on inside the winery. It is hard to find good literature about wine
The 2014 statistics on global wine production, wine consumption, vineyard surface area, world grape production, and world trade in wine France will be the world’s biggest wine producer in 2014. World vineyard surface is decreasing
The summer started with a lot of rain in some parts of France. But in Languedoc-Roussillon it is getting dry. During a hot summer with hardly any rain, some vineyards will have problems, especially those
Something new happening in Alsace? Yes, is my answer to that question after my visit to the annual wine fair in Stockholm arranged by Vins
Danish company Chr. Hansen, with headquarters on the outskirts of Copenhagen, is one of the major suppliers to the wine industry. The vast majority of
Where do all the vines come from? In most cases they are purchased from nurseries. Some wine growers take cuttings from their own vineyard, but
The saga of the 2012 (2006?) classification in Saint Emilion continues. Maybe. Three chateaux, Croque-Michotte, La Tour du Pin Figeac and Corbin Michotte, disputed the
The International Organisation of Vine and Wine, OIV, has published figures for this year’s wine production in the world. In total, the world produced 275.7
I hope your appetite for champagne has not waned now that New Year has passed. Champagne is much more than just bubbly for celebrations. It
Nomacorc, manufacturer of synthetic wine corks, has launched a synthetic cork for sparkling wines. The cork will start selling in Italy beginning of 2016. The
If you are a winemaker, be it “conventional” or organic, you have to spray the vineyards with treatments against diseases. You don’t really have much
Why do we no longer drink sweet wines? The Swedish monopoly Systembolaget recently presented the market situation for sweet wines and fortified wines in Sweden.
Sometimes you need to cool or warm your wine to obtain the right serving temperature. Which way is the best and how do you know
“When making organic wine you use no additives and you don’t spray toxins in the vineyard”. Just a little bit exaggerated (but only slightly) this
Champagne is an easy two hour’s car drive east of Paris. Or you can take the fast TGV train that in just 40 minutes takes
Wine is an extremely fragmented industry. I know of few, if any, markets that are equally fragmented. Beer, for instance is far more dominated by
For more than a decade there has been research going on in France in order to obtain grape varieties that are resistant to the fungal
Médoc is the perfect location for viticulture with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Gironde bay on the other. The vineyards are located
South Africa is in a sense a greater brandy country than wine country. But they keep most of the brandy for themselves. They make large
The vast majority of wines in the world, probably around 90%, ferment with added cultivated yeast. Most wine producers believe this provides a safer fermentation
Cava, the Spanish sparkling wine, is made in many different price ranges and quality levels. The best cava is a high quality wine and soon
Wine lovers often tend to simply ignore wine co-operatives or even look down at them as sources of not so good wine. This is a
Saint-Emilion and Pomerol are in many ways different from the aristocratic Médoc. Here chateaux are smaller, if at all they can be called chateau. The
Sauvignon Blanc is a grape that we associate mainly with the aromatic Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé wines but another well-known French district uses this grape too,
They make great wines in South Africa. It is generally considered as a New World wine country but they have been making wine there for
Entre-deux-Mers is a huge piece of land that spreads out like a triangle between the rivers Garonne and Dordogne. For many, the area becomes only
Portugal is not a big wine country but they make some excellent wines. But they are not always easy to understand since the wine regions
What do you most associate with Bordeaux, if not the grape cabernet sauvignon and the chateaux of the Médoc? Cabernet Sauvignon Among red grapes there
Almost all champagne is made with some added sugar. Some is added to increase the alcohol level and then some more is added for the
Some of the French wine cooperatives are big players in the French wine world. Which is not surprising. Nearly half of all French wine comes
The making of a wine is much about chemistry. Without knowledge of chemistry it becomes difficult to really understand what is going on inside the
The 2014 statistics on global wine production, wine consumption, vineyard surface area, world grape production, and world trade in wine France will be the world’s
The summer started with a lot of rain in some parts of France. But in Languedoc-Roussillon it is getting dry. During a hot summer with
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