BKWine Magazine

11/07/2025

The 2024 vintage in Bordeaux, presented to buyers and journalists in April, has already garnered significant attention. 2024 was a challenging year, marked by incredible amounts of rain, hot and humid weather, and severe outbreaks of fungal diseases. The sorting machines were running at full speed during the harvest.

The volume was lower than usual for everyone. Some lost 50% of their harvest. However, there is nothing wrong with the quality.

Prices have generally dropped by around 30-40%

But Bordeaux 2024 will appeal to all lovers of classic Bordeaux.

Travel:
Come on a wine tour to Bordeaux with BKWine.
(PS: We’ve written a prize-winning book on Bordeaux.)

The 2024 vintage in Bordeaux, presented to buyers and journalists in April, has already garnered significant attention. 2024 was a challenging year, marked by incredible amounts of rain, hot and humid weather, and severe outbreaks of fungal diseases. The sorting machines were running at full speed d...

10/07/2025

Cremant d’Alsace is becoming more and more important for the Alsatian wine producers. During our spring wine tour in Alsace, we learned that the sparkling wine now accounts for 35% of total wine sales in Alsace. More on cremant: ....

Cremant d’Alsace is becoming more and more important for the Alsatian wine producers. During our spring wine tour in Alsace, we learned that the sparkling wine now accounts for 35% of total wine sales in Alsace. Is that a problem, I wondered. “No,” replies Mélanie Pfister, a wine producer in ...

06/07/2025

The Loire Valley is all the rage. It’s probably not so much the Loire Valley that has changed as the fact that consumers have finally come to understand what the region has to offer. We usually drink white and red from here, but now we have tasted two rosé wines that are both delicious and a bit special.

The Loire Valley is all the rage. It’s probably not so much the Loire Valley that has changed as the fact that consumers have finally come to understand what the region has to offer. We usually drink white and red from here, but now we have tasted two rosé wines that are both delicious and […]

03/07/2025

As wine consumers and wine lovers we tend to focus on what good wine to drink next, read about exciting wine regions and talented producers. It is easy to forget that before the wine gets on to our tables there is a complex production process as well as extensive regulations for wine, in place not least in order to make the wine in the glass safe and healthy. But it is worth giving this a thought once in a while. Technical standards, regulations, trade, health and safety, as well as laws and legal frameworks do not sound very sexy. Mundane? Boring? But all this is fundamental to make sure when we buy a bottle of wine the contents is what it says on the label and that it is not dangerous to drink (at least not more dangerous that the alcohol in it).

What probably is the wine world’s most important annual event deals with exactly these issues. It is The World Congress of Vine and Wine organised by The International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV). BKWine Magazine’s Jeanne Peixian QIAO reports from the 46th OIV congress in Moldova.

As wine consumers and wine lovers we tend to focus on what good wine to drink next, read about exciting wine regions and talented producers. It is easy to forget that before the wine gets on to our tables there is a complex production process as well as extensive regulations for wine, in place not [...

01/07/2025

Have you given a thought to what you want to do this autumn/fall? Perhaps go on a wine tour? Perhaps with BKWine Wine Tours?

01/07/2025

No one can have missed that the buzzword in today’s wine industry is adaptation.

But that’s nothing new. Wine producers have always had to adapt to changing market conditions. Maybe just a bit more right now. They’re navigating declining wine consumption and erratic weather, complying with sustainability regulations, and producing affordable wines for cost-conscious customers, sometimes at price points so low they threaten profitability. And, of course, the wines must be made in a style that both importers and consumers are requesting.

No one can have missed that the buzzword in today’s wine industry is adaptation. But that’s nothing new. Wine producers have always had to adapt to changing market conditions. Maybe just a bit more right now. They’re navigating declining wine consumption and erratic weather, complying with sus...

29/06/2025

The winter and spring wine tours are over, and we would like to take this opportunity to recommend some wines from producers we have visited on this year’s tours so far. If you don’t find these particular wines, look for the producers. All excellent, talented, making delicious wines. All good buys. There are, of course, many more. This is just a small selection.

The winter and spring wine tours are over, and we would like to take this opportunity to recommend some wines from producers we have visited on this year’s tours so far. If you don’t find these particular wines, look for the producers. All excellent, talented, making delicious wines. All good bu...

26/06/2025

White wine was forgotten when Bourgueil in the central Loire Valley obtained its AOC in 1937. Now that mistake is being corrected. Many producers in Bourgueil already make white wines from 100% chenin blanc and sell them as vin de france or IGP. But soon they will be able to put Bourgueil on the label.

White wine was forgotten when Bourgueil in the central Loire Valley obtained its AOC in 1937. Now that mistake is being corrected. Many producers in Bourgueil already make white wines from 100% chenin blanc and sell them as vin de france or IGP. But soon they will be able to put Bourgueil on the lab...

25/06/2025

South Africa made a brilliant vintage in 2025, as producers we met in February already suspected. The total volume is estimated to be 11.4% higher than in 2024. But 2024 was a tiny harvest, and the 2025 production remains relatively low compared to the average annual production over the past two decades. The reason is the decline and the ageing of the vineyards in the country.

South Africa made a brilliant vintage in 2025, as producers we met in February already suspected. The total volume is estimated to be 11.4% higher than in 2024. But 2024 was a tiny harvest, and the 2025 production remains relatively low compared to the average annual production over the past two dec...

24/06/2025

This year’s Tio Pepe En Rama is the sixteenth edition, a blend of 92 different barrels from various soleras where the wine has been aged under flor, a veil of yeast. The wine has been bottled without filtration and clarification, resulting in a fino with a bit more complexity.

Tio Pepe En Rama 2025 (*), González Byass, approximately 17-18 euro.

Just in time for the first summer month González Byass is launching a new Tio Pepe En Rama. The most famous of sherry houses, González Byass, introduced En Rama to the international market some 15 years ago. Locals in the sherry region down in Andalusia have always drunk “En Rama”, sherry stra...

22/06/2025

If you prefer looking for small growers when you buy champagne instead of the big houses, maybe it is time to do the same when you buy Cava, the Spanish sparkling. Cava from the big houses are well distributed all over the world, but some smaller producers are also seen on the export market and are well worth looking for.

There is a special stamp on the label that you should look for: Elaborador Integral.

If you prefer looking for small growers when you buy champagne instead of the big houses, maybe it is time to do the same when you buy Cava, the Spanish sparkling. Cava from the big houses are well distributed all over the world, but some smaller producers are also seen on the export market and […...

15/06/2025

An essay on the charms and joys of working as a winery intern (“cellar rat”) during harvest time

"Picture a huge steel French press, about seven feet long and three feet high, held sideways about six feet off the ground. It looks quite a bit like a small submarine. A sliding door on the side of the chamber is opened and positioned under a huge metal funnel. This is a winery press, and it falls to you and a forklift operator to load it for the third time today. You muscle your way up onto the press, grabbing the metal scaffolding to lift yourself to the funnel. Below your feet, the press looms. The machine contains a kevlar balloon which fills with air, forces liquid from the grapes, through steel grates, and into a catch tray below. The press chamber is held by a large cradle which, when powered, rotates the chamber under pressure to extract juice...."

With this essay we introduce a new guest writer on BKWine Magazine, Cyril Burchenal. Cyril have worked as a winery intern primarily in the US. He’s from Missoula, Montana. He studied history at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, where he earned a bachelor degree. Prior to working in wineries he was a spice merchant in Portland, Oregon. Much of Cyril’s childhood was spent on a cattle ranch in western Montana. “My childhood on ranches, and experiences as a hunter, gave me an appreciation for the labor aspect of food and drink which inspired much of the labor interest that provoked this essay.”

An essay on the charms and joys of working as a winery intern (“cellar rat”) during harvest time Picture a huge steel French press, about seven feet long and three feet high, held sideways about six feet off the ground. It looks quite a bit like a small submarine. A sliding door on the side […...