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.
There is a lot of talk about which grape varieties will best adapt to climate change. However, less is said about the (“American”) rootstocks, although they do all the work in the soil. Whenever a
When we travel through wine regions these days, we often see grass/weeds growing in the vineyard. And if you look at the statistics, the use of herbicides, i.e. chemical weed control, has decreased. But wine
Old grape varieties, more or less forgotten, are now being honoured again. A variety called lignage was grown before the phylloxera around the city of Blois in the Loire Valley and produced wines with high
Prosecco is today the world’s most-sold and most-consumed sparkling wine, with some 700 million bottles. It is made in the north-eastern corner of Italy in a region called Prosecco. Most of it is a light,
By using the new genetic technology CRISPR-CAS, Chilean scientists have produced a grape that is resistant to oidium, a fungal disease. The grape in question is Thompson seedless, a table grape, so not relevant in
Alsace now has its first grand cru wines made with pinot noir. Until now, the Alsatian red grape has been banned from grand cru wines. But not anymore. At least not from two of them.
Fitou is Languedoc’s southernmost appellation. In the past, this was the frontier between Languedoc and Spain. Today, it is the French region of Roussillon that is on the other side of the border. It is
Winegrowers all over France, yes, all over the world, organic as well as conventional, spray the vines with copper against the severe fungal disease downy mildew (mildiou). There are, regretfully, very few realistic alternatives to
Today, 45 different “resistant” grape varieties are permitted to be planted in France. And so far, they have been planted on 1,200 hectares. There is an interest among winegrowers to plant these grape varieties that
Sherry is back in fashion. Perhaps. In any case, many are trying hard to breathe new life into this old venerable wine. When the sherry region modernised its rules in 2021, it received some attention.
The mission grape was brought to California in the 18th century. It had already been grown in Mexico and South America since the 16th and 17th centuries, where Spanish missionaries planted it. The Spanish name
Champagne had a successful year – commercially – in 2021, with a record turnover and excellent sales also in volume, a stark contrast from the meagre 2020. From a grower’s perspective, it was a more
It is interesting to look at in what kind of “container” wine is exported: bottle, bag-in-box, or bulk. This gives quite a clear indication of the price and quality level of the wines. A country
The average price per litre of wine exported was 2.80 euro in 2020. This is back-of-the-envelope calculations based on the data in our article on export volumes and values. Actually, I think this is a
Wine exports compared to GDP and to total exports There is no easy answer to how “important” wine is to a country’s economy. It depends what you mean by “important”. You can, for example, look
How important are wine exports for a country’s wine sector? We can compare the amount of wine exported in 2020 to the country’s total production to see how big a portion of all wine made
We recently looked at the details of world wine exports. The other side of the coin is wine imports. In 2020 wine imports saw a decline. This mirrors the decline in exports that we described
In 2020 the global trade in wine seems to have more or less stagnated. And prices fell. This is of course to a very large extent numbers that are affected by the first year of
Malbec is a French grape variety, although people might be forgiven for thinking it is Argentinean. France has 6,000 hectares, Argentina 40,000 ha. Just like many of the other Bordeaux grapes, malbec has been adopted
Super-Tuscan is still a much-used denomination. The first producers of these rebel wines have recently founded an association, the Comitato Historical Super Tuscans. The members are 16 in total. They have all produced a famous
Jura is a small wine region with a large selection of different wines. They can be red, white, rosé, sweet and sparkling. Here we also find the unique yellow wine, vin jaune. Their chardonnay wines
The cork oak is a unique tree. It gives us not only wine corks – still the world’s most popular closure – but also a forest habitat with tremendous biological diversity. A diversity we should
2021 has been a good year for the US wine industry, even great for some. Sales have, in some sales channels, recovered from the difficult 2020. This is one of the conclusions from the Silicon
From being a fairly unremarkable additive in most wines, sulphur dioxide has recently turned into a burning topic of discussion for wine enthusiasts. SO2 is added to the wine to protect it from premature oxidation.
The story of Champagne’s price-fixing “l’échelle des crus” system and how it was abolished Grand cru and premier cru are famous words. You see them on many champagne bottles. Probably, most people take it as
Per capita wine consumption Big countries drink a lot of wine, but which nations are the most enthusiastic wine drinkers? In other words: how much wine is consumed in a country per person. In the
How much wine did we drink in 2020? Much more due to covid? Which are the countries that drink the most wine? Or rephrasing: which are the biggest markets for wine in the world? The
How much output you get from a certain input is what we usually call productivity. In the wine industry we usually talk about yields, often in hectolitres per hectare. This article explores the productivity/yields in
3.4 litres per person. That’s how much wine is made in the world. A back-of-the-envelope calculation of how much wine is made per person in the major wine producing countries can give us a rough
In 2020 the world’s wine production increased a little to reach 260 million hectolitres. This is slightly below the long term average. Italy is still the biggest wine producing country, followed by France and Spain.
There is a lot of talk about which grape varieties will best adapt to climate change. However, less is said about the (“American”) rootstocks, although
When we travel through wine regions these days, we often see grass/weeds growing in the vineyard. And if you look at the statistics, the use
Old grape varieties, more or less forgotten, are now being honoured again. A variety called lignage was grown before the phylloxera around the city of
Prosecco is today the world’s most-sold and most-consumed sparkling wine, with some 700 million bottles. It is made in the north-eastern corner of Italy in
By using the new genetic technology CRISPR-CAS, Chilean scientists have produced a grape that is resistant to oidium, a fungal disease. The grape in question
Alsace now has its first grand cru wines made with pinot noir. Until now, the Alsatian red grape has been banned from grand cru wines.
Fitou is Languedoc’s southernmost appellation. In the past, this was the frontier between Languedoc and Spain. Today, it is the French region of Roussillon that
Winegrowers all over France, yes, all over the world, organic as well as conventional, spray the vines with copper against the severe fungal disease downy
Today, 45 different “resistant” grape varieties are permitted to be planted in France. And so far, they have been planted on 1,200 hectares. There is
Sherry is back in fashion. Perhaps. In any case, many are trying hard to breathe new life into this old venerable wine. When the sherry
The mission grape was brought to California in the 18th century. It had already been grown in Mexico and South America since the 16th and
Champagne had a successful year – commercially – in 2021, with a record turnover and excellent sales also in volume, a stark contrast from the
It is interesting to look at in what kind of “container” wine is exported: bottle, bag-in-box, or bulk. This gives quite a clear indication of
The average price per litre of wine exported was 2.80 euro in 2020. This is back-of-the-envelope calculations based on the data in our article on
Wine exports compared to GDP and to total exports There is no easy answer to how “important” wine is to a country’s economy. It depends
How important are wine exports for a country’s wine sector? We can compare the amount of wine exported in 2020 to the country’s total production
We recently looked at the details of world wine exports. The other side of the coin is wine imports. In 2020 wine imports saw a
In 2020 the global trade in wine seems to have more or less stagnated. And prices fell. This is of course to a very large
Malbec is a French grape variety, although people might be forgiven for thinking it is Argentinean. France has 6,000 hectares, Argentina 40,000 ha. Just like
Super-Tuscan is still a much-used denomination. The first producers of these rebel wines have recently founded an association, the Comitato Historical Super Tuscans. The members
Jura is a small wine region with a large selection of different wines. They can be red, white, rosé, sweet and sparkling. Here we also
The cork oak is a unique tree. It gives us not only wine corks – still the world’s most popular closure – but also a
2021 has been a good year for the US wine industry, even great for some. Sales have, in some sales channels, recovered from the difficult
From being a fairly unremarkable additive in most wines, sulphur dioxide has recently turned into a burning topic of discussion for wine enthusiasts. SO2 is
The story of Champagne’s price-fixing “l’échelle des crus” system and how it was abolished Grand cru and premier cru are famous words. You see them
Per capita wine consumption Big countries drink a lot of wine, but which nations are the most enthusiastic wine drinkers? In other words: how much
How much wine did we drink in 2020? Much more due to covid? Which are the countries that drink the most wine? Or rephrasing: which
How much output you get from a certain input is what we usually call productivity. In the wine industry we usually talk about yields, often
3.4 litres per person. That’s how much wine is made in the world. A back-of-the-envelope calculation of how much wine is made per person in
In 2020 the world’s wine production increased a little to reach 260 million hectolitres. This is slightly below the long term average. Italy is still
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