In South Africa, the first wine was made in the 17th century. As the only New World country, it became known for its quality wines in Europe as early as the 18th century. The wines
New Zealand, the newest of the New World countries, has some of the world’s southernmost wineries. And also the world’s easternmost vineyard, where the sun rises before all others. No vineyard is further than 120
A successful and adventurous journey across the United States in the midst of the phylloxera crises in the 19th century helped save the French vineyards. Pierre Viala, a French botanist, had been sent to find
Bordeaux’s most famous grape variety is cabernet sauvignon, but actually, merlot is much more planted. Merlot is even the most planted variety in the whole of France. Both these grapes are often partnered with cabernet
South Africa has a total of 92,000 hectares of vines. 10,000 hectares are cabernet sauvignon. It is the most planted red grape. The country’s most prominent wine region, Stellenbosch, is also the most important Cabernet
Now you can also experience two of France’s most prestigious wine regions on the same tour. It will be a magnificent 9-day tour of Champagne and Bordeaux. We start with four nights in Champagne, in
Champagne is in the very north-east of France (we have it on our programme too). Bordeaux is almost diametrically opposed, both geographically and style-wise. Bordeaux is in the south-western part of France, quite close to
France is not like Italy, where vines grow in every region. But France is not far behind. In fact, there are more vineyards in France than in Italy. France has 794 000 hectares of vineyards,
Champagne is France’s northernmost wine region. This is where you find the world’s most celebrated sparkling wine, as well as the wine for most celebrations. Racy, elegant wines but with a fantastic diversity, wines that
Pinot noir has a reputation for being a difficult grape, yet it is found in many places around the world. Maybe the grape isn’t so tricky after all if you free yourself from the idea
Malbec is best known for making easy-drinking charming wines but it can also make extraordinary long-lived wines. At Bodega Weinert in Lujan de Cuyo, winemaker Hubert Weber knows exactly what it takes to bring out
Chardonnay is grown all over the world. It can handle many kinds of climate and soil types. It is often oak aged but not always. All this means that chardonnay is available in many different
Another article in our grape variety series: Merlot is something of a chameleon. All grapes are, of course, in one way or another. But sometimes it’s more noticeable, as with merlot. Château Petrus, 95% merlot,
For the spring 2021 we are offering two wine tours to classic French wine regions: Bordeaux and Champagne. By then we hope and expect that the world has returned to a little bit more of
In our series on grape varieties: Chardonnay has survived trends and fashion. Maybe you remember the ABC movement, Anything But Chardonnay? I am sure there are wine drinkers who still live by that philosophy. But
We have three tours to the southern hemisphere on the program this winter. It is still a bit unclear whether these will be possible. We follow closely what is happening in the world. The three
For the spring 2021 we have two exciting wine tours on our program: Bordeaux and Champagne. By spring 2021 we hope and expect that the world has returned to a little bit more of a
France and Australia are the two major countries producing syrah (or shiraz). But the grape is grown in many countries around the world. Does the character change depending on where the grapes grow? Absolutely. Compare
We have three long haul tours on the program winter program 2021. The three tours will take you to Chile/Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa, exciting and interesting wine countries, each of them giving you
New Zealand is a young wine country, and Central Otago on the South Island is even younger. It is also a spectacularly beautiful region where you find superb wines from the tricky pinot noir. One
Cabernet Sauvignon is grown in virtually all wine countries around the world. It is the world’s most popular – most planted – grape variety. The best way to discover the many different faces of cabernet
No-one knows yet quite what the world will look like or what the possibilities for long-distance travel will be in the winter of 2021. We plan for and hope for that the health situation will
Château Carsin has 20 hectares of which 12 are planted with red grapes and 8 with white ones. Nea Berglund has most of the grape varieties grown in Bordeaux, which means 3 white grape varieties
About wine tours in covid times It was no surprise that the entire spring season of wine tours was cancelled. We have not made a single tour since we just managed to get home from
It is good news that it looks as if it will be possible to go ahead with a first new tour, after the period of lock-down, in the autumn of 2020. We also have tours
