Double dip: two trophies and a big win - grollot & chenin blanc (Chateau Passavant, Loire)

Harvest workers picking grapes, chenin blanc. Chateau de Passavant, Anjou, Loire, France

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And a bonus picture today, for no special reason:

Have you ever heard of this:



Bunches of ripe grapes. Vine leaf. Grollot, grolleau variety. Chateau de Passavant, Anjou, Loire, France

('Le gros lot' is the top prize in the lottery in French)

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Chateau de Passavant, Anjou, Loire stock photography samples, by Per Karlsson, BKWine.

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Chateau de Passavant is located in the small village Passavant sur Layon, in the wine region of Anjou in Loire wine country. It is owned and managed by the brothers Francois David, the winemaker, and Olivier Lecomte, who is in charge of viticulture, vineyards and sales, together with Claire Lecomte. The chateau itself is an impressive medieval fortress owned by the David-Lecomte family since 1900. The vineyard are managed in organic viticulture, planted with a variety of grapes: chenin blanc, sauvignon, cabernet franc, and even grollot. the make a wide variety of wines: red wine, white wine (both sweet and dry), and sparkling. Harvesting the grapes are done, at least partially, by hand.

All images © copyright Per Karlsson, BKWine. Images may not be used without our permission.


Loire Chateau Passavant stock photo samples - Images by Per Karlsson

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At this time of year it is not much still life in the winery but here it is (Domaine du Vissoux, Beaujolais)

glass and bottle on a vat domaine du vissoux beaujolais burgundy france

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Domaine du Vissoux, Saint Vérand, Beaujolais, Burgundy, stock photography samples, by Per Karlsson, BKWine.

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Domaine du Vissoux is the winery of Martine and Pierre-Marie Chermette. It has long been one of the most well-known and quality conscious producers of Beaujolais. The name comes from the little hamlet, near the village Saint Vérand, where the winery is located in the southern part of Beaujolais in Burgundy (Bourgogne).

The winery has 25 hectares of vines. Almost all is planted with the traditional Beaujolais grape variety gamay (gamay noir à jus blanc). There are also two small plots of chardonnay for the (unusual) white Beaujolais wines.

The Chermettes couple also own vineyards in other parts of Beaujolais and makes a range of wines: apart from “normal” Beaujolais they also make Brouilly, Fleurie, Moulin à Vent, Crémant de Bourgogne (since 2009) and crème de cassis from blackcurrants.

The vineyards are farmed with an “eco-friendly” approach: The use a minimum of chemicals in the vineyards and do much of the crop control and soil management mechanically or by hand. Harvest is manual. In the wine cellar they use natural rather than cultured yeasts, try to keep chaptalisation to a minimum (sometimes not at all, they have a cuvée that is specifically not chaptalised) and use very little sulphur both in the vinification phase and at bottling. For the vinification they use “semi-carbonic” vinification with a shorter period under CO2 than in full carbonic maceration.

All images © copyright Per Karlsson, BKWine. Images may not be used without our permission.


Bourgogne Beaujolais Domaine Vissoux Chermette - stock photo samples - Images by Per Karlsson

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The very last bottle of Beaujolais Chénas 1989, and it was splendid! (Domaine Hubert Lapierre)

chenas 1989 and 2006 domaine hubert lapierre beaujolais burgundy france

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Domaine Hubert Lapierre, Chénas & Moulin à Vent, Beaujolais, Burgundy, stock photography samples, by Per Karlsson, BKWine.

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The Domaine Hubert Lapierre is a family owned winery in Beaujolais in the appellations Chénas and Moulin à Vent in Beaujolais in southern Burgundy (Bourgogne). All wines are made from the exclusive Beaujolais red grape variety gamay (or to give it its full name: gamay noir à jus blanc).

The vines are trained and pruned in gobelet style (bush vine) and grow on sandy and granitic soil. The grapes are harvested manually. There are some 10 hectares of vines with an average age of the vines of 45 to 80 years.

The Domaine Hubert Lapierre makes several different cuvees in the two cru appellations Moulin à Vent and Chénas, including a Vieilles vignes selection.

All images © copyright Per Karlsson, BKWine & BKWine Photography. Images may not be used without our permission.


Bourgogne Beaujolais Domaine Hubert Lapierre - stock photo samples - Images by Per Karlsson

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The village, the church, the vineyards (Morgon, Beaujolais, Burgundy)

Vineyard. The village with church. Morgon, Beaujolais, France

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Beaujolais Cru villages, Burgundy, stock photography samples, by Per Karlsson, BKWine.

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Beaujolais is the southern-most wine region in Burgundy in France. It is mainly producing red wines from the gamay grape, but it also makes some white wine using the chardonnay vine variety. The wines are generally fruity and aromatic. Most of it is drunk young, but the better qualities can be aged and then develop quite different taste and aroma profiles. Beaujolais is the largest sub-region in the Bourgogne wine country, covering some 20,000 hectares planted with vines.

The vines mostly grow on sandy or granitic soils. Traditionally vines have to be trained in the gobelet style (bush vines) and grapes must be harvested manually, quite different from what is practiced in other parts of Bourgogne. In recent years experimental plantings with vines trained on wire (cordon, guyot) have been allowed in Beaujolais to make it possible to harvest with machine. (However, there are vineyards that have been trained in cordon since long time back.)

The Beaujolais appellation is structured in the following levels: Beaujolais, Beaujolais Villages (better quality but without mention of the village, coming from 39 communes), and Beaujolais Cru. The top level is the "crus" (NB it is not called "grand cru") which always mention name of the village (cru) on the label. The cru wines come from ten villages considered to be the best areas for wine growing in Beaujolais: Brouilly, Côte de Brouilly, Morgon, Moulin à Vent, Juliénas, Chénas, Saint Amour, Régnié, Chiroubles, Fleurie.

All images © copyright Per Karlsson, BKWine. Images may not be used without our permission.


Bourgogne Beaujolais Cru Villages - stock photo samples - Images by Per Karlsson

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Autumn colours with grapes in the vineyard (Corton, Burgundy)

Bunches of ripe grapes. Vine leaf. Pinot noir. Corton Grand Cru. Aloxe Corton, Cote de Beaune, d'Or, Burgundy, France

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Corton and Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru, Aloxe Corton, Burgundy, stock photography samples, by Per Karlsson, BKWine.

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The Aloxe Corton village in Burgundy has three “grand crus”: Le Corton, Corton-Charlemagne, and Charlemagne. By far the largest is Corton that can be used both for red wines and for white wines. The other two are used for white wines only. The Aloxe Corton commune is located in the northern part of Côte de Beaune in central Burgundy, neighbouring Ladoix-Serrigny and Pernand-Vergelesses.

The red wines are exclusively made from the pinot noir grape variety and the white wines from chardonnay. The total vineyard area is around 100 hectares. 95% of production is red. It is the largest for the grands crus in Bourgogne.

There are several vineyard names (“climat”) that are sometimes used on the labels on the wines. For example: Les Pougets, Les Chaumes, Les Fiètres, Les Bressandes, Clos des Meix, Les Renardes, Les Grèves, Clos du Roi. Les Hospices de Beaune has a number of parcels in this area.

Corton is the only grand cru for red wines in the Côte de Beaune.

All images © copyright Per Karlsson, BKWine. Images may not be used without our permission.


Bourgogne Aloxe Corton Grand Cru - stock photo samples - Images by Per Karlsson

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This is rather old. 13th century vaulted wine cellar. (Domaine Comte Senard, Burgundy)

barrel aging cellar domaine comte senard aloxe-corton cote de beaune burgundy france

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Domaine Comte Senard, Aloxe-Corton, Côte de Beaune, Burgundy, stock photography samples, by Per Karlsson, BKWine.

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Domaine Comte Senard is a family owned wine estate in the commune of Aloxe-Corton in Côte de Beaune in Burgundy (Bourgogne). It is in the village of Aloxe, just below the Corton hill and the Corton grand cru vineyards.

The winery now has 9 hectares of vineyards in a number of different Burgundy appellations, including Bourgogne grand crus, premier crus and village appellations, e.g. Clos de Meix, Corton Clos du Roi, Corton Bressandes, and Corton Charlemagne. The Clos des Meix is adjoining the buildings in the village. Around 20 different wines are made.

The wines used to be made and aged in the ancient vaulted cellars, dating from the 13th century, under the house in the village but modern requirements have led to production being moved to newer winery facilities in Beaune. The old cellar is now used for some bottle aging and to display old barrels. The white wines are exclusively made from chardonnay, of course, and the red wines from pinot noir. Winemaking is today under the responsibility of count Philippe Senard and his daughter Lorraine.

They also have a small table d’hote restaurant in the village where one can eat traditional Burgundian food matched with a wide range of excellent Burgundy wines served by the glass.

All images © copyright Per Karlsson, BKWine & BKWine Photography. Images may not be used without our permission.


Bourgogne Aloxe Corton Domaine Comte Senard - stock photo samples - Images by Per Karlsson

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A young vine on the gravely hilltop at Chateau le Boscq (Bordeaux)

young vine, sandy gravelly soil chateau le boscq saint estephe medoc bordeaux france

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Château le Boscq, Saint Estèphe, Médoc, Bordeaux, stock photography samples, by Per Karlsson, BKWine.

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Château le Boscq is yet another chateau in the group Vins et Vignobles Dourthe CVBG (Dourthe Wines & Estates). Chateau le Boscq is a Cru Bourgeois (or was, since that classification is now in limbo) in Saint Estephe in the northern Médoc in the Bordeaux wine region in France. It has been run by Dourthe since 1995. However it is not the property of Dourthe but they farm it under contract.

It is not one of the "1855 classified growths" (crus classés) which leaves it short on glamour. On the other hand the excellent red claret wines it produces is perhaps for that very reason better value for money. The 18 hectare vineyard is located far north in the Medoc on a very gravely hilltop that reaches 18 metres, which is high in the Medoc. The vineyards are planted with merlot (60%), cabernet sauvignon, petit verdot and cabernet franc.

As always at the Dourthe estates the vineyard management is meticulous and the winery work is if not high-tech, at least very technologically advanced in winemaking terms. The winery is equipped with gleaming temperature controlled stainless fermentation vats, micro-oxidation equipment, barrel cellars with new (and not so new) oak barriques. Sorting is done in two stages, before and after de-stemming. De-budding and de-leafing is meticulously done. Different lots are fermented and aged separately to follow the evolution. Etcetera, etcetera.

In contrast, and perhaps understandably, the chateau itself somewhat less gleaming, albeit a very harmonious and beautiful architectural design. It was built in 1891.

Damien Martial is in charge of the winemaking and Frédéric Bonnafous is the estate manager.

All images © copyright Per Karlsson, BKWine. Images may not be used without our permission.


Bordeaux Saint Estephe Chateau le Boscq - stock photo samples - Images by Per Karlsson

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Light at the end of the tunnel. But why go so far? (Wine Art Estate, Greece)

Bottles aging in the cellar. Wine Art Estate Winery, Microchori, Drama, Macedonia, Greece

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Wine Art Estate Microchori, Macedonia, Greece, stock photography samples, by Per Karlsson, BKWine.

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The winery with the odd name Wine Art is located in Microchori, close to the city of Drama in the region of Macedonia in northern Greece. It is indeed impressive in its design, but the size is very humane. The winery was founded by Yiannis Papadopoulos and Yiannis Kalaitzidis in 1995. It is all very modern and elegant. Perhaps it has to do with the founders' background in engineering and architecture? The young winemaker is Ageliki Biba, she has recently joined and is a trained agronomist and oenologist. The vineyards cover some 45 hectares, mainly planted with 'international' varieties: sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, syrah. They have som traditional Greek wine varieties too: assyrtiko and agiorgitiko. And they even have some experimental plantings of nebbiolo and sangiovese. The small underground cellar is filled with bottles and barrels for aging the wine.

All images © copyright Per Karlsson, BKWine. Images may not be used without our permission.


Greece Wine Art Estate Winery Drama stock photo samples - Images by Per Karlsson

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