Category Archives: HOT NEWS

THE FANTASTIC STORY OF BON BARON

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Nobody believed top wine could be made on the banks of the Meuse river in Belgium. Château Bon Baron did it !

Once upon a time, there was a dutch lady who fell in love of a beautiful picturesque region in Belgium, 15km south-east from Namur. This is the Meuse valley. A lovely river with little islands and curves which creates a microclimate.

There, Jeannette van der Steen decided to settle and make a happy life of enjoying the lovely landscapes and the sweetness of the region.

She also fell in love with the gastronomy of the region of the lovely city of Dinant. Snails from Warnant,, fishes, farm chickens, blanc-bleu-belge beef and lots of delicious products.

From the one comes the other. Pairing food and wine has always been like an obsession for Jeannette van der Steen. As she thought this region could produce so delicious food, she thought lovely wine could also be made over there and…She decided to make wine. She heard wine had been made in this region years and years ago

The start of a wine estate

First, in the surroundings of her manor, the Château Bon Baron in Lustin (near the beautiful city of Dinant). Jeannette decided to plant 3ha of traditional grape sorts in 2003 after a deep analysis of the soils and the suitable grape sorts in this region of Belgium. She planted white and red grape sorts : auxerrois, acolon, pinot gris, müller-thurgau, chardonnay, pinot noir, cabernet.

The picturesque wine fields of Bon Baron on the banks of the Meuse river

 

The story took another direction when a friend of Ms. Van der Steen brought a bottle of her lovely wine to a restaurant which immediately decided to prepare dishes and pair with her Meuse-wines.

When a wine estate becomes a « succes story ».

The efforts of Ms van der Steen to present her wines and her belief in belgian winemaking brought their first results. Presence on international wine fairs, cooperation with famous cooking schools in belgium and the Netherlands and the arrival of the first tourists convinced her she could do more.

Recently, 15ha have been planted on the banks of the Meuse, just at the exit of Dinant. The wine estate will have a total superficy of 18ha and the winetourism projects are ongoing.

Although it was difficult for ms van der Steen to have a cellar till now, she wants to build one. She also bought a lovely old church in the historical center of Dinant to receive her visitors from all over Europe and let them taste the beautiful, fruity, and spicy wines from the « Côtes the Meuse ».

The old church bought by Château Bon Baron for its wine touristic projects

We all know the story of Ms van der Steen will continue for a very long time.

The range of CHateau Bob Baron is very extended

Miguel D. DESNERCK

pictures and video: Henry BORZI

GREAT SUCCES OF THE MIGSWINEACADEMY

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BRUSSELS – The “MIGSWINEACADEMY” wine education branch of migswineconsulting held a meeting on 27.06.2012 in Brussels called “PEARLS OF LUXEMBOURG MOSELLE RIVER” with the collaboration of Domaines Vinsmoselle, the largest cooperative of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, which represents nearly half of the Luxembourg vineyard.

2 people took the floor:  Ben WIMMER of Domaines Vinsmoselle for an explanation of its wines and Miguel D. DESNERCK, publisher  JOURNALDES VIGNOBLES / VINEYARDS PAPER for an overview of the Moselle.

The many participants could then taste the following wines: 1. Poll-Fabaire sparkling white wine, 2. PollFabaire sparkling rosé wine, 3. Auxerrois Côtes Schengen Vinsmoselle, 4. Pinot Blanc Cotes de Schengen Vinsmoselle, 5.  Pinot Gris,  art&wine, grand 1e cru Ongkâf Machtum , 6. Riesling art&wine,  Grand 1e cru Köppchen Wormeldange, 7. Pinot Noir vinified as a white, Edmond de la Fontaine, 8. Pinot noir red Edmond de la Fontaine.

A really successful evening.

video: Henry BORZI

photos: Henry BORZI

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

www.vinsmoselle.lu

A NEW EXECUTIVE AT CHATEAU ANGELUS

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Château Angelus, 1st Grand Cru Classé B of Saint-Emilion is famous for its excellence and wonderful wines in one of the best terroirs of Saint Emilion.

Château Angelus recently hired Stéphanie de Boüard-Rivoal, Hubert de Boüard’s 30-year old daughter, as a new executive.

The development of Château Angélus as well as the new challenges the property is facing
suggested the creation of a new position, deputy managing director, which has been entrusted to
Stéphanie. She will therefore be involved in all the aspects of the executive management of
Château Angélus from today on.
She is a qualified family member of the new generation (the eighth), bringing all her talent, skills
and enthusiasm to Château Angélus.
Following her graduation from the economics university of Bordeaux and from ESCP-Europe, Stéphanie
expended her business experience in finance, working first for UBS and subsequently for Pictet bank
during 5 years in London.
Her deep interest in wine led her, in parallel of her private banking career, to obtain the advanced
certificate of WSET with honours. With Stephanie, Angelus has now an asset more to strenghen the international position of this fantastic 1st grand cru classé B.

www.angelus.com

The team of Château Angelus with Stéphanie de Boüard on the right.

SAUVIGNON BLANC PLANTED IN BEAUJOLAIS

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Château de Durette is a famous wine estate of Beaujolais. Jeann Joly leads his vineyard with respect for tradition and sense of modernity.

VINEYARDS PAPER has already met Jean Joly several times. He is  a native of Liege,  Belgium,  who found happiness in Beaujolais.

Jean Joly, wanting to extend the range of its wines has decided to plant sauvignon blanc grapes in the Côte de Durette.

The soil is suitable for sauvignon blanc and in 2014, we will taste the first  sauvignon blanc from this lovely wine estate

www.chateaudedurette.eu

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DOMAINES VINSMOSELLE LAUNCH “PINOT LUXEMBOURG”

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Domaines Vinsmoselle , the largest producer of wines and sparkling in the Grand-Duchy of  Luxemburg launched with fanfare “Pinot Luxembourg”.

This is an blend of three pinots that make the reputation of the Moselle vineyards: Pinot Auxerrois, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris.

A big  action is launched for the summer at the Belgian coast to publicize this new product. It  will be particularly attractive with the mussels from the North Sea, a very popular dish  in Belgium. Eleven coast trams will carry the colors of “Pinot Luxembourg”. There will be competitions to win bottles of “Pinot Luxembourg”, recipes, shooting videos, and full of surprises concocted all this summer by Vinsmoselle.

CHATEAU MALARTIC-LAGRAVIERE AT PALAIS DE TOKYO

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Château Malartic-lagravière, which accompanies the exhibition “Royal Oak 40 years” since it opened in New York in March 2012, presented its wine to 700 guests at the Opening night of june 5th at the Palais de Tokyo!

After New York and Milano, where the  event dedicated to 40th anniversary of the Royal Oak,  Audemars Piguet’s emblematic watch, took place, the exhibition moved to Paris for a few days.

The Palais de Tokyo, which was expanded and renovated, reopened its doors in April 2012. It is in this beautiful place, dedicated to art and design, that Audemars Piguet received his guests. Among them, singer Anggun, actors Omar Sy and Lambert Wilson, actresses Julie Gayet, Cecile Cassel, Clotilde Courau, Elisa Tovati and Virginie Ledoyen, but also singers Marc Lavoine and Patrick Bruel. All enjoyed the musical performance of Woodkid and the wines of Château Malartic Lagravière.

At each stage of the exhibition, the wines of Château Malartic-Lagravière, were served with the dishes designed by each chef at the exclusive gala dinners organized around the exhibition. In Paris, there was a gourmet initiary. The wine in magnum  made the buzz: the Malartic 2007 reserve red, the Malartic-Lagravière Grand Cru Classé de Graves White2007 and the still fabulous Malartic-Lagravière red 2002 …

Malartic-Lagravière: one of the top wines of Pessac-Leognan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.malartic-lagraviere.com/

A WONDERFUL EVENT OF CHATEAU CASTIGNO

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Château Castigno from  Assignans in the Aude(France)  organized around Brussels a great event for their customers and friends in Belgium. Mr. & Mrs. Verstraete and their daughter, An-Sophie have invited their clients to a superb winemakers’meal  preceded by a great tasting and explanation of their wines.

Their range of wines made from grape varieties typical of southern France (Roussanne, Marsanne, Viognier, Grenache, Syrah, Clairette …) is very extensive, ranging from sparkling wine to sweet wine.

We particularly liked:

* Grâce des  Anges, White, 2011. The nose exhales a very strong strong flavour. Its mouth is powerful and bold notes give this wine an unusual strength

* Grâce des Anges rose, 2011. A highly developed nose of white peach. On the palate, a good acidity gives this pleasant rosé structure and a nice attack. The persistence of this wine is exceptional.

* Merlot. This is the only single-varietal wine of Chateau Castigno. Its nose is very beautiful. It has all the characteristics of a good merlot from Bordeaux with the southern side of Languedoc wines. A lovely wine!

* Secret des dieux. A red wine made from syrah / carignan / grenache / mourvedre. This wine is typical of the powerful sun of Languedoc. Very expressive nose and hints of garrigue, spices and dried black olives. What a powerful wine& .

All the wines of Chateau Castigno are remarkable and we have liked all of them … The family Verstraete took this opportunity to present its rehabilitation plan for the wonderful village of Assignans. A small forgotten village which will now be revitalized through the purchase of village houses which  have been transformed into luxury holiday cottages for friends and the olvers of the wines of Chateau Castigno. This beautiful project involved an entire region and funds from the Languedoc-Roussillon region have helped the family to extend the dream of making wine to a beautiful resort of wine tourism ! We had a tremendously nice  day and their  public-relations event  was impeccable. Bravo to family Verstraete. !

video: henry BORZI, Editor in chief VINEYARDS PAPER

http://www.chateaucastigno.com/en/news

A FANTASTIC MONTH FOR BODEGA RAFFY

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This month has been truly historic for Bodega Raffy, an argentinian winery led by a frenchman.

After an exciting (yet tough!) year of transition from Market Finance to the Wine Industry, the founder of Bodega Raffy finally stepped out of the shadows, thanks to several successful awards at international wine competitions.
More specifically: out of 14,000 participating wines at the Decanter World Wine Awards, Bodega Raffy came in the Top 120 wines globally, with its Malbec Réserve 2010, winning a Regional Trophy, ie. above Gold Medal status: “Best Argentinian Malbec over £10”. And this is our first-ever vintage!
A tremendous achievement, given that this bodega came ahead of 99.2% of the participants so far. The wines of bodega Raffy  will be taken around the world with other Trophy winners, to be tasted by wine professionals and consumers in 30 different cities worldwide. Bodega Raffy  also remains in the race to win an International Trophy awarded to only 26 wines in the competition. These awards will be announced by Steven Spurrier at Royal Opera House in London on 5th September 2012… Fingers crossed for this lovely zine estate.

THE CAPITAL OF BRAZILIAN WINES

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THE CAPITAL OF BRASILIAN WINES

Brazil is an unknown wine country with its wine region on the borders with Argentina. It will become one of the most exciting wine countries in the world.

This city in the heart of Brazil’s wine country is Brazil’s wine capital. Bento Goncalves is a quiet city. In this city, they make furniture

Wine regions have much in common with each other. There are ‘poster signs’ in the form of a bunch of grapes indicating the wine routes, as well as those listing the names of wineries with arrows pointing to their direction. Large area maps featuring specific winery locations are also common and tastefully presented.

Here people breathe, eat, sleep and live wine. On any given day it is hard not to come across locals visiting their wineries. The many restaurants also feature local wines, displaying the signs of some of the 30 or more wineries whose wine they patronize.

Most of the Vale dos Vinhedos belongs to Bento Goncalves. However, two other cities, Garibaldi and Monte Belo do Sul, also lay claim to part of it. The Vale dos Vinhedos is currently the only approved ‘Wine Appellation’ in Brazil, however one more, Pinto Bandeira, is also hoping to have this ‘quality assurance and regulation’ as part of its makeup.

The wines of this area range from jug wines made from Niagara, Isabella and other Labrusca grapes such as those that can be purchased from an excellent winery called Strapazzon, to the very fine vinifera wines of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tannat, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Muscat, Alicante Bouchet, Touriga Nacional and many more.

If there is one grape that grows best so far in this area, first prize would have to be given to the Merlot. As Malbec grows well in Argentina and Cabernet Sauvignon seems to be the grape of Chile, Merlot is establishing itself as the prime grape of this region.

The wine produced by many of the wineries seems to have a particular old world freshness and leanness. It offers strength without sacrificing elegance and offers fruit that melds with other nuances of spice, chocolate, cassis and flowers. Most winemakers describe their Merlot as being the child of both new and old worlds. The wineries range in size from the large Miolo to the smaller Pizzato and Lidio Carrero. They share two traits however — passion and excellence.

Like other wine areas, Bento Goncalves offers other products besides wine. There is, of course, the majestic scenery as well as food products such as cheese (sheep cheese is amazing), beef, pork, poultry, clothing and vegetables. There are also some superb hotels such as the Five Star Marriott Hotel and Spa Do Vinho and the Villa Michelon.

It is very apparent that this region will soon have a place amongst the great wine regions of the world.

http://www.winesofbrasil.com

BISOL PROSECCO CONQUERS THE BRIC COUNTRIES

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From 2009 to today, Bisol have recorded an extraordinary increase in exports towards the BRIC countries: in Brazil, Russia, India and China, sales of Prosecco have in fact grown by 650%.

Bisol products, which ended the year 2011 with a turnover of 13 million Euro, equally distributed between Italy, Europe and the rest of the world and being exported to 56 countries, are distributed exclusively through the HoReCa channel and occupy a highly specialised corner of the market: “2012 is off to a great start with the first three months confirming the growth trend: connoisseurs who taste a glass of Bisol are in search of a certain type of quality and culture that reflects its home territory” comments Gianluca Bisol, general manager and member of the time-honoured Cartizze family.

 

Brazil, with growth figures of more than 300% in 3 years, makes up 20% of exports towards the BRIC area. As the export manager Roberto Actis explains, “Italian wine in Brazil costs 300% more than the equivalent in the USA and the high taxation levels for exporting wine from Italy must also be taken into account”. Cru Cartizze Bisol is served in the elegant Mr Lam restaurant in Rio de Janeiro which is owned by Elike Batista one of the ten richest men in the world. In San Paolo noSO2 can be tasted at Mani, famous for its “natural cuisine”, graced by the renowned chef Helena Rizzo and voted by the British publication ‘Restaurant Magazine’ amongst the top 100 restaurants in the world.

Italian wine in China is still something of a niche product but Prosecco is already becoming appreciated in the metropolises and above all in luxurious establishments. China, with growth figures of 130% in 3 years,  makes up 25% of Bisol exports towards the BRIC area. In Peking, Bisol wines are served in top quality restaurants such as LM Plus and Fairmont.

For Bisol Russia takes up more than 65% of the increase and more than 55% of exports towards the Bric countries. “Russia is a historically interesting market for sparkling wines from everywhere in the world. Today, in Russia, Italian sparkling wines occupy first place for the consumption of foreign sparkling wines. Obviously, Prosecco is one of the most sought after wines in the bubbles market” explains Christina Arutyunova, Business Development Director East Countries. Bisol, Jeio and BelStar can be found in the best establishments from Moscow to Siberia. “Moscow is certainly the largest and most competitive market. Thanks to the collaboration with MBGroup, one of the most influential import companies, Bisol wines are currently being served in the Sindikat chain, one of the largest and richest in Russia, in the restaurants of the BOSCO group, including the luxury GUM store in Red Square, in the Novikov chain, BOLSHOY restaurant and MACHO GRILL and in important hotels such as Swissotel and Marriott Grand Hotel”. For class events Russian Vip clients choose Bisol wines selecting them for example to accompany cultural, political and finance meetings such as “Forum Russia”, the most important appointment in the world of Russian finance.

“Prosecco Bisol – so chic and easy – has once again confirmed itself as a Lifestyle Symbol of international success” comments Gianluca Bisol “it is well liked in all corners of the market and thanks to its delicacy and its subtle bouquet it pairs perfectly with Asian and exotic cuisine: it is also so versatile that it is chosen as the ideal drink for toasting at any moment during the day and it accompanies all dishes from the aperitif to dessert”.

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