Sommelier - Fall 2023

We are in an ancient, binding contract with nature to upkeep life. Right now, we are in debt but luckily sustainability is far more than just a buzzword.

It demands action and the viticultural world has the chance to take leadership in the agricultural landscape in what the future of farming should look like. In this issue we explore sustainability from different angles.

IMPRINT:

Sommelier #3 2023 26.Year

Deadline for next issue (#3 2023): 13. October

Editor in chief: Nina Højgaard Jensen / Nhj@sommelier.dk

Layout og art director: Morten Nybæk

Print: Nybæk Grafisk, 26 25 82 50

Issuer: Dansk Sommelier Forening

PRACTICAL INFO

SOMMELIER is published four times annually and sent to members and friends of the Danish Sommelier Association. The magazine is run by volunteer work. All profit goes to education, competitions and professional events. As a private person you can support the association with 700 dkk/year by becoming “Friend of Danish Sommelier Association”. Apart from working to improve the Danish sommeliers, you will then receive a diploma.

For membership contact: Heine René Egelund he@sommelier.dk - all enquiries in realtion to change of address, contingent and invoices are kindly asked addresses to Heine Egelund as well.

Ads and anything in that relation: Bonnie Reinwald Mail: bonnie@ buttandbons.com

We ask kindly that invitations to tastings, travels etc. are directed to Editor in chief Nina Højgaard Jensen på mail Nhj@sommelier.dk

WRITE FOR THE MAGAZINE

You are welcome to contribute to our magazine. For contributions or questions in that regard, contact Nina Højgaard Jensen by email nhj@ sommelier.dk. Please note that photos should be a minimum of 2MB.

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RESPONSIBLE FOR TASTINGS:

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COMPETITIONS & ENTRANCE EXAMINATIONS: Christian Thorsholt Jacobsen & Jess Kildetoft ctj@sommelier.dk & jk@sommelier.dk

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Christian Thorsholt Jacobsen ctj@sommelier.dk

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Front page: Handshake with Nature,Pixabay

no. 3 - 2023

Høj kompetence og erfaring siden 1979 ligger bag Adriats spændende sortiment, der omfatter vine fra vingårde hele Italien. Flere hører til blandt verdens førende producenter, andre er på vej, og nogle er stadig ukendte. Alle er de omhyggeligt udvalgt med samme store kærlighed til vinen.

MONDAVI FAMILIEN I PIEMONTE

Nu har Robert Mondavis barnebarn, Carlo Mondavi, og hans partner, Giovanna Bagnasco, overtaget vinhuset Sorí della Sorba i Piemonte, hvor de producerer vin ud fra principper indenfor permakultur, biodynamik, og økologi.

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate gav vinhusets

første årgang 2019, Sorí della Sorba Nebbiolo Langhe 93+ point og en masse ros med på vejen:

Clément og Florian Berthier kombinerer traditionel og moderne praksis for at udføre den mission, som deres far har givet dem: at bevare familiearven med samme flid.

Beliggende mellem Gien og Cosne-sur-Loire har denne vingård på 191 hektar et tempereret klima takket være Loire-floden, med en kontinental indflydelse fra øst. Det er plantet på bjergskråninger af Loire forlængelser af de geologiske formationer af Sancerrois og Pouilly.

De laver kun 2 vine på nuværende tidspunkt:

• Langhe Nebbiolo på 100% Nebbiolo

• Langhe Rosso på 60% Dolcetto, 40% Nebbiolo

MONDAVI FAMILIEN I PIEMONTE

”This biodynamic expression of Nebbiolo captures the most honest and transparent side of this noble Piedmont grape. Production is 3,441 bottles, 40 magnums and three jeroboams. That said, with this inaugural release, you'd be lucky to find one at all.”

Årgang 2020 er nu på lager i Skovlunde, og sælges så længe lager haves.

NYHED

Nu har Robert Mondavis barnebarn, Carlo Mondavi, og hans partner, Giovanna Bagnasco, overtaget vinhuset Sorí della Sorba i Piemonte, hvor de producerer vin ud fra principper indenfor permakultur, biodynamik, og økologi.

De laver kun 2 vine på nuværende tidspunkt:

• Langhe Nebbiolo på 100% Nebbiolo

• Langhe Rosso på 60% Dolcetto, 40% Nebbiolo

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate gav vinhusets første årgang 2019, Sorí della Sorba Nebbiolo Langhe 93+ point og en masse ros med på vejen:

”This biodynamic expression of Nebbiolo captures the most honest and transparent side of this noble Piedmont grape. Production is 3,441 bottles, 40 magnums and three jeroboams. That said, with this inaugural release, you'd be lucky to find one at all.”

Årgang 2020 er nu på lager i Skovlunde, og sælges så længe lager haves.

Ca. 200 flasker på lager · Findes også i magnum 1,5L

Coteaux du Giennois er en lille og nyere appellation, selvom man kan finde arkæologiske beviser for vindyrkning i denne region siden det 2. århundrede. I fuld ekspansion med autentiske vine, der afslører originaliteten af deres terroir.

93 PTS 93 PTS

TERRE DE CAILLOTTE

Med en lysgul farve med grønne nuancer åbner Terre de Caillotte med en meget elegant og raffineret næse. Hvide frugter komplementerer fint noter af hvide blomster som tjørn.

TERRE DE SILEX

Med en gylden gul farve åbner

Terre de Silex med en typisk næse, der blander sauvignonens elegante sprødhed med en gunflint-karakter.

Sustainability at a glance

BY: NINA JENSEN

In the tranquil vineyards everything seems to be in harmony at first. Once there, the question popping to mind is not: Is agriculture nature? The wine industry's age-old traditions meet the modern imperative of sustainability. As consumers become more conscious of their choices and the environment's fragility takes center stage, the wine industry finds itself at a crossroads — where old charm intertwines with the urgent need for a sustainable future.

The wine industry, deeply rooted in history and culture, holds a unique place in our hearts and palates. It's a testament to the artistry of winemaking that spans generations, a celebration of terroir that speaks to the distinctiveness of a region, and a symbol of conviviality that brings people together. Yet, beneath the allure of romantic vineyard views, a profound transformation is underway — one that acknowledges the industry's responsibility to steward the land, conserve resources, and safeguard the very essence of its existence. The vineyards are the beat -

ing heart of the wine industry. Sustainable vineyard management practices are not just about cultivating quality grapes, but about nurturing ecosystems. From cover cropping and rotational planting to integrated pest management, to responsible use of water which plays a pivotal role in viticulture - these practices honor the delicate balance of nature but also ensure the communities that depend on them in the future.

Embracing sustainability isn't limited to the fields. Wineries themselves are increasingly adopting eco-friendly practices. Solar panels adorn rooftops, and energy-efficient lighting brightens cellars. Waste reduction and recycling programs are no longer afterthoughts but integral components of a responsible operation. The circular economy finds its way into wine production, from repurposing pomace into natural fertilizers to creatively reimagining wine packaging with lighter materials and innovative designs.

Consumer awareness and demand could be a key fac -

tor in propelling the wine industry's sustainability journey. Ethical considerations now extend to the wine aisle, as environmentally conscious consumers seek out labels that bear sustainability certifications – but that is where it becomes tricky: In a jungle of certifications, it is difficult to figure out what makes a difference, what aligns with your values. Certifications are no easy question, and in the piece featured on regenerative farming, we also see that the perhaps most forward-sighted way of farming does not embrace it as a mechanism but instead fears it will become a sleeping-pillow. In another piece we take a closer look at the new ESG initiative for sustainable legal action.

To partake in the deepening of our understanding of the symbiotic relationship between nature and our cherished traditions, we in this issue we take a closer look at sustainability from several angles.

Cheers

Nina Jensen

“I’VE EVEN SEEN PEOPLE CRY AT TASTINGS”

MADEIRA: A WINE OF TIME AND EMOTION

MADEIRA HAS HAD ITS UPS AND DOWNS.

The first “up” came many million years ago, when Madeira rose from the sea in a volcanic eruption that formed one of the most fertile islands in the world. It’s sometimes called “The Garden of the Atlantic”: you can throw a seed, any seed, over your shoulder and it’ll grow. As trade routes opened between Europe and the New World, Madeira became an important stop before embarking on the journey across the sea. Here, ships would fill their provisions of fresh water and foodstuffs. Naturally, madeira wine was brought along also, as it fared much better than other wines under the harsh conditions of the trip. It would even improve in the hot, humid hold of the ship.

The wines became hugely popular in the US, which did not have much domestic wine production at the time. Famously, madeira was the preferred presidential tipple and was drunk at the signing of The Declaration of Independence. Now that is a high point!

And downs? Well, there’s been a few. While madeira once outsold both port and sherry combined, the double whammy of oidium and phylloxera in the latter half of the 1800s took a hard toll on the island’s vines. Not only was

almost no wine produced for a long while, but in the aftermath many of the noble white varieties were replaced with tinta negra – a hardier, high-yielding grape, though somewhat less characterful. It now makes up 80% of the total plantings.

One company in particular, Blandy’s, had the foresight to strengthen its reserves rather than downsize during this difficult time, purchasing significant stocks of old wine where they could.

In 1925, Blandy’s went on to form The Madeira Wine Company with a group of other producers, looking to maximize global exposure and minimize overheads with the export market at an all-time low. Today, Blandy’s is the only family of the original founders of the Madeira wine trade that still owns and manages their own original wine company, led today by 7th generation, Chris Blandy.

History and time are – almost literally – ingredients in the production of madeira, which gets much of its character through aging in neutral, American oak barrels – often for many decades. The wine is moved up the floors of the old wine lodges, from the cooler floors on the bottom to the hottest at the top, mimicking those sea voyages of yore. Here, time and temperature infuse a special magic

into the wines, and the oldest have a strong emotional aspect. Imagine drinking a wine from grapes harvested in 1920!

“These old Madeiras get into your emotional memory. I’ve even seen people cry at tastings”, recounts Chris Blandy.

SAME AS IT EVER WAS?

Perhaps this temporal aspect is what leads some to claim that madeira is made exactly the same way as it was 200 years ago. But according to Chris Blandy that is a mischaracterization. To him, the wine made today is not only different, but also far better than it ever was, mostly due to Blandy’s focus on scientific research, sustainability and technological development: “The wine is not just different to how it was 200 years ago, it is different to how we made it just 15 years ago!”, he says. Once, getting the grapes from the farthest vineyards to the winery would take 6 hours – today better infrastructure means they get there in just 1.

Blandy’s is also trying to reverse the supremacy of tinta negra by planting only noble varieties on their vineyards, making sure the company is always improving, in order to prepare future generations of Blandys for whatever ups and downs may lie ahead.

Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon & the Challenge from the Vineyard

BY: JENS PETER NEBSBJERG

In this second part of the interview with Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, the Chef de Cave at Louis Roederer, he gives his view on terroir in Champagne, which unsurprisingly matches his portfolio at Roederer. He provides insights into how he has reacted to the challenges from the vineyard: from climate change as well as from the changed viticultural practices. Rounding off he gets into the challenge of the future: Coteaux Champenois.

"Our classification system of Champagne is based on the village - it is very imperfect," states Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon after having shared his view on terroir. His understanding of terroir is illustrated by his own lineup of wines. Not surprisingly, the Collection series is the first step: It represents the three Vs - Vintages, Villages, and Varieties. Next comes single village from one variety, and one vintage, known as the vintage wines of which Roederer makes two: A Blanc des Blancs and a Blanc de Noirs. We have shifted from a broad overview of Champagne to zooming in on something far more specific. Then comes the single vineyard, which is Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon's project with Philip Stark, which again zooms in one step further. And finally: Cristal. The epitome of terroir, it is a multi-village wine. But how is that terroir?

A vineyard in Cramant on the border of Avize used to be part of the Cristal estate in some years, but in other years, it was out. The Roederer team dug soil pits in the 6-hectare large vineyard and discovered that the bottom part was not so chalky but more clayey. This part is now consistently used for the Collection series.

The middle part was chalkier and is used for the Blanc des Blancs, while the top part was very, very chalky and is today the only remaining part of the Cristal estate. This approach has established a division into small estates so that the wines come from the same plots each year. Which allows Roederer to source grapes from various locations throughout Champagne for its Collection series but still select all the way to the very very chalky mid-slopes for Cristal.

TALKING WINE

Taking inspiration from the remarkable 2022 vintage, characterized by exceptionally low disease pressure that granted winemakers the unique privilege of selecting the optimal picking date, we gracefully segue into the topic of Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon's transition from crafting non-vintage Brut Premier to the multi-vintage Collection.

Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon likes the phrasing of the multi-vintage because “it is on a vintage level - there is no reason why the multi-vintage should not be as fine as the vintage.” In the old days, a bad year was for non-vintage while a good year was for vintage. The difference was that while a vintage year could shine on its own, the non-vintage year had to be corrected in the cellar with reserve wines to balance the high acidity of a lesser vintage. This was the philosophy of Brut Premier, but in recent years, more and more vintages can speak for themselves. This is the philosophy of the new multi-vintage: They share the same spine but in each blend, a vintage is allowed to speak for itself. The warmer vintages we have seen recently created wines with a fruitier profile which had to be shut down in order to deliver the same wine each year. If you want the wine to be very much the same from one year to the other, “you need to be so strong-handed on the fruit, to shut down the fruit.” The entry-level wine is now changing with the vintage, which is a challenge or an opportunity depending on the viewpoint. The Collection 243, which was in our glasses at this point, had a very generous fruit, expressing the warm base vintage of 2018, yielding a glass for the table, while the former, based on 2017, would fit the aperitif-thirsty audience better. I hope this will give a better understanding of vintages before releasing the vintage wines and a real opportunity for sommeliers to match the wines to the right audience.

This diversity within the entry level is what Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon wanted because it opens discussions. "Then you speak wine," he declares. Behind it is a conscious choice of moving away from the by-the-glass segment by pricing to be taken more seriously - to be treated as a wine.

IT’S MAGIC

The climate has given him the challenge of decreasing acidity, which has made Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon focus on freshness over acidity. The freshness is preserved in the core of the Collection series by a perpetual reserve initiated in 2012. “It's magic, in fact, it is magic - I learned it from the growers. I discovered the perpetual when Anselme Selosse started in the 80s.“ (Used to make his infamous Substance wine).

The perpetual reserve is often mistakenly called a solera in Champagne. A perpetual is often a single container where a quantity of wine is drawn each year for blending. This wine is replaced with wine from the current vintage. At Roederer, the perpetual reserve is about preserving freshness. The container is a 1000-hectoliter stainless steel tank, which slows down aging by being stable in temperature and avoiding oxygen. The wines added at Roederer are only Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, which have had their malolactic conversion blocked. The magic is that the wine keeps the freshness of a young wine while gaining the complexity of a mature one.

LESS PRESSURE AND SULFUR

Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon has decreased the pressure in the whole range, which aids in bringing the wine to the table sooner and perhaps also in balancing the wine by adding less alcohol than a fully pressurized wine. “I am low pressure all over the range. I am decreasing.” The standard six bars of pressure is created by adding 24 grams of sugar per liter to create the second fermentation. Here, Jean-Baptiste

Lécaillon goes as low as 17 grams in his Blanc des Blancs, which is a little more than 4 bars of pressure.

The Roederer range is made of the domaine’s own fruit, apart from the Collection series, which relies on bought fruit. This means that a large part of the range has been changed from conventional to organic and/or biodynamic fruit. The paradigm change in the vineyard has created an equal paradigm shift in the cellar. “If you ferment it in the conventional way, using conventional levels of sulfur, using conventional yeast, and such practices, you make very closed wines.”

This change has brought spontaneous fermentation to the winery, created by using the practice of Pied de cuve, where a small number of grapes are pressed and then left to ferment in a small vessel before being used as a starter for the entire batch, similar to baking with sourdough.

“It yields more balance than conventional fermentation,” states Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon.

The sulfur levels have decreased, especially in the Chardonnays, which Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon finds most reductive. Here, the sulfur in the press is all avoided, not for the sake of being sulfur-free, but because the fruit does not need it, he explains.

BE PREPARED

"You need to prepare. This is my great theory,” Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon amidst. This has been clear when discussing his career at Roederer. He started early and has been well-prepared for his battles, which the number of organic vineyards really is a testament to.

“So my focus, in terms of management, is really to be ready. Not pushed by the trend. Be ahead of the trend.” This is especially true when it comes to his conversion of the vineyards where Jean-Baptiste

Lécaillon received multiple certifications for the domain part of the range but does not use it on the labels.

“If people think it's good because it's organic, I would have failed. It's good because it's Cristal. And by the way, Cristal is organic.”

I believe that highlighting that Cristal is organic on the (back)label could be a positive step. It's an opportunity to showcase both the exceptional quality and their commitment to sustainability, which could have a meaningful impact on the industry on a broader scale.

Jean-Baptiste Lécaillons theory is closely linked to the theory of not stating what will be changed in the future but stating what has been changed. When asked about current trials with extended élévage before prise de mousse and other current trends, Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon only confirms that he is learning from his experiments. We might see them in the future, but only when he knows the results.

JEAN - BAPTISTE LÉCAILLON AND THE FUTURE CHALLENGE

The first still wine from Roederer since the 1961 harvest was made from the 2018 vintage. In line with Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon's philosophy, this comeback was carefully planned with new vineyard plantings in 2002, specifically aimed at producing still wines. Here, a selection massale of Burgundy clones was planted very close together, with a super high density of 10,000 to 12,000 vines per hectare. The vines are trained higher, aiming to capture more sun on the bunches.

He refers to these small plots, of which there are currently five, as his 'climate change laboratory.' The challenge of producing still wines is the antithesis of producing sparkling wines, but with the mantra of being prepared, Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon is already consciously training for the next challenge.

All too often, he states that Coteaux Champenois is made from fruit originally destined for sparkling wines. Whether it's from a hot year or the low-yielding section planted by the grandfather, he believes that to truly excel, it should be made with the intention of producing still wine from the outset.

Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon concludes this interview with what I see as advice for the future: "If you want your Coteaux to reach the next level, we need to focus on making Coteaux every year, and we need to do it in a different way.”

Farming for the future

BY: NINA JENSEN

Life. Life, right here on Earth! The original miracle. A miracle born out of perhaps the most elegant trick ever seen: Photosynthesis. About 2500 million years ago, an early multicellular organism learned how to strip away an electron from a water molecule and strap it on to an abundant gas, CO2, using free energy from the sun to create the first organic compound: Simple sugar. Throughout the next millions of years life grew, respiring photosynthesis. The ying-yang relation between respiration and photosynthesis formed the binding contract of life. Sustainability is a quest to keep our end of that contract. It is for the hopeful who believe that the choices we make matter. Rooted in a healthy dose of pessimism or maybe even fear or sorrow, the belief is nourished by faith in knowledge and solutions. As science progresses, more solutions become available. Simultaneously, the bar for sustainability raises, as we gain more insight into the full supply chains and the actual cost of our choices.

Today, a global voice urges you to make a choice if you can afford it. A choice that must be a priority, for we are in debt on our end of the contract. Agriculture takes a toll in this equation, viticulture being no exception. But viticulture is different: It holds the capacity like nothing else in agriculture to free creativity and inspiration, even a life force. Therefore, we have potential and obligation. We have a way forward and leadership to offer. That is what we could be putting into our wines.

IN THE VERY BEGINNING

“I’m going to have to cram 4600 million years of history into a very short frame of time” Mimi Casteel (Hopewell Vineyard) opens our lecture on farming for the future at the International Symposium for Masters of Wine. While we will return to the subject of farming, to understand Mimis’ perspectives, we will first need to look very far back in time. She is here to talk about regenerative farming: A concept she is willing to challenge

anyone on, who says what can and can’t be done in viticulture. While original term Regenerative Farming was coined in the 1980’ies by The Rodale Institute (USA) but has only recently been taken into use. Mimi believes firmly that we can rise to the challenge and the way to do it is by appealing to our interconnectedness with the world around us. She is spellbinding not unlike, paradoxically, an evangelist of science, who somehow manages to create a sense of belonging and responsibility by talking of the microbes that gave us the planet we know today:

“In the beginning of this planet, the conditions were almost perfect for life to form. Lipid membranes, two molecules came together to form the rudimentary of life.” Mimi explains how inside these membranes different things happened: There was a defiance of energy loss. This became LUCA, our ancestral cell: The ancestor we all share. From Luca came Archaea and Bacteria.

LUCA was the perfect system; self-sufficient, sustainable. Why would LUCA become more complex? It had no reason to, it survived without. But LUCA cells did come together, probably by accident, to form the first multicellular life. And one of these multicellular organisms came up with photosynthesis. The oxygen photosynthesis produces comes from splitting the water molecule and facilitated the evolution of all other life. What then happened was a co-evolution of nutrient-cycles and life.

Eukaryotes, capable of photosynthesis, then started colonizing dry land, forming the first compound organisms. Once they got on the ground in different shapes such as mycorrhizae, they started to bre -

ak down rock to create soil, using carbonic acid to do so. And thus, we arrive at another reason to go this far back in time: “Geochemistry makes dirt. Biochemistry makes soil.” Nothing grows in dirt. Only by working with that biochemistry can we farm responsibly. To the regenerative farmers, farming responsibly is the next step from sustainable: Regenerative is about increasing life, not only sustaining it. Some steps include banning herbicides, which literally is designed to kill everything growing as well as all other sprays and treatments: Contact and systemic alike. While that could be a whole chapter on its own, here the focus is on two other key points: Covercrops and Ploughing.

COVERING THE LARGER WORLD BELOW

Soil is full of life. In fact, so much so 98% of terrestrial life lives below our feet. A large part of this life is Mycorrhizae – fungal networks that live in a mutualistic relationship with 90% of plants species on the Earth. They are the base of cation exchange, and they pierce into the roots of plants to exchange nutrients. For the vine, they are especially important for the uptake of phosphor which the vine can’t do by itself, but mycorrhizae do incredibly efficiently – in turn the mycorrhizae depend on the sugar the plant feed them as they are incapable of performing photosynthesis.

Mycorrhizae permit the vines and other plants to signal and talk to each other over great distances and across species to adjust to their environment. Such as making the plants more resistant to pest attacks or sending nutrients and water to each other within the network. Plants on the outside of the network can even sacrifice themselves for the sake of the greater network and become a drawing bank for the mycorrhizae to feed the rest of the network with. Most observed plants will do this is to help their own species, but it too can work across species as well, especially in the wild. While some mycorrhizae are plant specific most exist with different plants and can even talk to other species of mycorrhizae. Apart from exchanging minerals in the soil around them, mycorrhizae can also transfer minerals from cover crops to the vines which adds another dimension to the use of cover crops.

The life in the soil is kept alive by the carbon cycle. Photosynthesis stores the solar power in the ground as plant carbon (sugar), which in turn feed the entire world above ground. You could consider this below ground life as a giant battery. What we can do on this planet is tied to the charge of this battery and plants are the primary vector in charging it. This mechanism provides us with an efficient way to measure the soil health of an ecosystem: By measuring the energy fluxes

that move through the soil. All layers of photosynthesis perform the role of charging the battery. What is possible within an ecosystem is dependent on the different photosynthesis that happen at different rates, feed different species of microorganisms at differing efficiencies. It is done at a meticulously detailed species level which creates layer upon layer in the photosynthetic process. And that is exactly where our agriculture falls short, Mimi conveys: “Once you start stripping that [the layers] away, what you can get out of that ecosystem then is empirically selected and limited too. Such as the vine that is selected to climb the tree to reach the sun and form partnership with the birds. Agriculture pushes that into a funnel of cultural evolution, whereby we select the traits that we appreciate”. That selection comes at a cost: An organism that is always in direct contact with its environment has many layers of resilience built by ecological evolutionary pressure. When we select agricultural traits, we lose some of the resilience the plant had to develop in its natural environment. A good example is the R-gene the Vitis vinifera is missing to make it resistant to mildew. The mission of farming regeneratively is farming for soil health, building those layers, and farming dynamically so the plants must become stronger. Here cover crops play another important role in regenerative farming practices as a tool, to

create different layers of electric charge below ground by layering the cover crops.

THE TILLING POINT

Tilling disturbs the activity of the soil. You could consider it trading the long term for the short term, which is incompatible with sustainability. Tilling therefore is another key matter in regenerative farming. It is widely accepted and a completely normal thing to do across the spectrum of viticultural beliefs. Yet, the consequences of tilling are perhaps greater than what most people realize. The controversy of tilling is largely resting on lack of information as well as an economic question.

Tilling disturbs the activity of the soil and plants: You could consider it trading the long term for the short term, thus incompatible with sustainability.

Tilling dates back to the beginning of agriculture and was at first perceived almost as a miracle: Remove everything around your plants, and your plants will grow! The function of vegetative cover is to transform the elements of air and sun into a usable form through photosynthesis. The nitrogen in the soil mainly comes from the air. When we repeatedly remove vegetation, a negative feedback loop is initiated were the plant now gets what it needs from the air from the farmer instead, decreasing the plant carbon stored and there -

by the symbiosis with the mycorrhizae and permanently stopping the process of taking up nitrogen from the air. This causes the plants not to be able to form the longer, more stable molecules they normally push deeper down to a form of soil nutrient bank. Without the nutrient bank, the plant is weakened in extreme conditions, which we see becoming more extreme in recent years.

After tilling the soil will be more easily compacted next time you drive over it. For the life in the soil to exchange gases into nutrients, the soil needs to have its own structure, which makes it problematic when the soil structure disintegrates. When the soil has disintegrated enough you will start to see the symptoms on your vines as nutrient uptake is inhabited and mycorrhizae die.

Mycorrhizae are in steep incline to the point where inoculation of these are necessary more and more places.

When ploughing a large amount of oxygen is introduced to the soil, which sometimes can be missing, but can be restored by keeping the types of plants that do well in low nutrient environments such as thistles. Introducing oxygen also means beginning an oxidation process, which oxidizes a lot of the parent material which in turn becomes unavailable to the plant.

Life becomes tougher for the plant, but it has nothing to build resilience from.

OUR BIGGEST THERMAL RESOURCE

Perhaps you have been travelling south this Summer and seen signs such as: “Water is a limited resource, please use tap water responsibly” in the public bathrooms? Water is already scarce in many places and everything in the future points to a more uneven distribution of water. This is yet another point where tilling comes into the picture: It affects the moisture in the soil.

Upon opening the soil, it starts to respire moisture out, which is exactly the opposite of what happens when the soil and plants go undisturbed. The loss of plant carbon worsens this condition rapidly: Capable of storing five times its own weight in water, carbon is one of the most efficient water storing capacities we have. When water is lacking in the soil it affects microbial activity a lot because the lack freezes the nutrient availability that is dependent on water’s bipolar capacity (which means water can attract both negative as well as positive charges). The mechanism of carbon facilitated water storage in the soil is exponential, because some carbon in the soil enables a larger carbon amount to be present – in short you could say that carbon equals more carbon. This makes the effect of tilling dramatic in a time where water shortage is one of the largest threats to agriculture.

But that is not all. While some wine districts have so far only benefitted from the increasing temperature, it threatens others and makes the water crises all the more urgent. Carbondioxide is our big problem, and all the plant carbon we release when tilling is being let out into the atmosphere to form it CO2. But our way back is not only through how much CO2 we can sequester in our agricultural land – even if that amount is unbelievably high, it is still not enough to hinder a rise in temperature. But it we

can keep the water in our soils we help protect our life in it by lowering the temperature. Research comparing neighboring regeneratively farmed land with tilled land shows how land where tilling is used have a temperature higher of 4,5 degrees Celsius around the canopy and 15,5 degrees Celsius around in the soil during Summertime. A shockingly substantial difference! That makes water our greatest thermal resource and perhaps the only effective capacity in where local climate meets global climate change and casts a positive light on what is possible and what is impossible.

THE AFTERMATH

Tilling is a hard question as it challenges what we can immediately see and requires patience to quit: We see immediate plant growth due to the abundance of resources. We see a loss in yield when we stop. We see an immediate hit in the economy without a specific promise of when it will return to its normal state. We don’t see how we burn through organic matter in a way too fast pace. We don’t see how the lifeforce is squeezed out of the soil. Sticking out quitting the till is going to take an immense amount of resolve from individuals as well as the community and the support the political systems.

After opening up virgin soil to agriculture, in the 1st decade of farming we loose 30-70% of the soils organic matter –

the battery to respiration. Agriculture is where we lose our potential energy. There is no force in nature that breaks the soil the same we do year in and year out as we do with agriculture.

When it comes to tilling it doesn’t have to be black or white though. Maybe the balance is once every three or five years or ten years. But we are surely looking at a hotter future with more drought in many wine growing areas where tilling needs to be on the top of the debates and the full scope of it needs to be taken into account and recognize it as a powerful tool.

If you consider the amount of natural capital spent in fossil fuels or excessive tilling through the times, it is inconceivably vast. Those resources are used now, so what is the way forward? How can we revert some of all that with techniques we already have at hand, methods we can implement now?

There has never been a riper moment to try and figure this out than now, when it has just been demonstrated what it means, when our supply chain is being cut off or run out, which we experienced with the Pandemic and now a war on the European continent.

Agricultural practices, the official standards and rules are designed for past times and the problems of the past – not for

the future. It is far-fetched to believe that we can go on like this. and at the same time protect these heritage sites of viticulture.

Going regenerative is not an easy choice. It requires patience. It requires reeducation. It means spending much more time and manpower in the land. It means observing a lot more and will be place specific, so you can’t take an copy practices from the other side of the globe. And it requires resources to transit. When first the transition is complete, regenerative farming is substantially cheaper and brings in lager profit, looking at profit over yield. But the transition can be long and full of temptations along the way.

This is about recovery of habitat and recovery of layered ecosystems. The viticulture in this puzzle is only a small part. In the future we will need to see an agricultural land looking vastly different to today: Likely growing many more different crops, and the land looking completely different – to the conservative eye perhaps even messy. If we don’t care about microbiology and cultivating a circular ecological economy, then on could argue, that it becomes uninteresting to talk of the bedrock below the vines and terroir at all. Plants, not just rocks, make soil. Surely rocks has water holding capacities, different degrees of porosity and hardness and break down in different phases. But rocks alone cannot produce

energy – they can store it latent as best. Plants put energy into systems. Systems that should look different around the globe. We can start to put vines into ecosystems that are balanced and dynamic where the vine is in contact with the world around it and farm in harmony with the contract of life.

DOMAINE DE BELLENE

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2013

The 2013 Comtes de Champagne captures all the pedigree of this great vintage in its energy, depth and vibrancy. Lemon confit, dried flowers, chamomile, spice and crushed rocks all race across the palate. Passion fruit, ginger, marzipan and mint appear later, filling out the layers beautifully. Harvest took place in October in what has become the exception rather than the norm in Champagne. Drinking window: 2023-2043.

Øst: Kontakt Jesper Søgaard på tlf. 29700015 eller jes@jmk.dk

Vest (syd for rute 15): Kontakt Christian Kollerup Rahbek på tlf. 29700017 eller ckr@jmk.dk

Vest (nord for rute 15): Kontakt søren borrisholt på tlf. 29700012 eller sb@jmk.dk

- første autoriserede vingård i Danmark www.dansk-vin.dk

Skal 2013 Comtes de champagne være på dit vinkort?

98 Points – Antonio Galloni, May 2023

Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Côte des Blancs

A new legal future ahead:

Sustainability and the Wine Industry

BY: OLE UDSEN

Photo: Sergei-Akulich on Unsplash

I was recently asked to write up some thoughts on real sustainability as it relates to the wine industry. The request came as a result of some comments I had made in social media regarding wine professionals’ knee-jerk equation of organic and biodynamic practices with sustainability. My point was that, while there may be elements within those practices that favour sustainability, real sustainability is a much wider and deeper practice that requires greater focus and more work on the part of those who claim sustainability than the mere constatation that organic or biodynamic practices are in play. In fact, claiming sustainability merely based on those practices will soon become illegal.

In the world at large, sustainability is now being discussed and measured in relation to so-called ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) factors. With increasing global attention on climate change and sustainability, the ESG concept has become increasingly relevant, and legislation is for instance being passed on an EU level to define, measure and report on real sustainability. The most relevant piece of legislation in this regard is the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which contains a taxonomy of sustainable practices, rules for gathering and reporting on data and sanctions in the case of non-compliance and false claims of sustainability. The CSRD has been passed and will enter into force for the first

group of companies (mainly very large corporations and entities listed on stock exchanges) already in 2024. Other businesses will be phased in over the course of the following years, but because of the market power of the large entities, it is to be expected that CSRD requirements and practices will filter down into most parts of the economy before then.

While the wine industry consists of few large players and many small and medium-sized enterprises, and has a delightful tendency to be rather conservative in terms of corporate fads, both producers and dealers of wine will soon be faced with requirements to gather and report on ESG data in a much more comprehensive, structured and detailed manner than is currently practiced.

ESG is a highly detailed jungle, and this publication does not have the space to delve into every single detail that it entails. However, in the following I delve deeper into ESG categories, listing relevant aspects as they relate – first – to wine production and then to wine import / distribution. I briefly discuss sustainability certification options, to what extent organic and biodynamic practices can be considered (automatically) sustainable, and conclude with a bit of opinion as to the opportunities and dangers of claiming sustainability.

ESG ASPECTS IN WINE PRODUCTION

Typical environmental aspects of wine production include:

• Sustainable soil management: Soil conservation, green fertilizers, potentially organic farming

• Water management: Efficient use of water, water recycling, and protection of water sources.

• Climate impact: Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, use of renewable energy, efficient energy usage, climate adaptation – a particular issue here is the choice of bottles used, particularly their weight; the heaviest bottles have a negative climate impact orders of magnitude larger than the lightest, because they not only emit more greenhouse gases in their production, but cause much greater emissions during transport and recycling

• Biodiversity protection: Preservation of natural habitats, promotion of biological diversity

• Waste management: Minimization and recycling of waste, including packaging

Social aspects include:

• Working conditions: Ensuring safe working conditions, fair wages, no child labor, abiding by human rights

• Community impact: Support for local communities, including investment in local projects

• Health and safety: Ensuring health and safety standards for all employees

• Consumer health: Quality and safety of the product, including lawful use of pesticides

And governance aspects include:

• Corporate governance: Transparent, accountable and effective management

• Ethical supply chains: Ensuring that suppliers also meet ESG standards

• Anti-corruption: No tolerance for corruption and bribery

• Regulatory compliance: Compliance with all relevant laws and regulations, including CSRD

• Diversity and inclusiveness

• Profitability: Yes, to be sustainable, a business also needs to be profitable

ESG IN RELATION TO WINE IMPORT AND DISTRIBUTION

Most aspects for “the dark side” of wine remain the same as for wine production, but it is important to note that importers/distributors will be responsible for ensuring that the wines they bring to the market meet ESG criteria. This means that they must conduct due diligence on their suppliers and be transparent with consumers about the wine's origin and production methods. If you

might wish to go deeper into best practices in this regard, go look for material relating to EU’s upcoming Corporate Due Diligence Directive (CDDD); this is a major piece of work, still in process, but set to become law during 2026 or 2027.

Additionally, wine dealers will also need to account for the environmental impact of their distribution and packaging. This can involve choosing sustainable packaging materials, minimizing transport distances, choosing less-emitting transport modes and optimizing inventory management to reduce waste. Emissions and other impacts may be difficult to measure, but most transporters nowadays offer emissions calculations. Ultimately, emissions from the distribution activity may be unavoidable, so importers/distributors may need to buy offsets; luckily, while there are many more or less dubious offset possibilities, the reputable ones will normally contain an option to approximate a business’s overall emissions, and if one does that in a conservative manner, it is indeed possible to cover one’s emissions in a reasonably cost-effective manner, as do I in my own little importing business.

SUSTAINABILITY CERTIFICATIONS FOR THE WINE INDUSTRY

One way to enable greater certainty as to sustainability claims within the wine industry is to rely on the various sustainability certifications that are available. Unfortunately,

there are many, and some are more reliable than others, including those that are government-backed and comprehensive. Certifications include:

• Organic and/or Biodynamic Certification: These should be relatively well-known to the readership, but for the sake of good order, let’s not forget that these practices do not abolish spraying with chemicals or use of fertilizer, they limit the spraying and fertilizer options. There are numerous organisations across the globe that provide these certifications, and some of them are fighting each other, but as a general rule they are quite reliable

• Sustainable Winegrowing: Organizations like Sustainable Winegrowing Australia and California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance offer certifications that take into account both environmental and social aspects of wine production

• Fair Trade Certification: The Fairtrade label guarantees that workers receive fair wages and working conditions, and that environmental considerations are taken into account

• Corporate Sustainability Certifications: Businesses may choose to subject themselves to corporation-wide certifications such as B Corp or VIVA, which asses the impact of the production process in respect of environmental protection, social progress and economic development

ARE ORGANIC AND BIODYNAMIC PRACTICES SUSTAINABLE?

Organic and biodynamic agriculture are often automatically viewed as more sustainable alternatives to conventional agriculture, but it's important to remember that “sustainability” is a multidimensional, holistic concept that includes all ESG aspects.

Organic wine producers avoid the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, which can benefit the local ecosystem and biodiversity, and may improve soil health. However, in terms of climate impact, the picture is more mixed. Organic farming generally has higher greenhouse gas emissions per unit

produced, because organic practices require more interventions in the vineyard - due to the reduced efficacy of the pesticides etc. being used – and because of generally lower yields. Additionally, organic farming is often more dependent on manual labour, which can increase social costs.

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Biodynamic viticulture’s focus on farming as a holistic, living concept generally benefits biodiversity and soil health, which contributes to longterm sustainability. In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, biodynamic methods could potentially contribute to storing more carbon in the soil, which can help offset the climate impact of wine production. But like with organic farming, yields are often lower, vineyard interventions more numerous and manual labour more widespread, so the exact sustainability impacts vary depending on specific practices and local conditions.

CONCLUSION

Sustainability is not just a fad in the wine industry, it is a fun -

damental shift in how companies operate. Both producers and dealers are realizing that it is not only good for the planet but also for the bottom line. As documented by i.a. McKinsey, a strong ESG profile can create loyalty among consumers, who are increasingly choosing products that are produced in a sustainable and ethical manner. Further, while it may be work intensive and tedious, actually going into detail about the many aspects of holistic sustainability will eventually pay dividends in the form of greater knowledge of your activity and business, which lays the foundation for greater innovation, both in terms of sales and costs.

There are pitfalls in respect of

sustainability. False or unsubstantiated claims of sustainability may not only reduce a business’s standing vis-à-vis its customers, which can be lethal enough, but may also attract fines or other sanctions once the full range of sustainability regulation has been enacted.

The wine industry, like the rest of the world, faces having to adapt to this new reality of sustainability, and soon. There is no longer time or space for facile shortcuts in respect of these issues, and a holistic mindset must be put in place. It is to be hoped that this is not one area in which the wine industry will be a laggard.

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GÉRARDDOMAINEMILLET Nyhed i familien

Domaine Gérard Millet ligger i Bué, få kilometer fra Sancerre. Ejendommen har været familiens eje gennem de sidste fem generationer. Vinmarkerne strækker sig over 24 hektar og går gennem Sancerre og Menetou-Salon. Jorden dyrkes på en måde, så hver enkelt marks karakteristika fremhæves. Domaine Gérard Millets dybdegående kendskab

til terroiret er det, der adskiller dem fra alle andre, og dette kendskab kommer tydeligt til udtryk i deres vine. Druerne udvælges nøje, og hver enkelt vinmark høstes separat, ligesom druerne fra hver enkelt gennemgår separate vinfremstillingsprocedurer. Hvert terroir har forskellige karakteristika, som giver hver sin unikke vin.

Transcending the human role

Subtract of Jamie Goode on IMW symposium and marrying them with the work of Dr. Riccardo Velasco focusing on the issue of Mildew and the dilemmas that follows with its potential cure

BY: NINA JENSEN

“What you really require if you wish to implement regenerative viticulture is the ability to read your place,” says Jamie Goode, reflecting on what the future of farming looks like. “Sustainability needs intelligence and the right tools. True sustainability is about; can we carry on doing this for 500 years? Which is something most ‘sustainable’ viticulturists can’t say as it currently is.” Jamie has a PhD in plant biology and the viticultural aspect of wine has always fascinated him. The question of sustainability has led him around the globe, and the scientific aspect of Regenerative Farming makes Jamie believe in it. Soon his new book on the subject will be published.

KEY CONSIDERATIONS

For something to be sustainable, Jamie outlines what criteria the farming must fulfill: It must limit the use of sprays, It must give a crop of appropriate yield, have an appropria -

te quality for the sorts of wine that you are making, and for it to make sense it must be able to be applied to large systems of hundreds or thousands of hectares, not just small vineyards. On that exact point is where Jamie Goodie sees the advantage of the regenerative: “It can’t just be something that rich people can do as a sort of hobby, when they are selling their wines for a hundred dollars a bottle. We want this to be something applicable to all levels of viticulture, even viticulture where the wines are leaving the farmer for one euro per liter.” While his words are true, he hits the very core issue of many other sustainable practices, and the fact that he vouches for the regenerative to be possible on a larger scale I must confess, lifts my spirits.

Jamie Goode proceeds to address how farming practices has been shared across many different terroirs: “You can’t just use some methods becau -

of agricultural land was being used for grapevines. 20% of the cost of growing vines in EU is fungicide use. On an EU scale only 4% of the arable land is grape vines while 65% of all the fungicides used are for viticulture. We have a problem of magnitude here.

idea of a varietals heritage and belonging to a place: The very idea of terroir.

se that’s what others are doing and you want to join the cool kids club, or do something were you just try to mimic your favorite region by flying in some expensive consultant from there applying the same methods, that is something we don’t want, I think.”

A UNIQUE DEPENDENCY

Regarding disease management, viticulture takes a unique position: Vitis Vinifera lacks the R-gene. The R-gene that protects the plant towards mildew.

We have bred it away making Vinefera heavily reliant on agricultural inputs. Most of the applicants in a vineyard is to protect against downy- and powdery mildew, but whatever you to the vines they will never have true resistance without those R-genes, and it show in the numbers: 73% of all the fungicides used in Spain, Italy, Germany, and France are for viticulture, while only 8%

One highly relevant solution is the PIWIs. But PIWIs have a multitude of inherent challenges: They are not yet providing the same quality as the epitome of Vinifera vines, they are incompatible with the regulation systems, they require an alteration of the vinification, and they are difficult from a commercial perspective. It is possible to backcross a PIWI to contain a far majority of Vinifera but keep the R-gene, but this takes time and compromises the cultural and historic

Riding in on as the knight in shining amour comes technology, more specifically: CRISPR. With CRISPR we can engineer very precisely any DNA composition hence, from the birth of that to reinserting the R-gene in vinifera there is not far. The first viniferas carrying the R-gene are already planted on a test-basis, and Italy has just this year approved 43 strains of Chardonnay with the R-gene crisper-ed in. But then the dilemma arises: Are we coming too close to playing God? Or have we already crossed that line years ago in agriculture by extensive breeding programs? The vine has 19 chromosomes, and 600 million nucleons: Mutations hap -

pen all the time. How is this different to a naturally occurring mutation one might ask? To natural selection? Is it even responsible not to use it but instead keep on spraying? Are we transcending too far away from humanity? What will the unintended consequences be if we start to play God? What will the unintended consequences be? The ethical debate surrounding CRISPR in viticulture reflects a broader conversation in scientific circles about the responsibility that accompanies innovation and confronts our evolving relationship with technology and nature. Not knowing exactly where I stand, I will finish by sharing with you the answers of ChatGPT, when I asked what the pros and cons of Crispr used in agriculture was and it came up with this:

CRISPR TECHNOLOGY OFFERS SEVERAL ADVANTAGES WHEN APPLIED TO AGRICULTURE:

PRECISION AND SPECIFICITY: CRISPR-Cas9 allows for precise targeting of specific genes in plants. This precision minimizes unintended effects and enables scientists to make highly specific genetic modifications.

IMPROVED CROP YIELD: CRISPR can be used to enhance crop yields by modifying genes associated with factors like drought resistance, pest resistance, and disease resistance. This has the potential to increase agricultural productivity and food security.

REDUCED CHEMICAL USE: By creating crops with natural resistance to pests and diseases, CRISPR can reduce the need for chemical pesticides and herbicides. This benefits both the environment and human health.

ENHANCED NUTRITIONAL PROFILES: CRISPR can be employed to enhance the nutritional content of crops, such as increasing the vitamin or mineral content. This can help combat malnutrition and improve public health.

FASTER CROP BREEDING: Traditional crop breeding methods can take years or even decades to produce desired traits. CRISPR accelerates this process, enabling faster development of new crop varieties.

CLIMATE ADAPTATION: CRISPR can be used to create crops that are more resilient to changing environmental conditions, including increased temperatures and altered precipitation patterns.

REDUCED WASTAGE: CRISPR can be used to develop crops with longer shelf lives or improved post-harvest characteristics, reducing food wastage and losses in the supply chain.

CUSTOMIZATION: Farmers can potentially customize crops to suit their specific needs and local conditions, resulting in more efficient and sustainable agricultural practices.

REDUCED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: By reducing the need for chemical inputs and increasing crop resilience, CRISPR can contribute to a more environmentally friendly and sustainable agriculture sector.

CONSERVATION: CRISPR can aid in the conservation of endangered or threatened plant species by enhancing their resistance to diseases or environmental stressors.

DISEASE CONTROL: In addition to crop plants, CRISPR can be used to modify trees and other plants susceptible to diseases like Dutch Elm disease or Citrus Greening, helping protect vital ecosystems and industries.

ECONOMIC BENEFITS: Enhanced crop productivity and reduced reliance on chemical inputs can lead to economic benefits for farmers and the agricultural sector as a whole.

WHILE CRISPR TECHNOLOGY OFFERS PROMISING BENEFITS FOR AGRICULTURE, IT ALSO COMES WITH SEVERAL POTENTIAL DRAWBACKS AND CONCERNS:

OFF-TARGET EFFECTS: One of the primary concerns is the possibility of off-target effects, where CRISPR may unintentionally modify genes other than the target gene. These unintended changes could result in unpredictable consequences for the organism or ecosystem.

UNKNOWN LONG-TERM EFFECTS: The long-term consequences of CRISPR-edited organisms on the environment and human health are often unknown. This lack of understanding raises concerns about potential unforeseen risks.

ETHICAL CONCERNS: The use of CRISPR in agriculture can raise ethical questions, particularly when it involves editing the genomes of animals or plants in ways that may not align with societal values or preferences. This includes concerns about genetically modifying animals for enhanced meat production or creating "designer" crops.

REGULATORY CHALLENGES: The regulation of CRISPR-edited organisms in agriculture can be complex and varies by country. Establishing clear and effective regulatory frameworks to ensure safety and minimize risks is a significant challenge.

RESISTANCE AND ADAPTATION: Pests and pathogens can adapt to CRISPR-induced genetic modifications over time, potentially leading to the development of resistant strains. This could undermine the long-term effectiveness of CRISPR-based pest and disease control.

LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY: If CRISPR-edited crops become dominant in agriculture, there is a risk of reduced genetic diversity in crop populations. This lack of diversity could make crops more vulnerable to new diseases or environmental changes.

ACCESS AND EQUITY: Access to CRISPR technology and its benefits may not be equitable, potentially exacerbating inequalities in the agricultural sector. Small-scale farmers and developing countries may face barriers in accessing and benefiting from CRISPR innovations.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: While CRISPR can reduce the need for chemical pesticides, it may still have unintended ecological consequences. For example, it could disrupt natural predator-prey relationships in ecosystems.

UNINTENDED CROSS-BREEDING: There is a risk of unintended gene flow between CRISPR-edited organisms and their wild or non-edited counterparts. This could result in the unintentional spread of modified genes in natural populations.

PUBLIC PERCEPTION: Public perception and acceptance of CRISPR-edited crops and animals can vary widely. Concerns about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) may impact market acceptance and consumer choices.

LOSS OF TRADITIONAL FARMING PRACTICES: Widespread adoption of CRISPR-edited crops could lead to a shift away from traditional farming practices, potentially impacting cultural and agricultural heritage.

UNKNOWN ECOLOGICAL IMPACT: Modifying one aspect of an organism's genetics can have unforeseen ripple effects throughout the ecosystem. These ecological consequences may take years or even decades to become apparent.

A brief story of Porter & Stout

BY: SANDRA SCHJØDT

The history of stout, a dark and robust beer known for its deep flavors and creamy head, is a fascinating journey that intertwines with the rise of porter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Rooted in the traditions of the Vikings and shaped by the industrial revolution, stout has evolved into a beloved beer style enjoyed worldwide. Let's embark on a historical exploration of stout, tracing its origins and its connection to its predecessor, porter.

THE VIKING INFLUENCE: FROM "STOLT" TO STOUT

Stout, as the name suggests, was originally a beer characterized by its strength. The word "stout" can be traced back to the Vikings, who used the term "stolt," meaning "proud," to describe a hearty and robust beverage. Stout beers were known for their higher alcohol content, making them a favored choice among those seeking a more potent libation.

THE EMERGENCE OF PORTER

Before the rise of the porter, dark beers were already an integral part of everyday life in

England, especially among the working class. It was common practice to blend different beers from various taps to create a custom pint. However, it was in 1722 that the porter, as we know it today, officially came into existence.

Legend has it that a man named Ralph Harwood, inspired by the rich variety of beers available, decided to experiment by blending three different casks of beer. His concoction was a resounding success, quickly gaining popularity among the locals. The demand for this unique beer style prompted breweries to produce it in larger quantities, leading to the birth of the porter.

The 18th century witnessed the rapid industrialization of England, and porter beer found its place as the drink of choice for the hardworking laborers of the bustling ports. Its name, "porter," was a direct reference to its primary audience. Porter beers were dark, rich, and more affordable than other options, making them the perfect accompaniment to a laborer's meal.

PORTER STOUT: A STRONGER SIBLING

As the 18th century progressed, some brewers began crafting even stronger variations of porter. These stronger versions were labeled as "stout porter" which became simply "stout" to indicate their increased potency. Stout beers became known for their bold flavors, full-bodied textures, and higher alcohol content compared to regular porter, appealing to those seeking a more robust and satisfying brew.

During this era, a unique pairing emerged: dark beer and oysters. While Guinness is perhaps the most famous example today, the tradition of enjoying dark beer with oysters dates back to the 18th century. Oysters were a common food choice at the time, but their increasing cost during the 19th century led breweries to adapt. They began adding crushed oyster shells to the brew, allowing drinkers to savor the essence of fresh oysters while enjoying their beer.

While oyster shells are no longer a part of the brewing process, the tradition of pairing dark beer with oysters persists and is celebrated in oyster stout festivals and events.

Today, stout continues to be a beloved choice among beer enthusiasts, cherished for its complex flavors and its storied past that harks back to the proud heritage of the

Vikings and the industriousness of England's working class.

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Et af Châteauneuf-du-Papes mest anmelderroste vinhuse

Familien Brunel har været i Châteauneuf-du-Pape siden midten af 1600-tallet, hvor familien købte en vingård af biskoppen af Avignon. Men det var først i 1954, at udviklingen tog fart. Her grundlagde Lucien Brunel ”Domaine Les Cailloux ” . Sønnen André overtog vingården i 1971, og det er ham, der har løftet ”Les Cailloux ” blandt eliten i Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Huset Brunel drives i dag af Andrés søn, Fabrice. Husets flagskib er Cuvée Centenaire, der blev lavet første gang i 1989, og som i dag er en af de mest efterspurgte Châteauneuf-du-Pape på markedet. Men også husets Côtes du Rhóne-vine er anerkendt som top-vine af anmelderne!

Robert Parker: ***** Outstanding Producer

”One of the most progressive and brilliant proprietors of Châteauneuf-du-Pape”

Vinene fra Peyrassol forhandles eksklusivt af Hans Just, Århusgade 88, 2100 Ø

John D Poulsen: 3339 0027

Vinene fra Peyrassol forhandles eksklusivt af Hans Just, Århusgade 88, 2100 Ø

For mere information Kontakt On Trade Wine Ambassadør: John D Poulsen: 3339 0027

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HOS ROBERT PARKER

POINT ud af 100

2020: