Wine cannot be fair

Fair-trade wine what is it? Is it fair that the monopoly in Finland buys fair-trade wines for two to four euros while selling them for four times more expensive while the newspaper writes that a Finns average spending for fair-trade products is below 18euros. 

What's fair that for 2010 the coffee, wine and bananas where the top 3 fair-trade products. So one bottle of wine, more than one bag of coffee and even more bananas. 

Here's news in Finnish which is about a research that 2.8 and 2.3 euros per kilo were the sums of fair-trade and non-fairtrade coffee which went back to the country of origin. I have trouble seeing that such high sums or as high percentages are possible in fair-trade wine business.

Would you fancy a glass of wine perhaps?

What is a great way to enjoy a bottle of wine when there's no a corkscrew or glasses available? Being lighter than glass bottles I find myself loving this "invention" evermore. I came across to this coincidentally when wandering in Prowein in Dusseldorf and I think it deserves a post.

Pinot Noir from Finland. Great to avoid.

Does the monopoly buyers want to buy spoofed stuff? Do they just like bad wine or are their taste buds calibrated to crap? I sincerely hope it is not the other obvious notion.

Let's look at these two recent new products just introduced here in Finland. They were obviously an attempt to respond to the voices of growing PN-audience. PN has to be juice from heavens because of such a scarcity. There is a sole retailer selling off-trade wine and it is state-run enterprise. Therefore it is no surprise that the suits remember their citizens have an appetite for substitute products (e.g. flour for bark, coffee to chicory). Our history is written to alternate from tyranny to famine to depression.

Someone is still living in the wartime I suppose. Why else would they present these products?

First one's description is only in Finnish but I'll translate it for my nonnative audience.It is described to be a light, supple yet rich in nuances. Aroma characteristics can be described as "hapokkaan marjainen" which if understood correctly in the context of the other characteristics means more or less like this: Raspberries and some strawberries dipped in acid finished with a dollop of spices. Why does this bother me? Well spices but only fermented and aged in steel then straight to bottles. But here comes the more worrying news. Alcohol at 13%, acids at 5,7g/l in tartaric, residual sugar 7g/l and extract upped to whopping 37g/l . Sounds so manipulated winemaking as possible. It screams it! Why the only Italian PN they sell here be spoofed? And why do they buy Italian PN, well now they are searching for the future release a good quality PN from Spain which is what Spaniards are known for internationally or not.

The second product they are offering to the fans of PN comes from Germany. Great! Spätburgunder is great! I have a huge appetite for stuff from the better producers which there are sadly only handful but in growing thankfully! I've never heard of this producer, but what strikes me is the description of the vinification this time. The vintage is 2009. Today is 25th February so we would have to go 17-18 months to participate to the picking. They say this did age 15 months in french oak barrels from which 70% new and after that 12 months of bottle aging before release. What? Can you really trust the descriptions if you can say whatever you like in there? I highly doubt it saw even french oak or maybe in powder form. And I just checked they have the same descriptions in Swedish so it cannot be miswritten.

I have not tried either of these two wines. I believe it was money well spent.

stars, constellations and business in wine part 1

Wine is getting a tough business. At least  for the growers, importers and retailers it's like trying to find your car keys from a bucket full of... or better yet an age-old outhouse that has never been emptied and you ain't the first one that has dropped your crap and keys to your Porsche.


For the growers it is getting harsh because of climate warming. The need is increasing to plant irrigation systems or/and replant with different varieties for the (near) future. Let's not forget droughts and floods also the earthquakes and fires which damage the current year. Vintage variation is greater than ever? Where to sell the wine with this glut and prices cloying with record high prices of a bottle of wine while other can't even sacrifice their wines for cheaper than dirt.


Importers are having always having worse times because they are the intermediary between growers and retailers at least here in Finland. The oversupply of grapes and stagnant growth of consumptions keeps the prices shallow. Retailers are also experiencing difficult times as the consumption isn't really growing that much and out of tens of thousands "brands" what the people want to buy? There's just too many shelf square meters that have to be used for wine that doesn't make profit but you really can't cut up the shelf space without diminishing the selection. The monopolies are experiencing troubled times when allegations of price and range fixing are trying to be avoided as the only news about the monopolies tend to be bad news. The connotation of monopoly is fixed to be negative and the worse news are constantly dug deeper.


There's a need for a hero. Who can save the industry? Does it need a savor or saving? Casualties are those who caused the whole thing? From turmoil to tomorrow.

Chardonnay muscaté

What on earth is that? Is it a clone? Will find out so stay tuned in.

Les Empreintes from Laherte Frères with my quick ct-note:


Clear and bright medium light golden color.
Clean and intensive nose of citric fruits, some complex greenness and smokiness with lees aging notes but such an inviting and refreshing scent.
The palate has a bright laser like and mouth drying acidity which makes you start salivating. The flavors are competing with each other. On the back you have the complex citric flavors with supporting or trying at least is some oak and smokiness and autolytic notes, while the most dominating flavors are the rocky yet a bit chalky minerality which carries the wine to the other sphere! 

Extraordinary because of the complexity and intensity of different yet harmonizing flavors, long length, yet the balance is built towards the tart yet refreshing acidity. This is a prime example why some want to do malo in champagne. I like this tremendously but not for everybody! This was the non dosé edition

Grape-varieties and vineyard:

40%Chardonnay (1/3 of Chardonnay muscaté). Les Chemins d’Epernay. Clay soils with a little silt stratum in surface. Chalky subsoil. Plots planted in 1957.
40% Pinot Noir. Les Rouges Maisons. Soil fairly deep with an important presence of clay, flints and schists. Chalky subsoils. Plots planted in 1983.
20 % Pinot Meunier. Les Monts Bougies. Soft soil with a dominant of silt and marl. Limestone subsoils. Plots planted in 1965.

Back again

This time back for longer period of time. A vision to do at least one post every week. Studying the double you set for a diploma now.

Dessert and Sweet Fortified Wine please.

In Finnish food&wine pairing discussion, sugar is the main key factor when trying to decide the wine with dessert. The same old story begins always about having a sweeter (higher sugar content) wine than in the food. Fortunately, the normative way is starting to crumble. The starting point I'd credit to the revolutionary white chocolate and rosé pairing by Cloetta Fazer and WineState.

Last week I did a tasting/food pairing. Anyway there was a protrusive moment when sparkling rosé was paired with some sort of berried mousse. It was spot on! What next? Is there more? Let's forget the sugar and the alcohol? What a structured world of wine pairing!

Time to get my goggles on and dive at the deep end...