16/03-11   -   Press releases

Swedish book wins “World’s Best Wine Book for Professionals": The Creation of a Wine by BKWine

The Swedish wine book “The Creation of a Wine" was awarded the prize “World’s Best Wine Book for Professionals 2010" in the international book competition Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2011. The Creation of a Wine is written by Britt Karlsson, with photography by Per Karlsson, published by Carlsson Publishing (Stockholm). The award ceremony took place at Folies Berg ères in Paris on March 3. The book is an in-depth description of vineyard vine growing and wine making in the cellar. The book is not yet translated into any foreign language. Britt and Per are Swedish wine journalists based in Paris and also operate a wine travel business called BKWine Tours.

Britt Karlsson, the author, comments: “It’s fantastic! I never thought we would win. I knew we were nominated, but in competition with books from Italy, Spain, ChinaÂ… Imagine, a small country like Sweden, where we barely make wine, can win a prize on how to make wine! But it is quite an unusual book. It is written for those who want to know more about vine growing and winemaking, without being winemakers themselves: the wine trade, sommeliers, wine educators etc. But it is also a book for the dedicated ‘amateur’ wine enthusiast."

Britt explains the idea with the book: “The book is the result of the thousands of winemakers we have met. It explains in detail everything from the planting of a vine, to terroir, to fermentation, bottling and aging – everything on how a wine is made. But it is different in two ways from virtually all other books on the subject. First, we explain a lot of issues and technologies that are seldom talked about: flash pasteurisation, enzymes, vine diseases and etc, and illustrate it with photos. The second thing is that we explain the complexities in winemaking – most texts simplify too much and say ‘this is the way it is!’ But that is rarely true. Making a wine has to do with nuances, philosophies, and personal choices by the winemaker. There are rarely absolute truths! We explain how the winemakers reason, and why; as an example, one producer can swear by stainless steel fermentation tanks while the neighbour is convinced that the only good choice is concrete vats. All through the book we let hundreds of winemakers explain what they do and why they do it."

The book has previously been awarded the prize “Best Wine Book in Sweden 2010".

Facts:
Original Swedish Title: Ett Vin Blir Till – arbetet i vingården och i vinkällaren (English translation: The Creation of a Wine, the work in the vineyard and in the wine cellar)
Text: Britt Karlsson, with contributions from Per Karlsson
Photo: Per Karlsson
Publisher: Carlsson Förlag, http://www.carlssonbokforlag.se/
Format: 300 pages, 170x240mm, hard cover, lavishly illustrated with colour photographs.
Translation: the book is not yet translated into any foreign language

More information: http://www.bkwinetours.com/resources/books/
Press photos: http://www.bkwinetours.com/resources/books/press-photos-and-sample-photos-the-creation-of-a-wine/
On the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards: http://www.cookbookfair.com/

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More information:

- About BKWine: http://www.bkwine.com/international/about_bkwine.htm
- Press photos: http://www.bkwine.com/diverse/press.htm (Additional press photos from our 20.000 picture library are available on request)

About BKWine AB:

BKWine AB is run by Britt and Per Karlsson and has four main activities:
- Wine & food tours, http://www.bkwinetours.com
- Wine journalism
- Wine photography, wine stock image library: http://www.bkwinephotography.com
- Wine consulting

BKWine was founded in the 90s by Britt Karlsson, a Swede living in Paris. In the early ‘00s she was joined by her husband Per Karlsson in the business that now encompasses several different wine related activates. The main business is organising wine tours for wine enthusiasts and wine professionals who want to visit wine regions to learn more about wine. Each year BKWine organises some 30 wine tours. BKWine also publishes an online newsletter on wine, The BKWine Brief, which reaches some 20,000 subscribers. Britt and Per are members of the British Circle of Wine Writers (CWW), the International Wine Writers Federation (FIJEV), the French Wine Press Association (APV), the International Wine and Food Society (IWFS) and several other wine and gastronomic organisations.