BKWine Launches Wine Tours in English: two wine tours to France in spring 2006

BKWine launches a wine tour program for English speaking wine enthusiasts in spring 2006. Two trips are scheduled: one, called “3 Classic Regions” that goes to Champagne, Chablis and Burgundy on May 17-21, 2006 and one that goes to Bordeaux on June 8-11, 2006, and that includes both famous big-name chateaux as well as a selection of the most innovative and progressive winemaker in the region. The detailed programmes are available on the BKWine site: http://www.bkwine.com/wine_tours/wine_tours.htm

BKWine is a tour organiser that focuses solely on wine travel and gastronomic tours. It is run by a Swedish woman, Britt Karlsson, who over the last ten years has organised close to a hundred wine tours. Most of BKWine’s tours go to France but Britt has also organised trips to, for example, Hungary/Tokay and Spain/Catalonia.

Britt Karlsson, founder of BKWine is also a well respected wine writer and wine educator and is based in Paris. Britt says about her new tours: “I’ve organised maybe a hundred wine tours, mainly for Scandinavians. I am very excited by launching an English language programme now. I’ve met many English speaking people in France who have asked me for it. And, of course, I hope that my wine tours also will be attractive for people in, for example, the UK and the US who want to come and learn more about wine. That’s really the focus of my tours: learn more about wine, and enjoy yourself!”.

Britt explains more about her tours: “For many years I have organised wine tours to the French wine regions. Thanks to this and to my wine writing I have many and frequent contacts with wine producers. In my wine tours I try and show the participants the personal side of wine: meeting with the growers themselves, sometimes lunching at their house, tasting and discussing. Many of the producers we visit are “the next generation great wine makers” – the young, ambitious and very quality conscious producers. Of course, we also have some of the big and famous names, but it is usually the really personal visits that people remember best and enjoy the most. That’s also why I always have very small groups – usually less than 15 people”.

The first tour “3 Classic Regions” will start in Paris, on May 17. The group will then travel to Champagne and spend a day visiting Champagne houses, including a champagne lunch at one of the “houses”. The next day the tour will continue to Chablis, and the third day will be spent in Burgundy’s Côte d’Or, the heart Bourgogne and home to some of the world’s most exclusive wines. The last day, May 21, the tour will return to Paris.

The Bordeaux tour will start on June 8 and end on June 11. Each day will be focused on one of the districts in Bordeaux: Médoc; Saint-Emilion and Pomerol; Entre-deux-Mers and Premières Côtes de Bordeaux. There will be a mix of large and small producers and lunches at some chateaux are also on the program.

BKWine started in Paris 15 years ago. Britt explains more about the background: “When I moved to Paris in the early 90s I started doing some wine tours for friends and it has grown from there. Since I also write about wine I follow very closely the most recent developments in the wine districts, taste many wines and meet a lot of growers. The wineries that we visit on my tours are producers that I know make very good wine – places that I am very excited to go to myself”.

People interested in the BKWine wine tours should visit the site:
http://www.bkwine.com/wine_tours/wine_tours.htm

Additional Information:

In addition to the scheduled tours, BKWine also organises tours for private groups or corporate events tours. These tours are custom made and can be on a wide range of themes: Rhône, Loire, Champagne, Alsace, or any other wine region, or with more wine-and-gastronomy focus: “Wine and Truffles” and “Wine and Food in Provence” are two examples.

BKWine also publishes a very popular newsletter on wine, The BKWine Brief, with news about wine, personal recommendations on wine producers, restaurants and wine bars and other wine related information. It is free and can be ordered on the site www.bkwine.com.
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More information

- about the Wine Tours: http://www.bkwine.com/wine_tours/wine_tours.htm
- about BKWine: http://www.bkwine.com/international/about_bkwine.htm
- press photos: http://www.bkwine.com/diverse/press.htm

Contact:

- Britt Karlsson, ph 00 33 6 80 45 35 70, info@bkwine.com

About BKWine:

51, rue du Chevalier de la Barre, F-92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux (Paris), France, +33 6 80 45 35 70, info@bkwine.com, www.bkwine.com

BKWine is managed by Britt Karlsson, a Swede living in Paris. She is one of the few Swedes working internationally with wine education and wine journalism and is also a very experienced organiser of wine tours. She started her business in the early 1990s and focuses on France. Since 1995 she publishes a private newsletter called “VinNytt” with articles on wine. The same year she launched one of the first Scandinavian wine web sites: www.bkwine.com, which is now bilingual (English-Swedish). She also publishes an email newsletter – the BKWine Brief – which in a short time has grown to become one of the largest newsletters in Scandinavia and among expatriates. “The Brief” is also available in English – for free. Britt is completely independent of wine producers and of the wine trade. She is a member of the British Circle of Wine Writers, the International Wine and Food Society and numerous other wine and gastronomic organisations.