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 Bergères 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.
The competition included books from Italy, Spain, China… Imagine, so its unique that 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. That said, 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”.
Photo credit: BKWine Photography.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
