Chateau St Martin de la Garrigue. Languedoc. Vines trained in Guyot cane pruning. Old, gnarled and twisting vine. France. Europe. Vineyard.

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Chateau Saint Martin de la Garrigue, Languedoc, France, stock photography samples, by Per Karlsson, BKWine — This is only a selection of samples. Use Image SEARCH to find more photos — Chateau Saint Martin de la Garrigue is a wine estate in the Languedoc between Beziers and Montpellier in the south of France. It is owned by Monsieur Umberto Guida, a successful business man previously of the Promodes group.

The main building is indeed a chateau (which is not always the case for wineries labelled with that description. The chateau is a curious mix of different styles due to extensions and refurbishments that have been done over the years to the original 16th century construction. It also has a charming small private chapel. The first mention of Chapelle de Saint Martin dates to 987. The lands of Chateau Saint martin de la Garrigue extends over 150 hectares and include vineyards, forests and olive grooves.

The vineyards of Chateau Saint Martin de la Garrigue are planted with a wide variety of grapes, the main ones being syrah, grenache carignan, mourvèdre, and piquepoul. This last one is the unique variety used for the appellation AOC Picpoul de Pinet that is famously well paired with the local oysters. In total they have 18 different grape varieties planted on 50 different vineyard parcels. The winery building is an enormous grange that houses both some ancient wooden vats as well as modern stainless steel tanks.

http://www.stmartingarrigue.com

All images © copyright Per Karlsson, BKWine. Images may not be used without our permission.

Languedoc Chateau Saint Martin de la Garrigue stock photo samples – Images by Per Karlsson

Getty Images has taken a simple overlay image, the watermark, and turned it into a something that not only protects your image but also is a brilliantly engineered marketing and sales tool.

To have or not to have: watermarks?

Watermarks are a nuisance according to some. Others think it is an importnt tool to protect your images from theft and online piracy. In principle, from a legal standpoint, it does not make any difference if your image carries a watermark or not online (or off-line). It is protected by copyright even without the watermark. But from a practical standpoint it can make a difference. Having a watermark can make it more difficult to steal your images, and it will certainly prevent people from saying “oh, I had no idea I wasn’t allowed”.

So, personally I prefer to use watermark even if it sometimes detracts from the beauty of the image:

(Example chosen specifically to make the watermark particularly obvious.)

Getty’s new watermark: more elegant and more intelligent

Getty used to have a “normal” watermark with the text “Getty Images” and the photographer’s name across the centre image in a half transparent layer. Similar to mine although my current one is located at the bottom and supplemented by the © symbol.

They have transformed that into a watermark that is less in-your-face. It is now located on the lower right as a less glaring grey square with some text in it.

More importantly, they have integrated in the watermark a unique address to the image, a URL, that is specific to the image.

It turns the watermark into both a theft protection against intellectual property infringements and into a marketing and sharing tool.

Very nice!

Watch the video:

But will it “change perception of a billion dollar company” as the creators say? Not so sure about that.

But in any case, applauds to R/GA London, who did it!

(From what I can tell though, the watermark is not yet active. I cannot see it on the Getty Images sites. Perhaps it is not yet implemented.)

I’d be interested to hear your view! Do you think it is useful to use watermarks? Do you think Getty’s new watermark will work?

Tsipouro at Wine Art Estate Greece

Glass of tsipouro. Cup of coffee. Wine Art Estate Winery, Microchori, Drama, Macedonia, Greece

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Wine Art Estate Microchori, Macedonia, Greece, stock photography samples, by Per Karlsson, BKWine — This is only a selection of samples. Use Image SEARCH to find more photos — The winery with the odd name Wine Art is located in Microchori, close to the city of Drama in the region of Macedonia in northern Greece. It is indeed impressive in its design, but the size is very humane. The winery was founded by Yiannis Papadopoulos and Yiannis Kalaitzidis in 1995. It is all very modern and elegant. Perhaps it has to do with the founders’ background in engineering and architecture? The young winemaker is Ageliki Biba, she has recently joined and is a trained agronomist and oenologist. The vineyards cover some 45 hectares, mainly planted with ‘international’ varieties: sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, syrah. They have som traditional Greek wine varieties too: assyrtiko and agiorgitiko. And they even have some experimental plantings of nebbiolo and sangiovese. The small underground cellar is filled with bottles and barrels for aging the wine.

All images © copyright Per Karlsson, BKWine. Images may not be used without our permission.

Greece Wine Art Estate Winery Drama stock photo samples – Images by Per Karlsson

Soil detail. Stony. Vineyard. Assyrtiko. Tsantali Vineyards & Winery, Halkidiki, Macedonia, Greece.

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Tsantali Winery, Macedonia, Greece, stock photography samples, by Per Karlsson, BKWine — This is only a selection of samples. Use Image SEARCH to find more photos — The Tsantali Agios Pavlos winery is located in northern Greece, in Macedonia, not far from Thessaloniki in Halkidiki. Tsantali is the biggest wine producer in Greece and has vineyards across the country. The wine production is indeed large scale. The winery has a substantial park of fermentation tanks, a whole row of (relatively) modern roto-fermentaters (rotating fermentation extraction tanks), and a large underground cellar for aging the wine in barrel.

They are also a big producer of the aniseed (anis) flavoured spirit tsipouro (similar to pastis / ouzo, or grappa, if without the anis flavour). the distillery is equipped with several shining distillation pots.

All images © copyright Per Karlsson, BKWine. Images may not be used without our permission.

Greece Tsantali Winery stock photo samples – Images by Per Karlsson

Vineyard with Mount Athos top in the background. Mount Athos. Tsantali Vineyards & Winery, Halkidiki, Macedonia, Greece. Metoxi Chromitsa of St Panteleimon monastery.

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Mount Athos vineyard by Tsantali, Macedonia, Greece, stock photography samples, by Per Karlsson, BKWine — This is only a selection of samples. Use Image SEARCH to find more photos — Mount Athos is a peninsula in the northern Greek region of Macedonia. It is in Halkidiki, not far from the city of Thessalonica (Thessaloniki). The whole Mont Athos peninsula is run by independent monastic congregations. No women are allowed in. There are a large number of old monasteries. There is one vineyard on the grounds of the Metoxi Chromitsa of St Panteleimon monastery. The vineyard is run by the Tsantali Winery under the supervising eye of George Salpiggidis, viticultural director. The vineyard is located on a hill not far from the sea. The wine is made in the monastic buildings. Occasionally the monks participate in the vine growing and the winemaking. The wine is not primarily intended for monastic us but is sold for traditional non-religious purposes. The vines, cabernet sauvignon and limnio, are old and grown in sandy soil. The wine is powerful. It is farmed organically.

All images © copyright Per Karlsson, BKWine. Images may not be used without our permission.

Greece Tsantali Mount Athos Winery – stock photo samples – Images by Per Karlsson

Vineyard. Ktima Pavlidis Winery, Drama, Macedonia, Greece

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Ktima Pavlidis Winery, Macedonia, Greece, stock photography samples, by Per Karlsson, BKWine — This is only a selection of samples. Use Image SEARCH to find more photos — Ktima Pavlidis Winery (Ktima meaning ‘estate’) is located in northern Greece in Macedonia, near the city with the tantalising name of Drama. It is far from the sea and close to very high mountain ranges giving it a distinctly continental climate. It was founded by Christoforos Pavlidis in 1988. He has previously made a fortune in stone and marble, a product from the region. The vineyard soil is primarily calcareous clay. The make both red and white wines and use mainly traditional Greek vine varieties: assyrtiko, agiorgitiko (agiorghitiko), malagousia, mavrodaphne… and also some international varieties: sauvignon blanc, cabernet sauvignon, tempranillo, merlot etc. The winery is very modern, fully equipped with winemaking technology. There is a vast underground cellar housing the barrels for aging some of the wines.

All images © copyright Per Karlsson, BKWine. Images may not be used without our permission.

Greece Pavlidis Winery Drama – stock photo samples – Images by Per Karlsson

Vineyard. Domaine Gerovassiliou, Epanomi, Macedonia, Greece.

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Domaine Gerovassiliou, Macedonia, Greece, stock photography samples, by Per Karlsson — This is only a selection of samples. Use Image SEARCH to find more photos — Ktima Domaine Gerovassiliou in Epanomi, Greece, is located not far from Thessaloniki in Macedonia. It was founded by the oenologist Evangelos Gerovassiliou. It has been a forerunner in Greece to champion local indigenous grape varieties: assyrtiko, agiorgitiko, malagousia etc. It is generally regarded as one of the best wine producers in northern Greece. From the winery you have a view over the vineyards and over the sea. The winery is modern, equipped with stainless steel tanks, temperature control etc. It also houses a wine museum displaying old things: amphora, cork screws etc.

All images © copyright Per Karlsson, BKWine. Images may not be used without our permission.

Greece Gerovassiliou Winery – stock photo samples – Images by Per Karlsson

Vines. Malagouzia vine variety. Biblia Chora Winery, Kokkinohori, Kavala, Macedonia, Greece

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Biblia Chora Winery, Pangeon, Macedonia, Greece, stock photography samples, by Per Karlsson — This is only a selection of samples. Use Image SEARCH to find more photos — Ktima Biblia Chora Winery was founded by Evangelos Gerovassiliou and Vassilis Tsaktsarlis. It is located in northern Greece in Macedonia, in the Pangeon region. It has an impressive new winery building with all modern facilities. They have a wide variety of Greek vine varieties planted and have a special vineyard section displaying many indigenous grapes: assyrtiko, xinomavro, agiorgitiko etc. They also have fashionable international grape varieties such as sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, pinot noir cabernet etc. They make red, white and rosé wines.

All images © copyright Per Karlsson, BKWine. Images may not be used without our permission.

Greece Biblia Chora Winery stock photo samples – Images by Per Karlsson

Vineyard. Winery building. Alpha Estate Winery, Amyndeon, Macedonia, Greece

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Alpha Estate Winery, Amyndeon, Macedonia, Greece, stock photography samples, by Per Karlsson, BKWine — This is only a selection of samples. Use Image SEARCH to find more photos — Alpha Estate Winery (Ktima Alpha) is located in the village Agios Panteleimon, Amyndeon, north western Greece, viticultural appellation region Florina. The name of the appellation and wine region is Amyndeon. Alpha was one of the first private vineyards in the Amyndeon area in northern Macedonia in Greece established with a quality wine focus. It was founded by Angelos Iatridis, winemaker, and Makis Mavridis.

The main grape variety is xinomavro, with both classic vinification and carbonic maceration. Other grape varieties: syrah, making more international style wines, sauvignon blanc giving typical varietal character. Alpha also makes a sweet white wine based on malagousia and gewurztraminer.

All images © copyright Per Karlsson, BKWine. Images may not be used without our permission.

Greece Alpha Estate Winery stock photography samples – Images by Per Karlsson

pumping over barrels with aging port sandeman port lodge vila nova de gaia porto portugal

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Douro, Vila Nova de Gaia, House of Sandeman port lodge, Porto, Douro Valley, Portugal, stock photography samples, by Per Karlsson, BKWine — This is only a selection of samples. Use Image SEARCH to find more photos — Sandeman is one of the classic brands of the port wine trade. it has perhaps the best known symbol of all – the cloaked man. Today it is part of the Sogrape Group (Sogrape Vinhos) together with several other port and table wine brands and wineries. The Sandeman port lodge is located on the river side in the classic port storing and trading area in Vila Nova de Gaia, opposite Porto, at the mouth of the Douro river.

The cloaked man (or woman? – our cloaked guide at Sandeman was a young blond Danish woman…) was actually created in 1928 by the French poster artist George Massiot Brown but has since become the inseparable symbol of the port wine brand.

The story of Sandeman dates back to 1790 when a young Scotsman, George Sandeman, started a wine business in London and started trading in port and sherry. Today the house is run by … George Sandeman, a 7th generation descendant from “the original”.

The House of Sandeman winery produces a range of port wines (as well as sherries): white port, ruby port, tawny port, Partners’ ruby port, the famous Old Invalid Port (why “Invalid”?), Founders Reserve, Imperial Reserve, 10 years old tawny, 20 years old tawny, 40 years old tawny, and of course vintage port, currently in its 2007 version.

http://www.sandeman.eu

All images © copyright Per Karlsson, BKWine. Images may not be used without our permission.

Douro Vila Nova de Gaia Sandeman Port Lodge – stock photo samples – Images by Per Karlsson