Systembolaget number 2863
Price 121:-
Recommended cheese: brie, light hard cheese or aged goat cheese
Recommended food: grilled chicken or turkey
Sonoma county is a subregion in Californien, USA and only a hlaf an hour drive away from San Francisco. The region has two star grapes Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The region is close to the sea which brings cooler wind, that is good for the acidity and the grapes do not get overripe. These wines are at the top of the world and as more money you spend as more fine and delicous the wines. The colour is ruby to almost Bordeaux red and low in viscosity. The full aroma has oak with hints of dried cherries and herbs. A full flow of cherries followed by raspberries and eucalyptus completes a tasteful but unfortunately short experience. It is a light to medium full bodied wine with low tannins and therefore lovley to be enjoyed by it self.
Systembolaget number 2863 Price 121:- Recommended cheese: brie, light hard cheese or aged goat cheese Recommended food: grilled chicken or turkey
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Held a sparkling wine tasting, we compared four different sparkles, first i poured the Cava, Dominio della Vega 100% Macabeo from Valencia, Spain. Golden colour in the glas Fruity, foamy mouthfeel and sweet but fresh finish. Then i poured the Ste.Michelle from Columbia valley, Washington and Mercier from Champagne,France at the same time because they are made from the same grape varieties, however the difference is the soil, age of vine, climate and more. In the wine language we call it"Terroir". That was a lot of fun, the taste and structure of the wine was very different, the sparkle from Washington was simpler, fragrant and tastes young. Whereas the Champagne was mature, complex and more elegant with a long finish. The last was a Blanc de Blanc Champagne from Agrapard &Fils "7Crus, this Champagne maker has pickes it grapes from seven different vineyards including 4 grand crus. from all over Champagne and blended the grapes together. I enjoyed it as much as my guests this evening because it is a small producer in Avize with only 10ha in cotes des blances, and made it very special. Cheers I also surprised them with some cheese to the sparkling wines, i bought only two types this time, the first was a simple Saint Maure which is a pasteurised goat cheese and a delicous Delice de Bourgogne which is a not pasteurised cow milk cheese. I choose this two because they high in acidity and not aged or washed with salt water or something. The cow milk cheese is also some kind of fresh cheese and would also fir perfectly to a white wine like white Bourgogne or Chablis.
Since i work in the restaurant business (1996) , this wine producer from Italy has been always a sign of quality over years. The Gaja coming originally from Spain and immigrated to Italy in the 17th century and opened a tavern i Piemont, and served their wine to the food and started to bottle their wine and sell it. Angelo Gaja, a very educated person, travelled a lot to France and introduced several wine making techniques and more importantly French grape varieties and so the Cabernet Sauvignon. Also to mention is that the Gaja Family does not buy any grapes from others, they grow them self and harvest them self everything. Angelo Gaja is now nearly 70 years old and has passed his routines to his daughter's Gaia and Rosanna, but still has not officially retired. One can guess, when you love something or someone, you can't just stop loving it. I had the pleasure of meeting Gaia Gaja and four of their big Sortiment. The Sito Moresco was gorgeous, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Nebiolo a third of each, separate oak barrel aged and then a half a year together i big old and new oak. Classic Nebiolo, missing words This is a wine from their vineyard in Tuscany, a bkend of Merlot 50%, Cabernet Sauvignon 25% and Cabernet Franc. Aged in oak barrels for twelve month This fantastic white wine is produced and has been in almost all wine cellars I have been working! 100% Chardonnay from Piemont, and of course not the "usual". A Golden colour, perfume of citrus, flowers and a hint of honey. Elegant, well structured and the oak barrel aging gives nice texture and a long balanced finish! Deliziosa!!!
Thank you Gaia for coming and sharing your trandition and passion with me! At Saturday me and my lovely wife had friends over for dinner, and as always a question is popping up: what should cook? So, we had a look into our kitchen but didn't find the motivation in any drawer. But we found the idea on top of the fridge, Raclette. Original it is a type of Swiss made cheese from cow milk and is used for melting, in Switzerland and some other places like ,Wijnjas Ost och Vinkällare in Stockholm, you still get the original version where you get a edge of about 200 grams of raclette cheese under a heating lamp where it after a while starts to melt onto a plate. This should be enjoyed with some cold cuts like salami, prosciutto and mixed pickles. Warning: in closed rooms one can get poisoned of cheese smells. But there is also a modern version which we did that day, which is more like a barbecue with a melting option! This is really fun and simple, one can buy whatever you like. We bought Chicken, Entrecote, Chorizo and duck breast but you can take prawns, salmon at the same time vegetables are also delicious or Halloumi cheese like we had. Also fixed we salad, French fries and rice at the same time when the meet is grilling on top, you can take the pans at melt some cheese together with rice or onions or what ever you like, doesn't that sound fun well it is we ate for hours. At the same time I opened a 2009 Barolo Well since you have a lot of different meats and things are going on at the grill, you should drink whatever makes you heart jump of excitement and love. Because these people at our table had one thing in common: sharing the love for food, wine and each other!
Thanks guys for a lovely evening and a celebration. Life is to short to drink cheap wine! Cheers. Soon coming up , wine of the month Lately i holded a wine tasting for Austria with focus on red wines. In Sweden like in other countries, most of the people don't know what kind of delicious red wine they produce. And with me working for a long time in this country i know the answer. Österreich has many native red grape varieties with the origin within Austria or bordering countries like slowakia or Hungary. The most planted red grape is Zweigelt which can be defined as spicy with hints of berries. Also Blaufränkisch is very popular red grape and has in recent years increased the plantings and has been recognised international attention.
Another grape variety is Blauer Portugieser which was very popular when I started in the hotel business in the 90's but has then disappeared from the market and accounts a low growing area and has been mostly replaced by international grape varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Blauburgunder(Pinot Noir), Syrah or even Cabernet Franc. If you can't wait they recently released at the systembolaget permanent sortiment Blaufränkisch "Leithagebirge" from winery Heinrich in Burgenland, Austria. This red wine is aged for 30 month in oak, and gives a powerful, full bodied dark coloured red wine with cigar box aromas. Very nice with dark meat or game dishes and costs about 130 SEK. You get a glass of wine in your hand, without knowing what it is, you put your nose in it, and you just know it is Italian. But why is it, what makes them so unique. Mostly it is the history, the tradition and passion for the wine and food, the picture you make in your head when you think or imagine of the landscape they have in Tuscany. The wine history in the land of pasta has been very long, even before France, and was introduced from the Greeks at about 800 BC. Whereas in Tuscany the wine making was first time mentioned around the 8th century BC and was in the 3rd century already known well for the great quality in countries like Greece and others in Europe. But in Roman times, wine from Tuscany had already a good reputation around the empire. However the history from Italy is as big as their native grape varieties, over 850 common are counted and that's not even it, in other words much to discover. In Tuscany Sangiovese is king, it got its name from "Sangius Jove" and means "blood of Jove", that refers to the Roman god Jupiter. It´s history dates back to the origin to Romagna, Italy but is now growing in almost all region in Italy but had its breakthrough in 1970 to 80`s where the region was discovered as a good conditions like climate for the grape. But other grapes a grown as well as: Canaiolo, Colorino, Malvasia Nero and Mammolo, since a couple of years also Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon or even Cabernet Franc are allowed to use. The most famous Red wine from Tuscany is Chianti which is the region and must be made from 75 to 100 percent Sangiovese. The rest can be topped up with other varieties, mostly to balance the acidity or to add colour. But the most famous Sangiovese wines come from Montalcino and is called Brunello di Montalcina, these wines are beautiful balanced and have a great aging potential and are the kings of Tuscany. So in other words almost all wines are based on the traditional Sangiovese, but in recent year’s also single variety like Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon are made and are fun to taste. But the traditional Chianti´s or other blends with Sangiovese from the region are perfect match to Italian food like pasta Bolognese, Pizza (not Kebab Pizza, no wine has been invented for that type) and cheese like Pecorino, Parmesan or Tallegio. Have you not tried it, you should. Typical tastes of Sangiovese are: high acid, high tannins (bitter tastes), the other compounds are depending from which region it is, but we focus now on Tuscany and there are basically bitter sweet, violet, cherry and tea. Should you ever see that sign, you know you are on the right track!!! Description: Rendola, Governo all´uso Toscano 2012 The colour is dark red quite viscous and the rim is good which shows a good concentration, the aromas a cherry, herbs and a hint of Vanilla. The mouth is full bodied with tastes of cherry, dried plumbs, violets. The tannins are well integrated thanks to the 25% Merlot and the rest is Sangiovese and it has a dry long finish. Costs 110SEK in the store, I think it is a good modern Tuscan wine and brings a lot of fun and a good food partner. Drink now but can be stored for 3-4 years. In April, me and some other wine freaks, lovers and professionals where invited from the German wine institute (DWI) from around the world to enjoy the Mosel and Rheingau Valley and their wines and their producers. Introduction of one of the brothers of vineyard Bathazar-Rhess near the Schlossberg, in the back the Rhein river in Germany. One can clearly see how even today the new generation still has the passion and tradition in their blood. In 1870 the family Ress opened up a small hotel in Hattenheim and at that time it set the milestone for a long gastronomic and wine tradition. Today the Winery is in the 5. Generation leaded by Stefan Ress, since 2010, and holds up the tradition. This wine to the right was one of the highlights of many delicous juice, we got presented. The surprising change in the German market is the making of more dry wines and different grape varieties as Sylvaner or Grauburgunder. However the Riesling still dominates the main wine production. A lovely day Hello Coming up soon wine tastings,wine recommondations, food and wine pairings, funny hotel restaurant stories, . If that is your passion maybe you should check in from time to time |
AuthorMatthias Breitsameter, wine enthusiast and Sommelier which has been traveling the world to learn about food cultures
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January 2016
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