French red wines, Uncategorized

Characterful Malbec from Cahors

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Château Pineraie Malbec 2022 is a full-bodied, characterful red wine from Cahors in southwestern France, known for its intense dark color and balanced flavors of dark berries, spices and oak barrels.

The producer Château Pineraie is located in the historic wine region of Cahors in southwestern France, along the Lot River. The region is the original home of the Malbec grape, where it is locally known as Côt or Auxerrois. The wine is made from Malbec (Côt) and the vines, some of which are very old, grow in a mixture of clay and limestone soils, which contributes to the character and structure of the wine.

The wine has an intense, dark color and a complex flavor profile that is balanced by a good structure with present, but integrated, tannins and fresh acidity.

Aromas: Intense aromas of dark berries such as blackcurrant, blackberry and plum, complemented by hints of clove, pepper, vanilla and toasted oak. Some floral notes of violets and hints of leather and tobacco.

Taste: The palate is rich and full-bodied, with concentrated dark fruit such as cherry and plum. The character of the wine is robust yet elegant, with a silky feel that ends with a long, spicy and slightly mineral-driven finish.

This characterful and structured wine is excellent with flavorful and robust dishes.

Meat: Perfect with red meat (preferably grilled or fried), pork in cream or pepper sauce, and game. It is a classic match for dishes such as duck confit or a hearty meat stew (cassoulet).
Other: It also goes well with mature hard cheeses and dishes with earthy elements such as mushrooms or roasted vegetables.

Price at Systembolaget is 145 SEK, nr 285201. We give it 85 points!

French red wines, Uncategorized

Premium spicy red from La Clape

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From Southern France we tasted a spicy red wine made of the famous GSM cuvée: Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre grape varieties. The appellation La Clape has been its own since 2015, and is situated in the Western part of the Languedoc area, near Narbonne.

The producer Gérard Bertrand is one of the front figures of wine and especially organic wines in Southern France, and is the fourth generation in his family to run a wine business. He took over in 1987 when his father suddenly passed away, and has since 2002 transformed his business towards biodynamic wine growing practices. Today the firm has 17 estates with 977 hectares of biodynamically grown vineyards plus lots of co-operation with local growers.

The Château L’Hospitalet La Réserve Rouge 2023 offers fantastic notes of ripe blueberries and dark plums, black olives, bay leaf, figs, cocoa and vanilla from oak barrel aging. The balance between acidity and tannin structure is excellent, and the wine has a long finish of ripe berries and vanilla.

The alcohol is 15 %, and in Sweden the price is 219 SEK at Systembolaget (nr 7314201).

This is a wine that is excellent with all meat dishes including well-grilled lamb and game dishes. Spicy sauces are also very tasty, given the acidity level and complexity of the wine.

This wine is really very price-worthy, and we give it 94 points!

Spanish white wines

Fruity Verdil from Valencia

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Casa Lluch Verdil Blanco is a Spanish, organic white wine from Bodegas Enguera in Valencia, made mainly from the local Verdil grape, with some Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Viognier.

The wine is fruity, spicy and refreshing, with a lemon yellow color. The wine tastes fresh and summery, with prominent 
citrus (lime, lemon) and floral (orange blossom, peach blossom) aromas and flavors. It’s a well-balanced and dry white wine with a pleasant mouthfeel, often showing hints of apple, pear, and a subtle spicy note on the finish

The grape variety Verdil is a rare, golden-yellow grape variety grown mainly in its native territory, the Valencia DO in southeast Spain. 

This elegant wine can easily be paired with food like monkfish in lemon sauce and smoked mackerel.

We give it 85 points!

restaurant review

Fantastic meat at JJ’s in Paris

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There is one city in the world where you can enter almost any restaurant and be served a decent meal (according to me) – namely PARIS 🙂

Then there are of course different price levels, different styles of food, different levels of ”price-worthiness” etc etc, but most of the time you get a very good meal for the money spent!

It is impossible to list all the fantastic restaurants that I have been to, but recently when I was I Paris I jumped into JJ restaurant late on a Tuesday evening and got the last seats available and a very very nice meal!

First of all, it is NOT big – but you really get this genuine feeling of French bistro in the small but cosy and nicely furbished restaurant. It is also well situated, not far from the Champs-Elysées: 34 Rue de Penthièvre in the 8th arrondissement.

The choice of dishes is great, most of them written on a small wooden chalkboard (but there are also menus in English)… and the choice of wines also by the glass is great – and pairs really well with the food! We chose meat with fantastic blue cheese sauce and mashed potatoes, simple – straight – no fuss… but super good! We give JJ restaurant 94/100!

Austrian white wines, Uncategorized

Price-winning Riesling from Kamptal

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In Austria, in the region of Niederösterreich, we find the prestigious district of Kamptal – around 50 km northeast of Vienna. Here in the Langenlois area the family run producer Weingut Jurtschitsch make fantastic fresh and mineral-driven Riesling – like the Jurtschnisch Riesling Platin 2023 that we have tasted. The price at Systembolaget is 149 SEK, and the nr is 20102.

We understand why this wine has won prices like Gold medal at ”Årets vinare-galan” 2024 in the category ”This year’s white novelty”!

On the nose there are fresh herbs, lemon, apple, pear and melon notes and on the palate we find similar notes as well as steely mineral long finish. Very brisk acidity and well-balanced and intense stone fruit.

Weingut Jurtschnisch has a history going back to the 17th century, and the grapes are hand picked, fermented in stainless steel for freshness and also kept on the lees for a fuller body. The wine is organic.

This wine with its fruity notes and high acidity is perfect to pair with fish, seafood, vegetarian dishes as well as chicken and lamb. The high acidity is also a great combination with creamy sauces and soups! We give it 90/100!

restaurant review

Tasty burgers in iconic Student city

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Uppsala, situated 70 kilometers north of Stockholm, is a major University city with the oldest university in the Nordics founded in 1477. It is also the church centre of Sweden, and its old cathedral from the 15th century.

At Dragarbrunnsgatan, close to the train station, the burger restaurant Tugg is serving really fantastic burgers for all kind of taste preferences: smokey, chili,cheezy, chutney, classic and much more. The crunchy breads are a perfect match, as well as really crispy French fries.

Even though we were a big group we were served quickly, and in a very friendly manner. Easy to order at the table with smart phones as well.

To drink there is a wide choice of both sodas, beers, wines, bubbles, ciders and cocktails. At this specific occasion they also served a fantastic Shake called Semla – namned after the special bun with almond paste and whipped cream that Swedish people enjoy this time of the year 🙂

All in all, everyone was very satisfied and the prices were mid range and all the burgers and extras were well worth their price. We give it 90/100!

French red wines

Spicy full-bodied red from Rhône

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From the Rhône valley in France we try Domaine des Pasquiers Plan de Dieu, 2022, which is spicy and herbal with notes of blackberries and liquirice as well as some violet notes on the nose.

In the Rhône valley, and like this Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages in its southern part, red wines are often made from the so called GSM-blend meaning 3 grape varieties typical of this region. This specific wine is made of 60% Grenache, 30% Syrah and 10% Mourvèdre – GSM.

In southern Rhône, 20 villages have the right to add the village name. Plan de Dieu is one of them. Domaine des Pasquiers was founded in 1935 by Paul Lambert and is now run by Paul’s grandsons, brothers Jean-Claude and Philippe. Jean-Claude and Philippe replanted the vineyards in the 2000s, partially replacing the cultivation of Grenache with growing more of Syrah and Mourvèdre. The brothers have been farming organically since 2010.

Alcohol 14,5 %. Price in Sweden at Systembolaget 159 SEK, nr 2298. Serve at 16-18°C with dark meat dishes, like venison roast and grilled lamb with a creamy sauce.

We find this wine very well-balanced and a good representative from this region with its dark berry notes and spiciness. It has a long and pleasant finish and a full body. It gets 85/100 points, well worth its price and so easy to match with many food dishes!

Italian red wines

Fruity and floral red from Bardolino

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Northern Italy offers some of the most well known red grape varieties grown in the country, including Nebbiolo, Barbera and Corvina which is the main grape used in Amarone and Valpolicella wines.

One of the most important regions in Northern Italy is Veneto in the northeast, and here close to the Garda lake we find Bardolino. The wine we try now is La Corte del Pozzo 2023 from Fasoli Gino, nr 2340 at Systembolaget at 109 SEK.

Fasoli Gino has produced wine according to ecological principles since the 1990s, and all the vineyards are certified. Today the company is led by Matteo Fasoli.

The wine has a pale ruby red colour, and on the nose we find youthful red berry notes like cherries, strawberries and raspberries, which are accompanied by herbal notes and on the palate we sense similar notes with crisp acidity and smooth quite light level of tannins and medium body.

This wine is very easy to drink even without food, and also enjoyable served quite chilled. It is however very easy to also pair with food, such as vegetables, chicken, lighter meat dishes but also fish dishes because of the high level of acidity combined with low level of soft tannins. The wine goes superbly well with creamy herbal sauces which pair greatly with the high acidity as well!

All in all, a very priceworthy wine and we give it 82/100 points.

restaurant review

Jack’s Burger review

Just outside Näsbypark centrum, Täby, you find Jack’s Burger with really delicious burgers and a couple of decent white and red wines plus beer in the bar. When we visited there was an organic cava on the meny – a great bonus 🙂

The burgers are served in many styles, at good prices and if you are not super hungry there are awesome milkshakes on the meny as well as different styles of fries, salads and many side orders such as mozzarella sticks. It gets 79/100 points!

Sparkling wines

Riesling Sekt with honey and stone fruit

Delicious yellow stone fruit, honeydew melon, minerals and moist earth combined with lingering bubbels – an organic sparkling Sekt from the Mosel producer Stafetter Hof in Germany, vintage 2019.

Sekt is a German word for Sparkling wine, and this wine is produced in the same way as Champagne through the traditional method. This means that the bubbles are created in a second fermentation in each bottle, creating very integrated mousse and the wine is then left on its lees after the second fermentation (in this case at least 9 months).

On the nose I get elegant hints of honey, yellow stone fruit and melon as well as moist earth and some automatic toasty notes. On the palate I get brisk acidity and on top of the aromas also notes of mirabelle plum and peach rounded off with mineral impressions. It has a long finish and a balanced rounded body with fruit concentration matching the high acidity level. Slightly sweet finish in the Brut style, meaning a maximum of 12 g/l – for this wine the sweetness is 9,2 g/l. The alcohol level is 12,5 % abv.

The Mosel producer Stafetter Hof Winery in Kröv has produced wine since 862, so the tradition goes a long way back! Now they are very involved in sustainability issues and the biodiversity in their soils and vineyards. They can already produce 80% of the energy they need and plan to buy sheep to integrate in their soils management, among other things.

This wine, with its integrated mousse combined with its honey and steely notes is very pleasant both on the nose and the palate – so it gets 92 points! In Sweden it can be bought at Systembolaget at the price of 242 SEK, and the nr is 73484.

This Riesling Sekt, with concentrated fruit notes and its elegant high acidity goes very well with many food dishes. Try it with leak cream soup, fish fillet with creamy sauce or veal ragout – as well as creamy cheeses and salads with cheese and herbs!