Happy New 2013

Dear friends from around the world, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for following me here are my travel thru the culinary wine world, I appreciate this tremendously and wish you all a very happy new 2013.

I will be back next year for sure J

 

Med vänlig hälsning/ best regards

Dragan Unic

 

Wine from the vending machine?

My latest friends in the wine world is the wines made by the dynamic duo Sarah & Chris Vandendriessche (try to pronounce this after a bottle of wine) and the great artist of all the labels Grant Schexnider and his wife Laura who all together created the Vending Machine Winery in Napa CA.

Christina broth some back from the states for me to taste and It was a true pleasure.

The 2009 Crooked Mayor is a 100% cabernet Sauvignon from old vines that undergo a long maceration in 50% new French oak and are as always bottled without any filtration or disturbance to the wine, 100% pure fruit juice

The wine is packed with dark blueberry jammy fruit and cassis all well balanced with the spicy oak, dark cherrys and tobacco, long lingering aftertaste.

You have to try the Loulas Revenge, Horror Show, Eccentric and the Dubbleshot Gun if you can find them in the store, worth look for.

 

The end of 2012

The Christmas is upon us and the new 2013 is behind the door and all of this makes me do reflections of this year with family, friends and work.

January and the beginning of the year started with the search of wine producers for the new wine portfolio and hasted to Prowein in march do meet up with some great producers such as Bruno Trapan that make fantastic wines of many indigenous grapes from mainland Croatia, and also Vinarija Bodren who is considered to be one of the best sweet wine producers in the world, I am extremely happy to have these wines for this market.

Pago Vallegarcia top producer from Spain is another one that I have added on this year and who is making my customers really happy with excellent quality.

My big girl Tammy was going sweet sixteen in April and is a big girl now and I am very proud of her and her achievements in school.

Visiting Korea and the WACS congress was great and to meet up with old and new friends there was a reminder of how important HACCP is when it comes to food, many poisoned chefs knows that now and so do we L

The tastings that I and Christina have done this year have all been magnificent and our customers are happy, faithful and joining us many times on different conducted tastings, more to come in the next year.

To travel in the wine countries is always nice and needed when to stay on top of things, to visit friends at the same time is even better, we travelled in Spain, the Rhône valley, Burgundy and Alsace, many thanks to Stina & Stephane Ogier for explaining the Cote Rotie and thanks to the wonderful Anne Trimbach for great friendship what would life be without friends like you!

To be selected as the first Swede in the Confraria Saint Sadurni d`Anoia de Cava was for me a great moment and a true pleasure meeting all the new friends in Cava land.

The big thing this year was the culinary Olympics in October where Swedish teams won 5 gold and 3 silver medals and really show of what Sweden is all about when it comes to culinary.

Bianca my little seven years old loves KISS and Rock`n`Roll and have a new friend in the new Westie dog Mama Mia, a great puppy friend.

Health, love, respect and understanding is what makes all of us achieve greatness.

Merry Christmas and a happy new year 2013 from all of us to all of you.

 

 

 

 

Swedish Christmas table

The Christmas spirit is here and to sample the Swedish Christmas table with all the traditional delicatessen is a must for everybody here but the challenge is to find the right place to visit for this extravaganza.

Last year we tried the Rusthållargården http://www.rusthallargarden.se in the small fishing village of Arild and were amazed by the presentation and the quality of the food so we decided to do this all over again but this time stay over in the beautiful settings.

The food was as I expected of great quality, not to much but precise selection of all the must have on the Christmas table, I am very picky on some things like the herring must be perfect, the salmon cured as it should be and the pate just perfect.

To have salmon in different way is a big tradition here like the meatballs (köttbullar) and people are suckers for it, but I prefer the more complex flavours of smoked ribs, green cabbage cooked in cream, Jansons frästelse (shredded potaoes baked with anchovies and cream) and the pickled vegetables.

This kind of heavy food you need to drink a lot of snaps ( I prefer OP Andersson or Herrgård and sometimes both)& beer to.

I would also like to mention the dessert and the sweet table with candy’s, cheeses and cakes, a paradise for all with sweet tooth I Just love Christmas J

Thank you Claes with staff for a great experience.

 

 

German vintage 2012

Vintage 2012 – Ripe and Healthy Grapes Guarantee High Quality

 

The bottom line: crop quality and harvest conditions in Germany was influenced not only by months of capricious weather but also by consistent, quality-oriented work in the vineyards

that resulted 2012 to be one of the top vintages with broad selection of first class wines.

FRANKEN

Thanks to a predominantly healthy crop, growers are optimistic about the potential quality of the new vintage.

The weather was good as preliminary harvesting began and Riesling grapes were in top form and nearly all were of Prädikat-level quality.
Growers anticipate powerful, yet fruity, wines that are brilliant and elegant.

RHEINHESSEN

The crop was healthy and ripe ready to be harvested by early October, followed by completely ripened and aromatic Riesling grapes at the end of the month. Quality was above average.

Good, solid everyday wines as well as first-class wines from individual sites are expected.

NAHE

Unfortunately, some estates report quantities well below the average of recent years, especially with regard to the Pinots Grau- and Weissburgunder.

Harvesting in the small region began in mid-October. The crop – particularly Riesling, the region’s leading variety – was ripe and aromatic. Optimal acidity levels promise firm wines.

BADEN

Germany’s third-largest growing region reports low yields in 2012, In general, the crop was healthy and must weights were decent.

All grape varieties reflect a very homogenous vintage. Despite their youth they are powerful wines with an excellent balance of fruit and body.

MOSEL, SAAR & RUWER

Along the Mosel, the harvest began in mid-October and the Vintage 2012 is marked by clean fruit aromas; high must weights; racy, refreshing acidity; and a mineral-based expressiveness.

The grapes along the Saar and Ruwer reached optimal ripeness and were highly concentrated. The 2012 wines are expected to be firm and exceptionally aromatic.

PFALZ

Growers in the Pfalz were able to harvest thoroughly healthy grapes with decent must weights. Varying levels of ripeness made it necessary to harvest selectively, in several stages.

The young wines – Pinots and Riesling alike – show a high level of quality and finesse.

RHEINGAU

September enabled healthy grapes to develop and achieve high levels of ripeness. Cooler nighttime temperatures helped preserve acidity and Riesling had reached optimal ripeness.

Extremely intense flavors and harmonious acidity were the hallmarks of the crop.
Depending on location, yields varied considerably among sites.

 

 

 

Washington state wines

Last night I was invited to the residence and beautiful house of the American ambassador in Denmark Madam Laurie Fulton for the Washington state wine tasting for specially invited guests.

I was there to learn more about the wines from Washington that I do not have enough knowledge about the stats wines, and I was truly amazed of the quality shown here and this was the best of the night.

Columbia Crest is a stabile producer as always and the H3 cab & chardonnay is good and the reserve cab in impeccable.

Kiona vineyards showed some great late harvest Riesling & gewürztraminer and wine spectator have put two of Kiona wines on its “100 best” list, not bad at all.

Charles Smith is very well known here in Sweden for the funny names as Kung Fu girl & Velvet Devil.

Located in the blue mountains in the Walla Walla where he makes his signature wines that are easy approachable.

The Long Shadow Vintners Feather cab, Pedestal merlot and the Sequel syrah was one of the true eye-opener of what this state can deliver and the winemakers are not bad either, what do you say about Randy Dunn, John Duval, Michel Rolland and Philippe Melka.

The house of Independent producers makes great wines especially the Descendants Liegeois Dupont syrah and the La Bourgeoise merlot both made by Pete Hedges of the Hedges family estate.

To make some kind of conclusion of this night I must say that I am surprised of the quality and depth that all wines are showing tonight and I hope that I can someday travel there for more on site experience.