Very bad Champagne

When visiting champagne I always try to taste and visit houses that are new to me and this time I was heeding for the Maison Canard – Duchene in the small village of Ludes all exited and ready to for some serious tasting, what a mistake that was!

The glitzy entrance and visiting area have nothing to do with this champagne that was all very uninteresting and fabricated without any soul and quality that I was expecting, so we actually walked out of there with a bitter taste, this is an seriously bad champagne that I will refuse to drink in the near future, and I love champagne.

It’s inside the bottle that counts

Vin ger godare utdelning än aktier

Upp och ner på börsen och ingen hausse i sikte. Guldkursen är instabil. Inte ens diamanter kan man lita på i dessa kristider. Kanske är vin lösningen på dilemmat?

Det är inte konstigt att intresset för vin som investering växer. Priserna har gått som tåget och dessutom har allt fler upptäckt att nöjet med en vinsamling inte bara behöver handla om att dricka gott vin.

Tänk om du hade köpt fint vin istället för de där 17000 skattade kronorna du satsade på 200 Telia-aktier år 2000. Då hade du varit betydligt lyckligare i dag. Har du aktierna kvar fortfarande finns inte ens ett aktiebrev att titta på. Tänk om du åtminstone fick ringa upp pengarna?

Annat är det med vin. Du kan beskåda furulådorna med sina ståtliga slottssigill medan priserna stiger. Du kan ta fram en flaska, känna på tyngden och fantisera om hur fantastiskt det skulle smaka. Och skulle det gå helt åt skogen med din vininvestering så har du ändå flaskorna kvar. Då kan du bjuda alla dina vänner.

Vill du lyckas med en vininvestering så gäller det att ha kunskap och tur – som överallt annars. Är du tillräckligt insatt köper du dina vinlådor själv när årgången lanseras. Helst från några av de högst rankade slotten i Bordeaux. Men tyvärr är du inte ensam. Det är inte bara rika kineser som handlar i korridorerna, utan de stora vinslotten har också blivit smartare. Dels har de trissat upp priserna rejält och dels håller de hårt i lådorna. De tjänar nämligen ännu mer pengar på att själva lagra vinet några år.

Ett annat sätt är att ta råd av erfarna vinmäklare. De har koll på prisutvecklingen och kan tipsa om framtidens viner. Åtminstone i teorin. Sveriges ende auktoriserade värderingsman av vin, Johan Magnusson, pekar till exempel på att Premier cru-slottens andraviner varit lönsamma investeringar de senaste åren. Framöver kommer de mindre kända Grand Cru-slotten säkert också att dras med i prisspiralen.

Nu är jag själv ingen mästare på investeringar och har inte koll på lyxvinernas alla priser. Men nog vet jag att det varit fart uppåt. Kännare påstår att det varit 15 procents årsavkastning i snitt sedan 2001. Kanske det – även om det är knepigt att räkna på ett vinvärde. Sedan ett antal år finns det dock en slags vinbörs i London vid namn Liv-Ex. Deras index för de hundra främsta vinerna visar på en värdeökning på 110 procent de senaste fem åren. Ser man bara på de femtio främsta så handlar det om en värdeökning på 175 procent under samma period. Och då ska man ändå veta att finanskraschen 2008 innebar en rejäl dipp.

De bekväma investerarna satsar på det senaste: rena vinfonder. Vinlådorna blir då en del av en fond som fungerar som vilken annan investeringsfond som helst. Man satsar helt enkelt en slant och litar på att fondförvaltarna kan sitt jobb och ser till att det blir högsta avkastning. Det är bara en stor skillnad. Det handlar ju om dyrbara flaskor som rent fysiskt måste finnas någonstans i väntan på värdestegringen. Med stor sannolikhet ligger lådorna kassaskåpssäkert i ett lager i södra England. Där har nämligen världens största firma för vinlagring, Octavian Vaults, expanderat enormt. I deras 300000 kvadratmeter lär det finnas mer än 800000 lådor vin.

800000 lådor är lika med nio miljoner sexhundratusen flaskor. Jag gissar att det är många tusen ägare inblandade i dessa viner. Annars kan det bli lite jobbigt att dricka upp om investeringen slog fel. Även för den med många vänner.

SvD  mat&vin

Luxembourg and wine? is that a joke?

What is the fuss about Luxembourg and the wines there? The answer is Mr Abi Duhr of Chateau Pauque in the small village of Grevenmacher who is the wild cat in this small country and  in my opinion makes some of the best Rieslings possible of the very old and steep vineyards facing the Mosel river.

I was there a couple a weeks ago to check out the grapes just before the harvest and the 2011 looks wonderful with ripe maturity and good acidity lever that are so crucial here and without it can make the wines bland and flat, this is what many winemakers miss out on, to bad.

Abi is a fascinating and highly knowledgeable winemaker with a great sense of humour that makes his wine with a passion and great skills to bring out the most in every plant.

The wines are concentrated and absolutely wonderful in every aspect with a great acidity that balances the mature fruits and makes them age beautifully.

If you can find any of his wines you better buy them before the whole world hear about it.

In vino veritas

Storing your wine collection? good or bad?

If you speak to wine professionals who provide wine storage facilities or assist in building cellars, they will tell you that a great many mistakes are made along the way to building a dream wine collection. The good news is that, unlike doctors who have to bury their mistakes, those of wine lovers can be drunk – or at the very worst, poured down the sink. However, this can become expensive, so do be careful.

Surprisingly, the experts will tell you that it is often those with the deepest pockets that make the most errors of judgment. They can take a scattergun approach to filling the cellar, tossing a wallet at every offer so as to corner as many of the best wines as they can. Unfortunately, they often also dredge up a lot of crap wines on the way. Those who take greater care however, often have more interesting cellars.

So the million-dollar question is: what do you put in your cellar?

Deciding if you are a collector or an investor is key. Investors usually have an entirely different agenda, and some may not even like wine. Collectors, on the other hand, are the real wine lovers, although they may make the occasional purchase for investment purposes. Buying two cases and later selling one allows for future expansion, and if done astutely, can even finance the cellar.

Bordeaux has underpinned the secondary market in wine for decades but not every Bordeaux is the same. First Growths and wines known as Super Seconds, along with the best from the Right Bank, such as Cheval Blanc, Petrus and Ausone are as close to blue chip as is possible, and a good vintage is vital.

In recent years, the pronouncements of American critic Robert Parker have had a profound influence on this market. A good score from him can propel an unknown into 'blue chip' territory, or send well-known wines into the pricing stratosphere.

Outside of France, things are more hit and miss. Spain has many exciting wines developing, but Vega Sicilia and Pingus are probably the most reliable investments for the moment. Vintage port has seen somewhat of a recent revival. German wines is rarely a fruitful investment, and Italian wines are mixed. Super Tuscans, like Sassicaia, Ornellaia and Masseto have done very well (the 1985 Sassicaia has been one of the great wine investments of all time), and the best Barolos are starting to see the sort of return that such great wines deserve.

From Australia, Penfolds Grange and Henschke's Hill of Grace are the leading performers, but the next generation is making strides. Some of the boutique producers from the Barossa and McLaren Vale with their turbo-charged shiraz have been given a boost by Parker points.

New Zealand has yet to establish such iconic auction performers, though some of the pinots from Martinborough and Central Otago, like Dry River, Ata Rangi and Felton Road, are close. From the United States, the auction performance of such wineries as Screaming Eagle, Araujo, Phelps 'Insignia', Opus One, Heitz 'Martha's Vineyard' and Harlan Estate is legendary and not completely unrelated to positive reviews from Parker and Wine Spectator.

Serious wine lovers soon learn that there is little point in collecting wines unless they are properly stored. High or fluctuating temperatures, light and vibration can all adversely affect wine. So can humidity: too dry an environment is detrimental as it can dry out corks, which allows for the ingress of oxygen and thus spoils the wine. Too much humidity, on the other hand, promotes the growth of bacteria and mold around the cork, which isn't very esthetically pleasing. However, the increased use of screw caps makes humidity less of an issue.

 A cellar can be anything from a box under the bed to a massive underground, temperature- and humidity-controlled facility. If you do not have a proper cellar at home, consider storing your wine with professionals. It has the disadvantage that late at night, you cannot grab a favored bottle on a whim (next morning, some may consider that as a positive), but at least you can be assured the wine will be in ideal condition when you do decide to drink it.

Remember do enjoy your wines in proper wine glasses such as Riedel.

Mr Gaston in Dizy, who the hell are he?

One of my many meetings recently in champagne was with the charming Nicolas Chiquet in the village of Dizy where he produce champagne in an traditional style with great depth and concentration especially the blanc de blanc from the vineyards of Dizy

That wine is exiting and very different from the Blanc de Blanc of the Grand cru in cotes du Blanc that is more famous for producing such a wine.

This is truly a challenge to identify on any blind tasting, how fun would that be? Very fun indeed J the flagship wine is his Special club selection where he use the best pressing and the oldest parcels of his vineyards, great stuff!

Nicolas is a very modern winemaker with lots of new ideas without dropping the respect of the family and the tradition that he grew up with, we hade a good discussion about the cork issue and he told me a lot of how you actually can manipulate the wine just by choosing an certain cork quality, amazing and very interesting news for me.

Another thing was all the things going on with the organic and biodynamic winemaking that’s going on in the world, he just prove to me that most of the things that are going on is BS, halleluiah!!! I told you, but we both agreed on that sustainable winemaking is the best way of producing grapes of the best quality and to take care of the environment regardless what it say on the label.

The house of Gaston Chiquet is a nice treat if you ever visit the area, but do make a reservation ahead

Istanbul by night

I culd not resist to put up some more pictures from this wonderful city even that I only use my mobil camera. tomorrow is off to Belgrade the capital of Serbia.

ISTANBUL, AN MAGIC CITY / İstanbul, Sihirli şehir

English:

Istanbul an Magic city

I am actually here on work, as a representative for the Swedish chefs association on the WACS European presidential meeting, but you need some fun also don’t you think?

Where to start? The first thing when arriving to this marvellous city is the heavy and crazy traffic that easy scare the living hell out of you, everybody is driving like maniacs, its nothing for weak nerves.

Officially the live 16 million people in Istanbul but nobody really knows the right figures, some people told me that as many as 25 million live here, moving in from the country side to get a better life, I don’t know about that.

The culture here must be the best in the world without any doubt considering all what have been going on here for thousands of years, simply wonderful architecture and remains from great past times, there is something magical in the air when you hear the priest call people to the mosque with the songs from the minaret, I must say that Islam is truly an fascinating religion that I do not know anything about, but I would like to!

 Food, what to say about that?  I hade some great experience and some extremely bad, its like a coin, if you hit wrong you can suffer for days in your bathroom, I call this Jalla, and if you hit the superjalla! You can only start to pray.

The Turkish cuisine is in my opinion one of the worlds best with authentic flavours and ways to prepare food, when its good its world class, like the old restaurant Beyti that started in 1945 and is still consider to be one of the best in Istanbul, we hade a great treat of excellent food, and you know how picky I can be J don’t miss out when you are here next time.

The belly dancing is a very special chapter for its self, I saw the top dancer in Turkey and let me tell you boys a secret! She was fabulous and very sexy.

The grand bazaar is very grand, about 6000 shops and It takes  some days to get around it all, sadly it is also the biggest tourist trap with fake cloths, handbags and so on, nothing genuine and no normal Turks in sight, I wonder where they shop? Maybe in the Gucci store when you look at all very well dressed ladies with top brands everywhere.

 I would love to get back here asap to discover more of this amazing city and our friend Malin who lives here must be prepared to receive us soon

Turkish:
İstanbul, Sihirli şehir
WACS Avrupa başkanlık toplantı İsveç aşçılar derneği temsilcisi olarak, iş burada aslında, ama bazı eğlenceli değil mi?
Nereden başlamalı? Bu harika şehre gelen ilk şey, kolay yaşayan bir cehenneme korkutmak ağır ve çılgın bir trafik, herkes, manyaklar gibi zayıf sinirler için hiçbir şey sürüyor.
Resmen canlı İstanbul'da 16 milyon kişi ama kimse gerçekten doğru rakamlar bilir, bazı insanlar gibi pek çok 25 milyon olarak daha iyi bir yaşam elde etmek için ülke tarafında hareket, burada yaşıyor, ben bu konuda bilmiyorum söyledi.Rahip çağrı insanlar duyduğunuzda kültürü burada ne, binlerce yıldır burada sadece muhteşem mimarisi ve büyük geçmiş zamanlardan kalan edilmiştir düşünen hiç şüphesiz dünyanın en iyi olmalı, havada sihirli bir şey var. camiye minarenin şarkıları ile İslam hakkında hiçbir şey bilmiyorum gerçekten büyüleyici bir din olduğunu söylemek gerekir, ama ben istiyorum!
Gıda, bu konuda söyleyecek ne var? Ben bazı büyük deneyim ve bazı son derece kötü, yanlış vurduğunuzda bir sikke gibi, banyoda gün boyunca muzdarip olabilir dikey durumdan eğik duruma geçmek, ben bu Jalla çağrı ve superjalla vurdu! Sadece dua etmeye başlayabilirsiniz.Türk mutfağının otantik tatları ve yemek hazırlamak için yollar, en iyi dünyalar benim görüşüme göre, 1945 yılında başlayan ve hala İstanbul'un en iyilerinden biri olarak kabul eski restoran Beyti gibi iyi, dünya standartlarında, biz mükemmel yemek ayrı bir keyif damarın dikey durumdan ayrılma açısı ve ben burada bir dahaki sefere ne zaman  kaçırmayın ne kadar seçici olduğunu biliyoruz.Oryantal dans kendini çok özel bir bölümde, Türkiye'nin en iyi dansçı gördüm ve bana erkek size bir sır vereceğim! O muhteşem ve çok seksi.
Büyük çarşı, yaklaşık 6000 dükkan, çok görkemli ve aynı zamanda sahte bezler, el çantaları ve benzeri, gerçek bir şey ve hiçbir görüş normal Türkler ile en büyük turist tuzağı ne yazık ki, etrafında almak için birkaç gün sürer, nerede merak ediyorum onlar alışveriş? Belki Gucci mağazası, her yerde en iyi marka tüm çok iyi giyinmiş bayanlar baktığınızda.
En kısa sürede bizi almak için hazırlıklı olmalısınız burada yaşayan bu muhteşem şehir ve bizim arkadaş Malin daha fazlasını keşfetmek için en kısa zamanda geri almak isterdim
Şimdi ve İnşallah için Bye