BALKAN IN MY HEART.

Douro wine made by Negreiros

You all know that I have been struggling to find some Portuguese wines that I like, It is a task let me tell you, to help me out on this my friend the wine producer Mario Negreiros send me some bottles of his stunning and delicious wines.

The wines are all foot pressed (is that the expression? ) with great colour, nice mature fruit, well integrated tannins with a twist of very nice oak, a lovely wine that I can strongly recommend, and of course the reserva stand out a little bit more.

Nearly 10 hectares of the vineyard produce around 50 tons of grapes per year in the Douro from which only 10 to 15 tons are used for the Negreiros wine. The large majority is still traded for Port wine production; only the very best grapes make it in to this IWSC Silver Medal winning wine, making it very special indeed!

Nice job Mario

Flor del Montgó Old Vines Garnacha (nr 90418) 69 kr

 Detta vin på druvan Garnacha (Grenache) är från området Carinena som ligger strax utanför Zaragoza i provinsen Aragonien i norra Spanien.

Skörden på över 40 år gamla stockar har skett för hand i slutet på oktober med ett uttag på 25 hl/hektar, vinmakaren till detta vin är den unge Dansken David Tofterup som började på vineriet under 2002 och är idag ansvarig för Montgo collection med fokus på viner från Yecla. Jag ser fram mot fler viner från denna producent.

Doften är ungdomligt mycket fruktig och full av härliga röda bär med viss kryddighet

Smaken är medelfyllig med väldigt mjuka tanniner och massor av härlig bärig smak, lätt kryddad av fat och örter, kort med god eftersmak.

Hur kan man göra ett så här bra vin för 69 kr?

“There is an explosion of creativity and energy; I predict that Spanish wines will become the darling of

wine consumers throughout the civilized world”.

Robert Parker Jr. The Wine Advocate issue 152

Cederberg Five Generation Cab

South Africa’s most uniquely situated wine farm falls within the pristine environs of the Cederberg Wilderness Area, which lies in the Cape Floral Kingdom. Here, among spectacular rock formations you will find the highest altitude vineyards in the Cape. The cold climate and remote location, with its pure mountain air and water, ensures that the vines are virus free. This results in award-winning wines which show an exceptional purity of fruit.

The farm has been in the Nieuwoudt family for five generations and David Nieuwoudt currently makes the wines.

Five Generation Cabernet Sauvignon Is a Cape classic and leads the pack in the Cederberg range.

The production is Limited to 3400 bottles, handcrafted, classically styled 2008, made to mature (peak around 2014 – 2016 though already delicious. 
18 months of maturation in new French oak has intensified the rich aromas of blackcurrant and cassis, layered with decadent dark chocolate, minerality, herbs and cherry tobacco velvety finish leaves one wanting more.

Another wine that always amazes me in the range is the Bukettraube and I will come back to this.

Well done David.

Should we Eat Shark's Fin?

Singer-songwriter Chet Lam is an advocate of green living and marine conservation. Here, he challenges young people to reject the tradition of shark's fin soup at Chinese banquets Oh, the ultimate hypocritical luxury, the famous-turned infamous dish found at all Chinese wedding banquets.

The fin itself is indeed tasteless; it is the chicken soup that gives the dish its flavor. I know you know that. It's one of the most prestigious offerings for guests at a Chinese banquet. I know you know that too. What you might not have noticed, or wanted to confront yet, is that people will still choose to eat it or offer it at a ridiculously high market price just to have 'face', the most mysterious attribute in Chinese culture. In other words, eating it is like blindfolding our minds, demonstrating our ignorance - how much 'face' could we have by doing that?

We, the younger generation, can be liberal, forward thinking, making our own decisions based on our own judgment every day. Yet, when something is tied to tradition, our ground is so shaken that we want to play safe, to please our parents and relatives. We argue that if there's no shark's fin soup offered at a wedding, the host family might be thought of as cheap.

I saw an anti-shark's fin ad from Singapore years ago. There was this nicely dressed newly-wed couple standing among the tables, smiling so sweetly to the camera, while slaughtered finless sharks were plied on the floor, all bloody and brutal. That says it all. That's the cost of shallow love. It's greed. Pure greed. It's worse than being cheap.

Some Hello Kitty-loving girls might find the finning of sharks a bit too cruel and decide not to have the dish any more. Stopping all of mankind's violence against one group of creatures because they are 'too cute' is very superficial thinking. Well, if that kind of mentality could stop shark massacres in one fell swoop, so be it. But the truth be told, it's actually not about the killing of creatures for food, clothing, byproducts or whatever. It's about unnecessary killing based on greed. It's about our ability to learn to have a sustainable world that we can enjoy for generations to come.

Something to think about

Today for the first time I hade more readers from the USA then from Sweden,
It gives me so much plesure when I see where all my reades comes from, really different countrys like Peru, Azerbadjan, Nepal, Japan, Fidji and so on.
Thank you guys for supporting my blog and Im happy that you are following me and please do contact me if you have any suggestions of subjects for me to think of.

Much plesure....

DUMANGIN CHAMPAGNE IS VERY COOL

I met up with my friend Gilles at champagne DUMANGIN a wile ago at his winey to taste his wines and to see what hi is up to, Gilles produce great champagne that even Sir McCartney used to his wedding last week, how cool is that for Gilles!

DUMANGIN also makes some special delicatessen products that all contains his champagne,

I love his duck liver with some champagne jelly on top.yummy

I like the inventions that he is making regarding bottles layout,( he do a special series of bottles for the famous Christian Audigier) ice buckets and other promotional things, the new wooden bucket that holds tree special bottles is just great and looks fantastic and I’m looking forward to what this marketing wizard will do in the future.

Go Gilles

This is a Great Pinot

English:

Merrlust is for me more of the other wines like the Rubicon and merlot, not the pinot until now J .

This wine is massive on the nose and expresses layers of fresh red fruit with a deep oaky character; I can just sit and smell this wine forever.

The taste is pure red berries and well structured tannins with minerality, muscular body and very nice acidity, great long aftertaste.

To all of you who can find this wine please do and enjoy or keep in the cellar for another 5-7 years, it will improve beautifully.
Thank you Miguel Chan for introducing this wine to me.

Svenska:

Meerlust historia började 1693 då huset uppfördes på egendomen. Den svala brisen från kalla False Bay som dagligen svalkar, har gett den dess namn. Meerlust betyder ”pleasure of the sea”.1756 kom det i familjen Myburghs ägor och är det än idag.

Få vingårdar kombinerar så storstilat fantastiska viner med ett tjusigt och gästfritt hem och naturligt sköna omgivningar. Atmosfären är avslappnad och nästan poetisk, den inbjuder till att sakta ner och njuta av livet.

Druvorna plockas tidigt på morgonen för att vara svala när de pressas. Vinet har jäst och lagrats på 300 liters franska fat från Bourgogne, (ek från Allier) i 11månader 70% nya och 30% använda för andra gången.

2009 var ännu en suverän årgång för Meerlust och man fick bl a utmärkelsen bästa Pinot Noir i Sydafrika på den tongivande Old Mutual Show.  Chris Williams är en brilliant vinmakare och har lyckats spegla årgången på ett fenomenalt sätt i vinet med en fyllig och komplex stil som vinner på att ligga i något år till.

Spanish Wine Festival

On 30th September and 1st October, the Danish capital was the backdrop to the 3rd edition of ‘Spansk Vinfestival – Vinos auténticos’, an initiative organised by the daily newspaper, Ekstra Bladet, and sponsored by Wines from Spain and the Spanish Foreign Trade Agency Office at the Spanish Embassy in Copenhagen The event was targeted at Danish wine professionals, but also had a special interest in targeting consumers.

Those present —more than 1200 people along the two days— enjoyed a friendly atmosphere in which major Danish Spanish wine importers offered tastings featuring 200 wines from first-class Spanish bodegas from almost every Spanish appellation and protected geographical indication In addition, the event also boasted a Cava Bar and a Sherry Lounge, two specific areas where the characteristics and diversity of both types of wine were showcased.

The programme was rounded off with five masterclasses: two of which were devoted to Cava and were graced with the presence of Joan Amat and Rosó Gabarró (chairman and marketing manager of the Instituto del Cava, respectively), accompanied by speaker Sergi Castro i Solé. Masterclasses were also given on Sherry ‘The New Spain’, and on some of the wines made by Peter Sisseck at the Dominio de Pingus bodega

In an event focusing on premium Spanish wines it is only natural that a taste of Spanish cuisine be included on the programme, and in this case, as might be expected, it was presented in the form of Tapas. The Tango Food Club — owned by Argentinean Gustavo Cordes, with prestigious Catalan chef, Sergi Benages at the helm in the kitchen — was in charge of the Tapas Bar, one of the most popular attractions of the event thanks to a magnificent collection of ‘designer aperitifs’.

To all of which must be added the huge success of the tasting event targeted at the newspaper’s Wine Club members in which around 40 young Danish wine enthusiasts were treated to a wide range of Spanish wines.

Thomas Svensson, the event organiser, acknowledged that at the moment Spanish wines are not as well-known in Denmark as French or Italian wines. However, he is convinced that Spanish wines do have a promising future, and maintains that interest is increasing rapidly thanks to their excellent value for money and the allure of native grape varieties.

The 2012 edition of the ‘Spansk Vinfestival – Vinos auténticos is planned for the 28th and 29th September next year.

Do you know FORVM vinegar?

Then you have to discover the great wines that are the base in this vinegars, today I meet my good friend Albert from the company CELLERS AVGVSTVS . FORVM  located in the town of Tarragona by the east coast of Spain (just south of Barcelona) The wines of this small producer are extremely good and always great value for money with special focus on the chardonnay wine and the super interesting wine made of 100% cabernet franc that will age beautifully for the next 6-7 years.

I love when people know what they are doing and have the greatest passion for the land and the products that they produce, all in all these people are just farmers with a special gift to bless us all with good wines.

The flagship wine is the TRAJANVS reserva made with the blends of 40% Cab S 40% merlot and 20% Cab franc.  The three grape varieties were harvested on the last days of September (Merlot one week before) and they were elaborated separately of the selected grapes from the oldest vines, in the estate “Les Deveses”, just in front of the Mediterranean sea.

The grapes first had a cold maceration during 48 hours and then fermented at 27ºC during 14 days in stainless steel tanks. The intense maceration lasted two more weeks (28 days in total).

In March 2006 the wine was sent to first year oak barrels, where it made the malolactic

fermentation and there it remained until the end of 2007 (21 months total), moving it to different barrels after the first 10 months. In January 2008 the “coupage” was made and got ready for bottling.

 Albert thank you!

Twitter account

Now you can follow me on twitter as a alternative to my blog, same information on both.

regards from the sommeliere

Fine de Cognac & Thé

  
For the end of the year, the cold end of the year, Hennessy teamed up with the tea house maison de Thé Théodor and designer Mathieu Lehanneur for the creation of cocktails Fine de Cognac & Tea – including exclusive accessories for a limited edition.

Hennessy Cognac has developed a new concept around Fine de Cognac and tea, in collaboration with Thé Théodor and Mathieu Lehanneur.

The concept comes with four seasonal recipes for cocktails. Designer Mathieu Lehanneur created a whole tea set for this limeted edition.

The price of a Hennessy Fine de Cognac with cocktails recepies « Fine de Cognac & Thé » will be at 45 euros, and the carafe decanter limited edition with an infuseur by Mathieu Lehanneur will have a price tag of 250 euros, including a tea infuser.

Fine de Cognac & Tea: A New Limited Edition of Hennessy, Maison de Thé Théodor and Designer Lehanneur

For the end of the year, the cold end of the year, Hennessy teamed up with the tea house maison de Thé Théodor and designer Mathieu Lehanneur for the creation of cocktails Fine de Cognac & Tea – including exclusive accessories for a limited edition.

Fine de Cognac & Thé

Hennessy Cognac has developed a new concept around Fine de Cognac and tea, in collaboration with Thé Théodor and Mathieu Lehanneur. The concept comes with four seasonal recipes for cocktails. Designer Mathieu Lehanneur created a whole tea set for this limited edition, including a tea infuser.

Fine De Cognac & Tea

Illustrations by Filipe Jardim.

The price of a Hennessy Fine de Cognac with cocktails recepies « Fine de Cognac & Thé » will be at 45 euros, and the carafe decanter limited edition with an infuseur by Mathieu Lehanneur will have a price tag of 250 euros.

Tea Decanter and Infuser for Hennessy

HAUT COUTURE THEODOR TEA

There is one tea in the whole world that continue to amaze me for its flavours and highest possible quality and that is THEODOR blended in France by the sheer genius Mr  Guillaume Leleu who started to blend his teas in a historic antique creamery from the 1800 at the place de Trocadero in the heart of Paris in 2002 .

His passion for tea and flawless flavours took him around the world to source the best quality he could find and he blend all the teas by hand in the small village of Bonnieres s/Seine outside Paris with only natural ingredients that are all produced of sustainable methods and ethic ecological raw materials, THEODOR is also the only tea that the whole range is kosher certified to prove the highest standard possible.

Mr Leleu constantly give us surprising flavours like, tomato, bell pepper, lemon, black pepper, cinnamon and so on.
The THEODOR teas can be ordered for the Scandinavian market by Unic Atmosphere www.unictaste.se
My favourite is the J.E. Milky Oolong a black tea from China of highest quality.

Dragan Unic

Чтобы мои русские друзья

Спасибо всем моим русским друзьям, которые следуют моем блоге, я надеюсь, что вы найдете его интересным и полезным.
Пожалуйста, не hezitate связаться со мной, если у вас есть какие-либо вопросы.
наилучшими пожеланиями
Драган

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.

Боллинджер По существу

Чтобы посетить Боллинджера миссии это сам, после месяца работы мне удалось получить время посещения этого великого Marque в шампанском.

Стиль Боллинджера является одним из моих любимых в течение многих лет и было специального лечения, чтобы получить возможность посетить их в качестве VIP-феерия, и меня, и Кристина была поражена от того, насколько руководство трудящимися было за все cuvees и какие усилия они помещают по крайней каждую бутылку.

Что мне нравится в Боллинджера власти в винах, я бы сказал, что они делают большие белые бургундские с лучших и мельчайших пузырьков, его мощный, мужественный, элегантный и чрезвычайно сложные вина всегда готовы к потреблению, ведьма я люблю J

Баррель хранения является одной из рода в шампанское и 3000 + баррелей, где все со штрих-кодом, так что винодел мог прочитать всю историю бочку с сканер, некоторые высокопоставленные Tec в традиционном месте.

Последняя ребенок розовые вина, что Боллинджера был последним принять благодаря тому, что Лилли Боллинджера не нравится идея розового вина, но потребности рынка делают их дважды подумать об этом, и за последние два года в два розлив розовоеСпециальных кюве и Ла-Гранд Année розы.

Наиболее загадочным в этом диапазоне бутылки Vieilles Vignes Francaises! Изготовлен из непривитого виноградные лозы, которые не пострадало от филлоксеры с двумя крошечными участками большой крю из 100% пино нуар в непосредственной близости от дома, и только около 2000 бутылок в год, мистическое, магическое и, вероятно, фантастические, я не попробовать его, к сожалению, бутылки Все, выделяемых на лучших клиентов по всему миру, и если вы можете найти его купить. Цена составляет в среднем 900 €

Диапазон выходит из специальных кюве, La Grande Année, RD (в последнее время изверг), а затем шедевр VVF, самое лучшее, что Боллинджера положить сосредоточиться на меньший портфель и делать лучшее, что виноград может обеспечить.


Боллинджера является торговой маркой для Gutsy шампанского, и я просто люблю его

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

Guy Charlemagne Champagne

Champagne Guy Charlemagne is situated in the heart of the Côte des Blancs, in the small village of Mesnil sur Oger. As father to son winegrowers since 1892, they only harvest and vinify grapes from their own Chardonnay vineyards and produce around 130 000 bottles per year and most part of it is sold outside France.

I fell in love with this champagne house and its wines some years ago after tasting some bottles of the Mesnillesime vintages that I still today hold as one of the best buys when it comes to vintage champagne, I base this on the pure power and great finesse in the wine that I like and appreciate.

All of the wines are well worth the money.

On my recent visit I tasted the whole range of wines with the recently realised 2003 vintage of the wine that Christina refers to as the “kexchoklad label” all Swedes know what that is J

The wines of Guy Charlemagne is a champagne with great muscular presence, wonderful acidity and aging potentials, I try to use this as an reference wine on my tastings with great success, people just love it.

Another cool thing is that you can make your own personal label on the wines, great gift idea don’t you think?