I was excited! Bollinger releases a new cuvée! Must be a Blanc de Noirs I thought! Indeed it was! Indeed it was a tremendously good one too! Kind of a little brother to the rare and precious Vieilles Vignes Françaises! Price wise certainly a small brother even though the quality is of the highest pedigree! Sourced mainly from Grand Cru Verzenay with a dash of Aÿ and Tauxières this pure Pinot Noir is made up of 50 % 2015 with the rest being reserve wines from magnums down to 2009 of which half was vinified in oak. First impression on the nose was Bollinger! There´s certainly a DNA of this house champagnes with powerful pinot dominating, yet I found more chalkiness and minerality that I normally pick up in BdB, however that´s rather the cooler style of Verzenay speaking. Aromatically red berries, plum with some tropical notes I think of as confit d´abricot with roasted hazelnut and the lovely autolytic notes of fresh brioche and French (yes French butter). Powerful palate with an opulent fruitiness, certainly on the darker fruit spectrum with wild raspberry and promiscuous apricot with a nice creaminess and underlying vibrant acidity. I really like the dryness, a dosage of 7 grams balances it nicely as the finish is perfectly dry and nicely biting, long and powerful! Certainly a style for long ageing but I must confess that I could easily drink tons of this already today! I was asked to summarise this in one word and the best creative word I could come up with was powerful-pinot-perfection! #powerfulpinotperfection #puissantpinotperfection #sommelierproblems #anotherharddayatwork #bollinger #bollingervz15 #blancdenoir #champagne #champagnelover #winelover #pinotnoir @champagne_bollinger
No champagne! Having to wear this bloody mask! However, getting to travel for the first time in 4 months ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️#traveller #dreamer #sommelierproblems #airfrance #france #bordeaux #bordeauxmaville #tastedbyandreaslarsson #blindtasted #coronahippie
When a friend helps you with a favour… you have to thank him or sort of bribe him in a way… money? Boring. Lunch with a bottle of Château Latour? Always. Said and done. Aperitif Etienne Calsac Blanc de Blancs Les Rocheforts – pure and vinous grower style with ripe chardonnay, citrus, chalk, hazelnuts, creamy and complex with low but balanced dosage and healthy freshness. When it comes to food, I´ve had the question a thousand times, what would you drink with this wine? The answer is always – with great and complex wines opt for simplicity and avoid complicated flavours, especially in the scorching summer heat simplicity was the keyword. First serving 2014 Pauillac – a lovely summary of what the appellation is about combining a ripe almost Napa-like nose with cassis, dark cherry, aromatic herbs like sage and mint, pure and balanced yet with the structure and length we expect from Latour. Accompanied by Pata Negra from Montarraz and then chicken heart lemongrass skewers (sounds rather exotic but works well I can assure you). The main course is a kind of love affair to me - my dearly beloved chicken, today a French corn fed one I stuffed with truffle under its skin and then brushed it with my butter/Dijon/soy glaze. Served with new potato and ceps cooked in duck fat and fresh summer vegetables with just a light velouté from that lovely chicken juice. This was of course accompanied by the Grand Vin 2006. Decanted two hours before it showed a nice aromatic complexity and layers, very pure and stony with finely tuned oak, fine tobacco, dark chocolate, cassis and dark plum. Once again an impressive palate combining tremendous power and freshness, perfectly ripe and grainy tannin contributing to a fantastic length, all the qualities and complexity expected, a bit young some would say, bloody good anyway, I would say. To finish. A red berry crumble with the best possible essence of the muscat grape - 2011 Vin de Constance #sommelierproblems #homecooking #poulet #patanegra #chateaulatour #pauillac #grandvindechateaulatour #grandvin #vindeconstance #asisomms @chateau__latour @kleinconstantia
When a friend comes for spontaneous lunch... and I don’t yet feel at ease in the kitchen after moving houses... yet I had some tapas prepared so I said let’s make it a simple one, and a Spanish one... said and done first aperitif was an extraordinary rare Fino from Sanchez Romate approximately 60-80 years old, consequently I tasted rather Palo Cortado Muy Viejo than fresh and tangy Fino, lovely nutty, spicy and complex, a very rare treat. Moving from the shady balcony to the sunny one, La Goya XL Manzanilla Pasada went with the jamón, sardinas, tortilla y gazpacho. For main course inside to escape the 30+ degrees a lightly salted cod loin seared in olive oil with chick peas boiled with chorizo and grilled vegetables - a very suitable fish dish for the rich and ample red wines that followed. 2007 Viña Bosconia - benchmark classic style with lovely complexity, charm and character, one sniff and you’re in Rioja, really couldn’t be anything else. 2006 Trasnocho from Rémirez de Ganuza - rich and complex having reached a good level where mature spice is paired with a rigid and savoury dark fruit. Most impressive though the 2015 Muga Selección Especial - an enormous wine being dark fruity, ripe, spicy and meaty, yet with plenty of layers, nuance and finesse, yet incredible power! For my Swedish friends, this can be bought at Systembolaget right now for 299 SEK. A steal just buy it! #lebistrodelarueduvigneron #liljeholmskajen #simplehomecooking #homecomingishomecooking #lacocinaespañola #bodegassanchezromate #fino #macharnudo #bodegasdelgadozuleta #manzanilla #viñabosconia #bodegaslopezdeheredia #bodegasmuga #bodegasremirezdeganuza #riberadelduero #rioja #tempranillo #vinosdeespaña #sommelierproblems #sommlifestyle #sommelierlife #sommelier #winelover #anotherharddayatwork #drinkinmoderation @bodegasmuga @delgadozuleta @remirezdeganuza @lopezdeherediaoficial @sanchezromate
Enjoying some tasting leftovers from Languedoc-Roussillon... 2018 Ventenac Camille - a cooler style where Syrah with Cab and Merlot gives dark digest fruit with a fine herbal spiciness, mild tannin and juicy finish. 2018 La Racine Carrée is powerful Roussillon fruit yet a wine continuing to gain nuance and finesse with much more careful oak treatment. The George Bertrand certainly shows why Corbières-Boutenac is a Cru in its own right, dense and ripe with plenty of layers and a lovely peppery spiciness and serious length. These paired with a spontaneous and simple dinner - dry rubbed and grilled skirt steak, black bean salsa, ripe tomato and red onion plus the must have avocado cream in tortillas. Decadence and simplicity indeed... #lebistrodelarueduvigneron #homecooking #simplecooking #homecomingishomecooking #skirtsteak #tacodinner #sommelierproblems #languedocroussillon #laracinecarree #coteduroussillon #domainedeventenac #domainegeorgesbertrand #gerardbertrand #grenache #syrah #carignan #mourvedre #vieillesvignes #sommlifestyle #asisomms #sommelier #winelover @gerardbertrandwines
Leftover lunch... cod and mussels with white beans cooked with fennel and shellfish broth with some chilli and coriander... sort of Portuguese inspired... I thus looked for an Alvarinho but my cave du jour didn’t boast one... therefore I went for continental rather than Atlantic freshness in the shape of 2018 Nigl Riesling Urgestein... lovely match as the rich, warm and rustic flavours neede the tangy bite from the Riesling displaying line, citrus, lemongrass and pale stone fruit with an adorable freshness, bite and length... now siesta time! #cookingathome #simplehomecooking #homecomingishomecooking #cod #mussels #weingutnigl #kremstal #austrianwine #riesling #rieslinglover #wine #winelover #sommelierproblems #asisomms #sommlifestyle #sommelierlife #drinkinmoderation
Improvised lunch à la maison. Marinated Swedish organic pork neck grilled on a black bean and corn salsa with green pea guacamole. Almost like a taco but without the tortilla! One of the last bottles from a case of 2011 Dürnsteiner Kellerberg Riesling Smaragd whose bold apricot, crushed stones, lemon grass and textural density gave me so much joy over the years 😢. Well nothing lasts forever except memories! #emotional #cookingathome #simplehomecooking #homecomingishomecooking #wachau #vineawachau #austrianwine #riesling #fxpichler #asisomms #sommelierlife #sommlifestyle #winelover
Healthy and tasty lunch à la maison... baked cod loin with confit of fennel and Puy lentils cooked in a shellfish broth. This dish could have been rather adapted for red wine if it weren’t for the shellfish, thus I opted for a white structured like a red and in my cave du jour I found the Clos de l’Oratoire Châteauneuf Blanc 2018. Grenache, Clairette and Roussanne and a splash of Bourbolenc if my memory serves me right. Style wise white Châteauneuf is all over the place and I would put this in the more restrained and fresh part of the segment, yet with plenty of volume and a rounded texture with fine tannin/bitterness that adds lift and bite, crunchy white fleshed fruit with a slight herbal spiciness and intelligent oak underneath, persistent and broad finish - a very nice pairing for my simple home cooking. #cookingathome #simplehomecooking #homecomingishomecooking #zefrenchchef #cod #cabillaud #lentilsdepuy #puylentils #chateauneufdupape #grenacheblanc #clairette #roussanne #bourbolenc #closdeloratoiredespapes @closdeloratoiredespapes #sommelierproblems #sommlifestyle #sommelierlife #asisomms #drinkinmoderation
“What should I do with my Cheval Blanc 1998”? A friend asked… “Drink it” I said… “With what” he said… “If you open it I´ll cook you the bloody best Galician cow you can imagine”. Said and done – great wines should be enjoyed with food rather than just “tasted” with a bunch of nerds. Tonight’s Champagne de soif 2008 Taittinger showing a fine harmony between youth, freshness and an approaching complexity, reminiscent of its big brother. Champagne sérieux 1995 Comtes was nothing less than stunning – profound, nutty and perfectly mature with a lovely pure chalky chardonnay freshness and stupendous length that accompanied by chicken heart and lemon grass skewers. 1988 Cheval Blanc for the starter accompanied by Macaronade à La Tupiña – Lardons, foie gras, cep mushrooms, cream and truffle! Mon dieu what a lovely simple pairing. The 1988 offering a lovely nose, very complete and harmonious with notes of forest floor, black truffle, sweet dark fruit and tobacco, very rounded texture with grainy tannin and plenty of class. 1998 Cheval Blanc - younger and denser with even more depth - very layered, classy and nuanced. Perfect harmony with Grilled Galician cow with spring vegetables and duck fat potatoes. Then 2004 Haven´s Bourriquot a Cheval Blanc inspired blend with 70 % Cab Franc and 30 % Merlot one of my favourite wines from Napa to finish the meat – lush ripe dark fruit with an aromatic spiciness, dense and rounded texture, yet another dimension of ripeness and sweetness. 2003 Léoville-Poyferré has reached a perfect drinkability to me fleshy and meaty dark fruit with lovely cassis perfume and a texture that has opened and rounded considerably. Then a lunch without Burgundy is not a complete lunch, thus the 2004 Vosne 1er Cru Suchots from Sylavin Cathiard was the answer. A criticized vintage that might have been lean and green when young but today lovely harmony, softness and length with a ravishing perfume of sinful raspberries. A lunch wouldn´t be complete without Sauternes right? Thus 2013 Château Coutet – brilliant, fresh, gorgeous honeyed fruit, saffron, black tea and a balanced sweetness to the fresh Swedish strawberries. #sommelierproblems #grandvin
When a spontaneous pizza dinner with the guys turns into vinous decadence. 1996 Dom Pérignon P2 nutty, profound, very Dom. 2013 Ex Voto Hermitage Blanc - textured, bold, broad and long. 2010 Anne Gros Richebourg - super silky, pure, feminine and chiselled just a bit youthful. 1999 Richebourg DRC - earth, truffle, sinful raspberry and extra everything! 1982 Mouton - stylish, complete and close to perfect! 2002 Bond St Eden - harmonious in its dense and rich style starting to get aged complexity. 1983 La Landonne - liquid steak tartare, truffle, spice box and aged power. 1999 La Mouline - flamboyant and perfumed yet youthful taste. 1995 Gruaud Larose - quite lightweight in this lineup but stylish and classic. 2009 Pontet-Canet powerful, classy and elegant. 2001 Latour - another wine close to perfection super refined, super long, super! 1995 Harlan Estate - offering the maturity and complexity the Bond didn’t fully developed, still tremendous power. 2010 Penfold’s Bin 169 gorgeously aromatic, dense and fresh what I love in Coonawarra Cab. 2003 Hommage À Jacques Perrin- dark and brooding Mourvèdre at its best, yet a bit youthful and unfinished. 2018 Klagshamn Textur - a very typical Swedish orange wine made from Solaris (just kidding) good stuff anyway! #domperignon #guigal #domaineannegros #domainedelaromaneeconti #chateaupontetcanet #chateaugruaudlarose #chateaulatour #chateaumoutonrothschild #vingårdeniklagshamn #bondwinery #harlanestate #chateaudebeaucastel #sommelierproblems
After posting mostly my humble home cooking and nice affordable everyday wines recently, I won´t feel ashamed to post the wines from yesterday’s dinner. When a small group of friends decide to dine and drink some serious bottles! A friend with a quite twisted perception of reality considered 2007 Cristal by the magnum to be the “champagne de soif” before we moved on to the “champagne sérieux” which was nothing less that 1990 Krug Clos du Mesnil – nutty, mature, impressively powerful and 1969 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne a very soft mousse but the perfume, nuttiness and maturity paired with a healthy freshness made it a very enjoyable champagne. To summarize the other great wines I try to do it with three words per wine. 2016 Domaine Bouchard Père et Fils Chevalier Montrachet - purity, performance, persistence. 2013 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier Montrachet – volume, substance depth. 2013 Domaine Coche-Dury Corton Charlemagne – out of this f###ng world! 2011 Kongsgaard The Judge – big, bold and proudly Californian. 2001 Laville Haut-Brion en magnum – precision, dimension and breadth. 2017 Screaming Eagle White – impressive, aromatic, balanced. 2017 The Napa Valley Reserve white – vigour, power, finesse. 1998 Domaine Rousseau Chambertin Clos de Bèze – everything you want in a Burgundy, felt more complete than the Richebourg tonight. 1990 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg – perfumed, silky, super elegant my lord. Château Haut-Brion 1945 – a beautiful taste from the past, still with vigour and lovely balance. 1959 Château Cheval Blanc mature sweetness, suppleness and a never ending wealth of delectable scents. 1982 Château Latour – one of the first great wines I ever tasted and it still remains one of the best ever, still performing on the highest level and even though I´d like to refrain from comparing greatness, my impression and emotion from this wine probably made it the wine of the night as everyone tend to ask that! 1988 Château Latour – classy, stylish, charmingly mature. 1989 Pétrus en magnum – bold, impressive, great power with those Valrhona chocolate powder tannin that always impress just like its glorious length. 2011 Screaming Eagle – resident powe
Spontaneous healthy and tasty lunch à la maison! Baked cod on a stew of black beans boiled in a rich shellfish broth with grilled broccoli and hazelnut pesto. A quite nice composition in the end. Paired with 2018 Pouilly-Fumé commune de Tracy from Comte Henry d’Assay that makes some of the brightest wines from the Loire. This example from limestone plus the ripe 2018 vintage offers rather yellow stone fruit and confit de citron with an underlying herbal spiciness, yet with an invigorating freshness and sapidity on the palate with great purity, definition and length. #cookingathome #simplehomecooking #homecomingishomecooking #pouillyfume #comtehenrydassay #sauvignonblanc #terroir #vinsdeloire #gastronomie #dejeunersain #sommelierproblems #sommelierlife #sommlifestyle #asisomms #wine #winelover #zefrenchchef #terroirgrondal #lebistrodelarueduvigneron #drinkinmoderation
Today’s plat du jour at Terroir Gröndal. A juicy piece of fresh tuna crusted with Szechuan pepper and grilled until rare served with a Caesar salad with grilled peach! Extraordinarily simple, healthy and tasty. Accompanied by a smashing Grüner, the 2014 Ried Lamm from Schloss Gobelsburg. Fresh peach, sweet citrus, lemongrass, pepper and fragrant herbs lead to a classically bold structure that is supported by a fine bitterness, grapefruit zest kind of notes with a remarkable freshness that stood out in 2014. A nice pairing and decent quick fix for lunch à la maison... #cookingathome #simplehomecooking #homecomingishomecooking @winery.schlossgobelsburg #schlossgobelsburg #riedlamm #grunerveltliner #kamptal #austrianwine #winesofaustria #sommelierproblems #sommlife #sommelierlifestyle #asisomms #wine #winelover #drinkinmoderation
WTF happened??? Healthy Monday lunch! Nice leftovers from yesterday’s roasted chicken - a lovely broth cooked for hours with fragrant herbs and spices. Served with seaweed, chilli flakes, organic egg, chicken meat, scallion, coriander and broccoli with Soba noodles. Quenched down with Jasmin tea. I promise to drink a decent glass of wine tonight! #simplehomecooking #cookingathome #asianfood #noodlesoup #sommelierproblems #terroirgrondal #wtfhappened
Another lunch à la maison... the 2013 Roederer Rosé is a very complete wine, seductive, creamy, pure and vital with gorgeous raspberry and confit de citron. A seared Norwegian Scallop with German asparagus and a buttered shellfish broth with healthy amounts of Carelian Caviar was paired with two high pedigree chardonnays - 2016 La Rinconada from Tyler a very shining cool Californian with all of the attributes we expect with both ripeness, freshness devoid of any sweetness. 2017 Corton-Charlemagne from Domaine des Croix is another very complete wine, nicely firm, grippy and voluminous with seductive toast, chalk and French butter. A grilled Iberico Pork served in all simplicity with duck fat potatoes, mushroom me and broccoli, herb butter and barbecue ketchup paired with 2014 Le Tertre-Roteboeuf - this wine is such a Sex bomb and despite its youth it just bursted with its opulent fruit, fine perfume and dense silky texture. 2016 Dalla Valle is not only my favourite Californian wine but one of my favourite wines brilliantly demonstrating how power and ripeness can combine with freshness and elegance, yes elegance the word that summarises it best. #cookingathome #simplehomecooking #homecomingishomecooking #zefrenchchef #scallops #asparagus #careliancaviar #ibericopork #louisroederer #domainedescroix #cortoncharlemagne #tylervineyards #staritahills #letertreroteboeuf #saintemilion #grandvin #dallavallevineyards #napavalley #asisomms #sommelierproblems #sommlifestyle #sommelierlife #drinkinmoderation @steneby_yes @dallavallevineyards @louisroederer_
Simple lunch à la Maison... deboned chicken leg marinated in sweet soy, ginger, garlic and gochujang simply stir fried with broccoli, red pepper and portobello mushrooms with some scallion and coriander. Simplicity indeed. Paired with an absolutely smashing Riesling! The Wachau has the stars, the Kamptal boasts the big producers, yet the Kremstal has so many great wines to offer. I would certainly name Nigl one of, if not, the best! This 2018 Urgestein is a generic bottling from the stony terraces, yet it offers all of the qualities we expect from a great Riesling - stony and flinty with lovely purity, pale stone fruit, invigorating freshness with lovely extract and bite. A given favourite to these intense and rich Asian flavours.
#simplehomecooking #cookingathome #homecomingishomecooking #asiancooking #weingutnigl #kremstal #riesling #urgestein #terroir #winesfromaustria #sommelierproblems #sommlife #sommlifestyle #sommelier #winelover #terroirgröndal #drinkinmoderation
When did you have calf’s liver last time? Probably not yesterday! I found a nice piece at my local market, roughly 2 EUR for 400 grams, thus understandable that this was “working class food”. A take on the classic Calf’s liver Anglais. Crisp bacon, browned onion, capers and a coarse mustard gravy from deglazing the pan with some white wine. Not a lot of colour but unlike my brother @fredagskocken with his colourful vegetarian Mondays 🤣 I’m more of a nerd ditto wine drinker. Speaking of wine - 2017 Syrah de Rosette from Benoît Rouseau offers a tremendous drinking experience at a modest price. My definition of good northern Rhône was always “a liquid steak tartare” and we do find all of these qualities in this young but utterly tempting example - raw meat, blood, blackberries, tapenade, fresh pepper and attractive floral violet notes with a polished, fresh and digest palate. Another simple spontaneous lunch à la maison... #homecomingishomecooking #simplecooking #simplehomecooking #husmanskost #calfsliver #domainebenoitroseau #benoitroseau #ardeche #syrah #terroir #sommelier #sommelierproblems #sommelierlife #sommlifestyle #anotherharddayatwork #asisomms #drinkinmoderation
Simple Home cooking again... when I started in the restaurant business in the 80:s, one of the really hot dishes was seared salmon on a bed of creamed leek! Understandable as it is still a bloody tasty dish, very simple, paired with 2015 Domaine Guy Bocard Meursault Limozin. A traditional style being ample, round and textured, yet with a good bite of freshness underneath, particularly for the 2015 vintage which is the current release... another hard day at work! #terroirgrondal #simplehomecooking #cookingathome #homecomingishomecooking #husmanskost #meursault #bourgogne #chardonnay #domaineguybocard #wine #winelover #sommelier #sommelierlife #sommlifestyle #asisomms #drinkinmoderation
THE SHRIMP SANDWICH FROM HELL! Danish rye bread with a crème Fraiche, horseradish, dill, boiled organic egg, German asparagus and hand peeled Norwegian shrimps... an eternal childhood favourite in a slightly pimped up version. Served with a tremendous Riesling that has become one of my staples this sunny spring - 2019 Jurtschitsch Langenlois Riesling from Kamptal. For a mere 149 SEK in Sweden it offers everything I love in this variety- stony, flinty, utterly pure and floral with layers of yellow fruit a rather full yet razor sharp palate with great length... another spontaneous home cooked lunch in all simplicity! #simplehomecooking #homecomingishomecooking #husmanskost #räksmörgås #asparagus #jurtschitsch #langenlois #kamptal #riesling #winesfromaustria #austrianwine #winelover #sommelier #sommelierproblems #asisomms #sommlifestyle #sommelierlife #drinkinmoderation
Corona distance tasting table! #sommelierproblems #vinkällarengrappe #winetasting