Wine Freedom - Vinfrihet

If I had an öre for every time I was asked for my favourite wine I would be trading in my 6 year old Hond CRV (which we love) for a new model, so to save you from the grimace I usually give at this question, here is a list of some of my favourite wines (which by absolutely no coincidence at all are available through our wine clubs in some shipments which just arrived). You can accuse me of blatant commercialism and spruking my wines but if you don’t want to know, don’t ask me the question!

My favourite winemaker is Sandro Mosele from Mornington Peninsula, VIC, Australia. It is not just that we share the admirable traits of being control freak perfectionists or that I have a secret wish that I was born Italian (rather than half French), but his wines manage to match elegance, finess and strong character together. We currently have a range of his wines from both Kooyong Estate and Port Phillip Estate that when I was recently in Australia every wine store I walked into raved about the wines and seemed to know Sandro personally!

Kooyong Estate Chardonnay

Kooyong Estate Pinot Noir

Port Phillip Estate Salasso Rose

Port Phillip Estate Shiraz

Clonale Chardonnay

Masale Pinot Noir

I could actually live an entire summer just on wines made by Sandro and not even care if it rained! Ok, slight exaggeration, I would miss these other few wines needed to make my summer memorable despite the weather:

Per Diem viognier : if this was the only per diem I received each day I could survive two rainy midsummers in a row!

Flinders Bay Shiraz: this wine was our first best seller in 2005 (won the award for best red wine under 250kr that year)!

Fire Block shiraz and grenache: big and bold like a rappers mothers. Our current best selling wines

A sauvignon blanc or a semillion sauvignon blanc are definitive summer wines for me (and most Australians). To welcome the new New Zealand ambassador to Sweden I include what is without doubt the best NZ SB, Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc, what Cloudy Bay used to be.

Enough of the Aussie wines, these great value Italians from Sicily (drink these before reading Gommorah) are a range of wines we are really proud of. Our Italian agent, the wonderful Janet Lansill worked for years to find a modern reliable producer on this volanic island and produced the Baru series which includes nero d’avola, syrah, greciano (white) and grillo (white), the last one being a very versatile wine which has good fruit sweetness that goes well with many spicier and tastier foods. At under 115kr each they are great value too.

This 99kr rose is another Janet Lansill special from Italy and if you are looking for lolly water with pink colour and some long lasting sugar, then this wine is definitely not for you. It has good fruit, balance sweetness and while sliding down the throat easily it is definitely made by a winemaker rather than a moonlighting Fanta bottler. Ancora Pinot Grigio Rosé

To end on a bubbly note (no summer is complete without the cheap thrill of naturally carbonated grape juice!) I am stocked up on the Prosecco Vetriano

119kr which is no cheap disgusting Prosecco (the monopoly has a monopoly on those) but a reasonable substitute for champagne with a dashing Italian flair. Last but not least, this is a wine I serve every summer but rarely in a glass. The Nova Moscato is an 89kr green delight that you will either hide from your guests in embarrassment or save it as a candle holder. So how do I serve it then? A bowl of ripe Swedish strawberries with a glass of Nova Moscato poured over the top is a dessert and dessert wine all in one. At 89kr we expect it to sell out fast as it has a cult following that we both like and fear at the same time!

I hope these list of my favourite wines for the summer help narrow the choice for you and disuade many members from asking me the question in person!

Let me know what you think about the wines!

Cheers

Mark

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Few things in the Swedish year excite such passion and excitement as the vote to elect EU members of parliament. Ok, I exaggerate, just slightly. Rephrase. So few people in Sweden (and the rest of Europe) care about who will represent them in the EU that the election campaign is about as exciting as a wine sale at Systembolaget!

To assume the lack of public interest equates to the unimportance of who represents Sweden in the EU is wrong. We need strong representation at the EU level to not only represent Swedish interests but also to counter the government if they act against the interests of its citizens or the EU for narrow minded ideological reasons. Which it does regularly!

What we need then is a way to encourage more people to vote on June 7. Australians often have a BBQ party with a lot of beer, meat and seafood to celebrate the booting out of the “bastards” (all politicians are bastards in Australia) and anyway, any reason is a good reason for a barbie right?

A smart political party should sponsor street parties around the country – get out and vote, come home and meet your neighbours whom you last spoke to in 1987 and share a few beers (or glasses of wine). Here are some suggestions what each party could send to the post-voting parties:

Folkpartiet: folk beer (light beer),

Left Party: home distilled vodka

Social Democrats: easy drinking socialist bag in box with a smiling Mona Sahlin on the side

Moderates: not too sure what to send to the party (the Prime Minister does not drink) but could take the safe route and offer GM free organic Swedish made sausages (not pork so as not to exclude Hallal follower voters) with a vegetarian soy option for vegetarians and Jews.

Centre Party: no budget for this campaign so Health Minister Maria Larsson can accompany the police doing alcohol tests on drivers leaving the parties.

Christian Democrats: the election is on Sunday so no time for parties before church.

My own advice on what to drink is something sweet, light, easy to swallow, has more fruit than character and most of all has a good looking bottle – just like many of the candidates!

Cheers

Mark

p.s. if you are eligible to vote, do your research and vote for a specific candidate, not just tick the party list. There are some serious candidates who deserve support and are not party lap dogs.

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Old fashioned discretion prevents me from divulging too many details of the weekend but since only my closest friends read this bog I can at least disclose that it has been an eventful weekend revolving around good food, great friends and the right wines to match with both! Friday night’s wine was Italian and friends Swedish/American, a good combination. Saturday night saw 10 of us gather to share some exquisite bottles from our own cellars. I was proud of the rare Australian pinot noir, Bass Phillip 2002 that almost stole the show. One of the most eventful parts of the weekend occured on the way into the Saturday night dinner when I was reminded what a rare quality discretion has become.

Sitting on the Pendeltåg commuter train in a fairly full carriage was a mid-teens girl (15-16 years old) talking at the top of her voice about last night sleeping over at her boyfriend’s home and some details about it that no one else on the train needed or wanted to hear (but obviously all her friends did). The first phone call was embarrassing, the second excruciating and by the third phone call if we had not all been squirming under our seats her mobile phone would have ended up under a heavy boot (and it is only a 12 minute train ride!). Without making any moral judgement on this young woman, somewhere in her upbringing she confused Big Brother for Big Mother and missed a few lessons in discretion and dignity.

So don’t ask me who I dined with and which wine did take the honours on Saturday night as discretion, they say, is the best part of valour!

Cheers

Mark

p.s. our web survey has attracted thousands of respondents so if you have not yet participated please do before it closes, see below!

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