The wine of the month
During the first fourteen days of each month, NJ Wines presents the wine of the month.. NJ Wines tastes hundreds of wines every month and among them, the wine of the month is chosen. The criteria that a wine will qualify as the wine of the month is that it has got at least 3,5 NJP in rating and that it stands out both by its quality and its aroma/flavour complexity. The wine shall also be available on the wine market.
October 2022: Faustino I, Gran Reserva, 2011 (18 EUR/18 USD in Sweden) red dry wine, Rioja, Spain, 3,5 NJP of 5,0 NJP (85 points of 100 points) (31-10-2022 by Nenad Jelisic)
This vintage has better flavour richness, aroma richness, tannin structure and acidity than the previous vintage, 2010, which got 3,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (80 points of 100 points). The aroma is concentrated, spicy and deep with distinct vanilla, cardamom, sweet tobacco, as in exclusive Cuban cigars, dates, coconut, black cherry jam, ... Read more
News and more about wine
NEW WINES IN REGULAR ASSORTMENT JUNE 2022 (03-09-2022 by Nenad Jelisic)
NJ Wines has tasted all Systembolaget's new wines in regular assortment June 2022. The wines got the following points (Note that the wines are arranged in alphabetical order, that the wines that have got more than 3,0 NJP, if any, are presented or will be presented under "Make sure to try these wines, wines that have got at least 3,5 NJP of possible 5,0 NJP", that NV = non-vintage wine, that Systembolaget = a government owned chain of all liquor stores in Sweden and that NJ Wines does not taste wines from Boxes, Paper-packaging and PET-bottles because NJ Wines believes that these types of packaging destroy the wonderful wine culture. The Boxes also make people drink much more than they should.):
1. Andrew Murray Vineyards, Syrah, Tous les Jours, 2020 (18 EUR/18 USD in Sweden), red dry wine, USA, 1,5 NJP, 2. Buttery Barrel, Chardonnay, 2020 (11 EUR/12 USD in Sweden), white semi-dry wine, USA, 0,0 NJP, 3. Casa Américo, Jaen, 2020 (14 EUR/14 USD in Sweden), red dry wine, Portugal, 0,5 NJP, 4. Casa Clara, Capela, 2020 (8 EUR/8 USD in Sweden), white dry blend wine, Portugal, 0,5 NJP, 5. Casa Velha, White, 2020 (9 EUR/9 USD in Sweden), white dry blend wine, Portugal, 1,0 NJP, 6. Coca i Fitó, Natura, 2021 (12 EUR/13 USD in Sweden), red dry blend wine, Spain, 2,5 NJP, 7. Darling, Carignan Red Blend, 2020 (9 EUR/9 USD in Sweden), red dry blend wine, Chile, 0,5 NJP, 8. Ed Knows, Rosé, 2021 (7 EUR/7 USD in Sweden), rosé dry blend wine, Moldavia, 0,0 NJP, 9. Fruitière Vinicole D’Arbois, Crémant du Jura, Brut (14 EUR/14 USD in Sweden), white dry blend sparkling wine, France, 0,5 NJP, 10. Fruitière Vinicole d' Arbois, Love Chardonnay, Reserve, 2019 (18 EUR/18 USD in Sweden), white dry wine, France, 1,5 NJP.
NEW WINES IN REGULAR ASSORTMENT MARCH 2022 (26-04-2022 by Nenad Jelisic)
NJ Wines has tasted all Systembolaget's new wines in regular assortment March 2022. The wines got the following points (Note that the wines are arranged in alphabetical order, that the wines that have got more than 3,0 NJP, if any, are presented or will be presented under "Make sure to try these wines, wines that have got at least 3,5 NJP of possible 5,0 NJP", that NV = non-vintage wine, that Systembolaget = a government owned chain of all liquor stores in Sweden and that NJ Wines does not taste wines from Boxes, Paper-packaging and PET-bottles because NJ Wines believes that these types of packaging destroy the wonderful wine culture. The Boxes also make people drink much more than they should.):
1. Bacio della luna, Prosecco, Rosé, NV (10 EUR/10 USD in Sweden), rosé semi-dry blend sparkling wine, Italy, 0,0 NJP, 2. Carpinus, Tokaj Dry, 2020 (13 EUR/15 USD in Sweden), white semi-dry blend wine, Hungary, 0,5 NJP, 3. Champagne, Charles Ellner, Grande Réserve, 2015 (27 EUR/29 USD in Sweden), white dry blend sparkling wine, France, 1,5 NJP, 4. Château Bastor-Lamontagne, Organic, 2016 (16 EUR/18 USD in Sweden; 375 ml), white sweet wine, France, 1,0 NJP, 5. Château Saint-Sernin, 2019 (9 EUR/9 USD in Sweden), red dry wine, France, 1,0 NJP, 6. Clay Creek Vineyards, Zinfandel, 2020 (12 EUR/13 USD in Sweden), red dry wine, USA, 0,5 NJP, 7. Crios, Rosé of Malbec, 2021 (10 EUR/10 USD in Sweden), rosé dry wine, Argentina, 0,5 NJP, 8. Diora, La Splendeur du Soleil, Chardonnay, 2019 (17 EUR/19 USD in Sweden), white dry wine, USA, 4,0 NJP, 9. Dr Bürklin-Wolf, Weissburgunder, Trocken, 2021 (14 EUR/16 USD in Sweden), white semi-dry wine, Germany, 1,5 NJP, 10. Earth Garden, Sauvignon Blanc, 2021 (12 EUR/13 USD in Sweden), white dry wine, Nya Zealand, 0,5 NJP.
NEW WINES IN TEMPORARY ASSORTMENT THAT WERE TASTED DURING DECMBER 2021 (24-01-2022 by Nenad Jelisic)
The tasted Systembolaget's new wines in Temporary Assortment, which were tasted during December 2021, got the following points (Note that the wines are arranged in alphabetical order, the wines that have got more than 3,0 NJP, if any, will be presented under "Make sure to try these wines, wines that have got at least 3,5 NJP of possible 5,0 NJP", NV = non-vintage wine, Systembolaget = a government owned chain of all liquor stores in Sweden and NJ Wines does not taste wines from Boxes, Paper-packaging and PET-bottles because NJ Wines believes that these types of packaging destroy the wonderful wine culture. The Boxes also make people drink much more than they should.):
1. Altare, Dogliani, Altare di Altare Nicholas, 2020 (17 EUR/19 USD in Sweden) red dry wine, Italy, 0,5 NJP, 2. Altare, Nebbiolo, 2019 (22 EUR/25 USD in Sweden) red dry wine, Italy, 0,5 NJP, 3. Château Chasse-Spleen, 2015 (25 EUR/28 USD in Sweden; 375 ml) red dry blend wine, France, 3,0 NJP, 4. Château Haut-Bages-Libéral, 2009 (83 EUR/94 USD in Sweden) red dry blend wine, France, 2,0 NJP, 5. Château Haut-Bages-Libéral, 2016 (62 EUR/72 USD in Sweden) red dry blend wine, France, 1,0 NJP, 6. Château Léoville Poyferré, 2012 (93 EUR/106 USD in Sweden) red dry blend wine, France, 4,0 NJP, 7. Château Potensac, 2015 (22 EUR/24 USD in Sweden; 375 ml) red dry blend wine, France, 2,5 NJP, 8. Fattoria Moretto, Canova, Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvreto, NV (13 EUR/15 USD) red dry sparkling wine, Italy, 1,0 NJP, 9. Fèlsina, Vin Santo del Chianti Classico, 2009 (27 EUR/30 USD in Sweden; 375 ml) white sweet blend wine, Italy, 2,5 NJP, 10. Hey Malbec, 2020 (14 EUR/17 USD in Sweden) red dry wine, Argentina, 0,0 NJP.
Make sure to try these wines, wines that have got at least 3,5 NJP of possible 5,0 NJP
Samos, Vin Doux, 2021 (7 EUR/7 USD in Sweden; 375 ml), white sweet wine, Samos, Aegean Islands, Greece, 4,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (90 points of 100 points) (11-09-2022 by Nenad Jelisic)
This is the best sweet wine that NJ Wines has so far tasted from Greece. Explosive fruity aroma filled with dried apricots, honey, raisins, vanilla, ripe yellow fruits and white flowers. Big, sweet, fruity and complex flavour filled with dried apricots, honey, raisins, vanilla, ripe yellow fruits, ripe melon and white flowers. Samos Vin Doux ... Read more
Viña Arana, Gran Reserva, 2015 (28 EUR/29 USD in Sweden), red dry blend wine, Rioja, Spain, 4,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (90 points of 100 points) (26-06-2022 by Nenad Jelisic)
This is one of the best Rioja-wines in a long time. Its aroma is wonderful and both complex and sweet spicy. Its flavour is slightly less complex and sweet spicy, but still wonderful. The aroma is characterized by dark cherries, cocoa, blue plums, vanilla, dill, blackberries, blueberries, cinnamon, tobacco, cedar and caramel. While the flavour is, ... Read more
Les Hauts de Granget, 2016 (18 EUR/19 USD in Sweden), red dry blend wine, Saint-Émilion, Libournais, Bordeaux, France, 3,5 NJP of 5,0 NJP (85 points of 100 points) (17-05-2022 by Nenad Jelisic)
NJ Wines does not usually write about the value for money of the wines, but in the case of this wine we have to. To get such a good wine from Saint-Émilion Grand Cru for 189 SEK is absolutely incredible. Bravo Systembolaget, Wine Affair Scandinavia and Union de Producteurs de Saint-Emilion! It is austere and nuanced. ... Read more
The world's restaurants
Here presents the restaurants that is considered to be the world's best restaurants. The restaurants, which NJ Wines has visited, tried their food and wine as well as rated food’s quality, food's taste, how the food is presented and looks, wine selection, decor, atmosphere, service and cleanliness. (NJP = Nenad Jelisic Points)
Note that due to the Corona Pandemic, NJ Wines has not had opportunity to visit and rate any restaurant since March 2020. Note again that a new article is coming soon.
Ekstedt, Stockholm, Sweden, 2,5 NJP of 5,0 NJP (17-10-2020 by Nenad Jelisic)
Restaurant Ekstedt was the fourth restaurant in a row in Stockholm that NJ Wines visited and rated. Restaurant Ekstedt is owned by one of Sweden's most successful and influential chefs, Niklas Ekstedt, who became known through the cooking program Niklas Food on Swedish Television in 2005. After internships at several very famous chefs such as Charlie Trotter, Heston Blumenthal and Ferran Adrià, Niklas started in 2000, only 21 years old, his first restaurant, restaurant Niklas in Helsingborg in Sweden. From 2003, he also ran the restaurant Niklas Viken in the coastal community Viken north of Helsingborg. In 2007, Niklas opened the restaurant 1900 in Stockholm and with the move, the restaurants in Skåne were closed. In 2011, he opened the restaurant Ekstedt, which got a star in the prestigious Michelin guide in 2013 and has been retained it since then. A few years later, the restaurant 1900 was changed its name to Restaurant Niklas and then it was closed in 2017 when Niklas decided that he had to focus on his new restaurant (wine café) Tyge & Sessil and the restaurant Ekstedt. Since the beginning of 2018, Niklas owns restaurant Hillenberg in Stockholm. During 2018, Niklas was part of the cooking program "Four Hands Menu" and "New Scandinavian Cooking". He has also published seven cookbooks: Niklas cookbook (2004), Niklas in the middle of the week (2006), Niklas tastes (2008), Niklas Home cooked Swedish food (2011), Grill with Niklas (2013), Ekstedt over open fire: recipe for the analog kitchen (2017) and Niklas Christmas (2018). In addition to these seven cookbooks, he managed to write three more cookbooks with Henrik Ennart: Happy food: About how food and happiness are connected (2017), The blue food (2018) and Happy food 2.0: About how the meal and happiness go together (2018 ) and a cookbook together with Christian Daun: My child eats everything (2017). Niklas really has to like his profession a lot otherwise he would never succeed to do all this in just 41 years.
The Veranda, Grand Hôtel, Stockholm, Sweden, 4,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (23-11-2019 by Nenad Jelisic)
There are not so many restaurants in the world that are located in a capital city and have such a fabulous view as this restaurant and the restaurant's big brother the Cadier Bar, which is on the opposite side of it. The view of the Royal Palace, the Old Town and the boats on Stockholm's current. Both restaurants are located in Sweden's most exclusive and very beautiful Grand Hôtel in Stockholm. While the Cadier Bar, which is named after Régis Cadier (French chef and hotel founder), is a restaurant where one comes mainly to be seen, and drink champagne, cocktail or beer, The Veranda is a restaurant where you come to eat good food and drink good wines. In the Cadier Bar, one can also order good food, the food comes from the same kitchen that makes food for the Veranda. During all years, which I have been visited the Cadier Bar, it has seemed that the visitors of the Cadier Bar are there to drink something or to take something that fits well with champagne or coffee. In addition to these two restaurants, the hotel has two restaurants of renowned Swedish chef Mathias Dahlgren: Matbaren (see my article from 05-11-2017) and Rutabaga.
The Flying Elk, Stockholm, Sweden, 2,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (18-08-2019 by Nenad Jelisic)
A new Stockholm-restaurant-disappointment again, but it is not as big as the one with the Matbaren, Mathias Dahlgren at the Grand Hôtel, which got 1,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP on my last visit, the third visit. I think that the problem with The Flying Elk's low rating lies in the fact that Björn Frantzén's small restaurant empire has become too big too quickly. So fast big that Björn has transferred control and management of his new restaurants to significantly less talented part-owners/managers. Then, their poor management and control has led to that cooks, sommeliers and waiters have stopped caring or that they had employed the cooks, the sommeliers and the waiters who would absolutely not be employed. I assert this because Björn Frantzén, one of Scandinavia's absolute best chefs, would never allow that the food, the wines and the service would end up on this level, 2,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP. It is a pity that it is so as I wrote because Björn is really passionate about food and cooking and it proves his relatively short and very successful chef-history. Björn took his first steps as a cook through the practice at the restaurant Edsbacka krog (Edsbacka Wärdshus) in Sollentuna, Sweden. Then he worked among others at the restaurant Chez Nico (Nico Ladenis, London, UK, three Michelin stars) and the restaurant Arpege (Alain Passard, Paris, France, three Michelin stars). In 2008, together with pastry chef Daniel Lindeberg, he opened the restaurant Frantzén/Lindeberg in Stockholm. The following year, the restaurant got its first Michelin star and two years later it got its two Michelin stars. In 2013, Björn and Daniel went separate ways and the restaurant was renamed to Frantzén. In 2018, the Frantzén became Sweden's first restaurant to be awarded three stars in Guide Michelin. In 2019, Guide Michelin confirmed the restaurant's three star status. Today, besides The Flying Elk and Frantzén, Björn also runs Catering Frantzén, Studio Frantzén, Corner Club and Gaston vin. In addition to all this, Björn has managed to write a book together with Daniel Lindeberg, see above, (Frantzén/Lindeberg, 2012) and a book together with Göran Lager (The Flying Elk, 2016) and two own books (Glow with Björn Frantzén, 2014 and Björn Frantzén prepares food for peckish diabetics and other people, 2017). To achieve all this and be 42 years old is absolutely incredible.
All you need to know about Ribera del Duero (20-11-2022 by Nenad Jelisic)
Here we will present text excerpts from NJ Wines' extensive wine dictionary. The text excerpts will be changed one to four times a month. You can read about other exciting wines, appellations, wine districts, wine regions, etc. by clicking above on the "Wine glossary and wine facts".
Ribera del Duero, a Spanish DO-classified wine region, which belongs to the geographical area of Castile y León. Ribera del Duero stretches along the Duero river and its vineyards are at an altitude of 750 to 850 m above sea level. The best vineyard locations lie around the cities of Valladolid and Roa. The region has both continental and Mediterranean climate. The summers are warm (40°C) while the winters are cold (min -20°C). On average it rains 400 to 600 mm per year (comparatively it rains are 600 to 700 mm per year in Sweden) and the number of hours of sunshine per year is 2,400 (1,500 to 1,600 in Sweden). The region is characterized by that the temperature difference between day and night can be greater than 20°C and that the maximum 138 days per year are frost-free. Ribera del Duero has 21,381 ha planted with grapes and it produces about 675,000 hl per year. The planting density is the maximum 4,000 vines per hectare, the allowed yield is 49 hl/ha, while the average yield is 32 hl/ha. There are the following quality designations in Ribera del Duero that regulates the maturation time: Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva. Crianza, the wine must be aged for at least 1 year in oak barrels. Reserva, the wine must be aged for at least 3 years, of which at least 12 months in oak barrels, and at least 24 months in oak barrels or bottle. Gran Reserva, the wine must be aged at least 5 years, of which at least 24 months in oak barrels and at least 36 months in bottle. The traditionally produced wines are usually aged in American oak barrels, while the modern produced wines are usually aged in French oak barrels. The world famous Vega Sicilia winery, which has proven that it is possible to make the magnificent wines of Tempranillo, lies in the region.
Ribera del Duero grapes, totally dominated by Tempranillo 85% (also called Tinta del País or Tinto Fino), followed by Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec and Garnacha (green grape) Albillo.
Ribera del Duero soils, dominated by silty and clayey sand with layers of limestone and marl (clayey soil that contains a lot of lime) and chalk outcrops of gypsum.
Ribera del Duero the best vintages, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2016 and 2018.
Ribera del Duero wines compared to Rioja wines, independent of that the wines come from the same grape (Tempranillo) and are aged approximately the same way, the wines of Ribera del Duero are characterized by their freshness, acidity and clear fruitiness while the wines of Rioja are characterized by their vanilla, strawberry and dill character.
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