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Wine review: Hewitson Baby Bush Mourvèdre 2011

16 12 2013

Baby Bush vines are thrived in the cool vintage of 2011 that saw a slow and even ripening period. The later maturing nature of Mourvèdre grapes meant ripening occurred in sunny and warm conditions compared to the cool and rain of earlier in the vintage.
After hand picking and fermentation on skins, the wine completed its maturation for 16 months in the very same barrels used, when new, for Old Garden Mourvèdre. During this period the barrels experienced batonnage, where wine was mixed the fermentation lees with the new wine by rotating barrels on little wheels built into the racks.

As title tells, Hewitson Baby Bush is made 100% from Mourvèdre grape. Mourvèdre is not so common grape, at least for me, which made the tasting really fascinating.

THE LOOK

Typical Hewitson label, white background and certain color of letters.

Wine itself is ruby red, some brownish although vintage is quite young 2011.

THE NOSE

Depending on glass, even liquorice-chocolate, but blackberry and boysen berry raised from both glasses. As wine is almost as strong as Amarones’s aroma of alcohol felt more strongly in bigger glass.

THE TASTE

Full-bodied a little bit spicy but tender taste. When wine opens up, flavor becomes even better.

Facts and figures:

Alcohol:	14,50 %
Extract:	29 g/l
Acidity:	4,6 g/l
Energy:	90 kcal / 100 ml (370 kJ / 100 ml)
Closure:	metal screw cap

Wine is excellent, well balanced and tannins do not interfere too much. Suits perfeclty with red meats but also with spicy foods as it has some character. I would not forget it either on cold winter days although we have not seen them yet in Helsinki.

REVIEW: OVERALL GRADE 4+/5 – BANG FOR THE BUCK +++ /+++

http://www.hewitson.com.au/page.php?section=791&mId=1511&catid=779

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Tags: Australian wine, Hewitson Baby Bush Mourvèdre 2011, Hewitson wines, red wine, Wine review
Categories : Fine Dining at Home, Food, Helsinki, Wine, Wine review

Wine review: Best mulled wines

13 12 2013

First two important questions: Is mulled wine a wine at all? Are mulled wines available in your country or is there some other Christmas drink more popular?

Mulled wines (Glögi or Hehkuviini in Finnish) are really popular in Finland during Christmas time. They can be purchased at Alko’s already at the end of October. As the assortment of mulled wines is quite wide it is important to select right ones. Many of the mulled wines at Alko are too sweet, too strong or strangely flavored. Once we had to pour present down the drain because it was so awful.

So, we have picked two best mulled wines available at Alko: Perinteinen Punaviiniglögi and Hehkuviini.

What is odd that both come from Denmark, which seems to be THE country of mulled wines, if conclusion is based on Alko selection. So, most of the mulled wines are not made in Finland. As a matter in fact, most of them are imported or specially manufactured for Alko and bottled in Finland. This was actually new information for me, without writing this post I would not have paid any attention.

THE LOOK

The labels of both bottles look similar, same red ground and golden decorations.

Hehkuviini is a little bit darker red than Perinteinen Punaviiniglögi. However, the difference of the look of mulled wines is usually negligible.

THE NOSE

The aroma of Perinteinen Punaviiniglögi is softer due to amount of less alcohol. Clove dominates but not disturbingly. Hehkuviini smells like raisin and Christmas spices but alcohol tries to come up. The scent of both wines is christmassy which is most important savor of mulled wines.

THE TASTE

You can find cardamon form Perinteinen Punaviiniglögi. Taste is well balanced and spices are in harmony. In Hehkuviini mostly you can taste almond and gingerbread. As it has more alcohol that can also be noticed.

Facts and figures:

	Perinteinen	Hehkuviini**
	Punaviinigögi*
Alcohol:	13,00 %	22.00 %
Extract:	130 g/l	175 g/l
Acidity:	5 g/l	5.1 g/l
Sugar:	110 g/l	150 g/l
Energy:	130 kcal / 100 ml (520 kJ / 100 ml)	190 kcal / 100 ml (800 kJ / 100 ml)
Closure:	metal screw cap	metal screw cap

Mulled wines are part of Christmas time, at least in Finland. It is a pity that Alko does not provide wider selection of Gluhweins, only one choice available which is one of the worst ever tasted. Gluhweins are quite close to mulled wines, but not so sweet.

One option is to buy mulled wines from super markets but then you also to need to know which ones to pick. Most of them are actually juices. Good choice is Blossa Lingon which is almost non-alcoholic and therefore suits for drivers also.

REVIEWS: OVERALL GRADES 5/5* AND 4/5** – BANG FOR THE BUCK +++/+++* AND ++/+++**

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Tags: Alko, Blossa, Finland, Glögi, Gluhwine, Hehkuviini, Mulled wine, Perinteinen Punaviiniglögi, Wine, Wine review
Categories : Fine Dining at Home, Food, Travel, Wine, Wine review

Wine review: Champagne Taittinger Les Folies de la Marquetterie Brut

6 12 2013

Finland celebrates its Independence Day on the 6th December. It is a day for bubbling drinks and this years champagne was from Taittinger, Les Folies de la Marquetterie.

Taittinger’s very first “Champagne de Domaine”, Les Folies de la Marquetterie is a blend of Chardonnays (45%) and Pinot Noirs (55%), made exclusively from grapes grown at the Folies vineyard that overlooks Château de la Marquetterie, the birthplace of the Taittinger family champagne. A “green” harvest is carried out on the selected plots of vines to ensure the fruit offers optimum sweetness and aromatic maturity. After harvesting, only the juice from the first pressing is reserved. The bottles are aged for five years.

THE LOOK

To be honest do not really like the color of the label but of course drink itself only matters.

Color is deep yellow with a golden touch.

THE NOSE

The intense nose is fruity with aromas of apricot and red apple.

THE TASTE

The palate is full-bodied, smooth and fruity with flavor of apricot. Although champagne has small bubbles they seem to multiply in the mouth.

Facts and figures:

Alcohol:	12,50 %
Extract:	28 g/l
Acidity:	4,8 g/l
Sugar:	12 g/l
Energy:	80 kcal / 100 ml (340 kJ / 100 ml)
Closure:	natural cork

Taittinger Les Folies de la Marquetterie is perfect wine for celebrating Independence Day. Wine was tasted from Finnish Iittala Essence Champagne glasses and Cocktail bowls. Champagne and sparkling wines suit perfectly for Iittala glasses. Especially solemnity increases when you use Essence Cocktail bowl although bubbles lose quicker. So what, glamour is more important when you enjoy champagne!

And if you have some seafood; like scallops, vendaces and flambeed salmon on your Iittala plate, you might want to taste Taittinger with them.

REVIEW: OVERALL GRADE 4/5 – BANG FOR THE BUCK ++ / +++

http://www.taittinger.com/

Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: Champagne, Château de la Marquetterie, Finland, Finland Independence Day, Iittala Essence, Seafood, Taittinger Les Folies de la Marquetterie Brut, Wine, Wine review
Categories : Fine Dining at Home, Food, Wine, Wine review

Restaurant review: SPIS – pure Nordic cuisine

1 12 2013

What is Nordic cuisine? It is delicious fresh food with lots of vegetables, good service, pleasant athmosphere and Nordic/Finnish background music!

Restaurant Spis is cozy 18-seat Nordic, maybe the smallest fine dining restaurant in Helsinki. It is open only in the evenings from Tuesday to Saturday. Because of the size and popularity, you have to choose to dine early at 0530PM/0600PM or to eat at later table setting at 0830PM. Spis serves two tasting menus, there is no separate a la carte list available.

Visited first time Spis over a year ago and experience was impressive. Restaurant got 13,25 points which is as good achievement as this years leaders have been able to get. Or maybe we have been more picky this year?

Dinner started with snacks; several of them which differentiate Spis from many bistros in Helsinki.

First we were served crispbread with sauerkraut mayonnaise. After crispbread we were served root fireworks! You started from right with potato, carrot, striperoot and ended up to turnip. Not sure if striperoot is right translation for raitajuuri, but it is like beetroot. Each Finnish delicacy, which were eaten with fingers, included right seasoning or herb. Forget potato chips and peanuts, offer this type of snacks also at home.

Greeting from kitchen, which was brought to the table by one of the chef’s, was vorschmack with sour cream. Good example of Finnish traditional food but prepared totally different way than usually. Minced meat was not so salty and greasy as it usually is and taste of anchovis was in balance.

For starter we got vitamin bomb which included beetroot and yellowroot. As snacks alread included one relative root you really have chance to try many Finnish fresh and good tasting roots.

First warm main course was salmon with dried carrots and carrot spaghetti. Salmon was almost raw but it was not at the same time. Probably it had been steamed as it was so soft but there was no frying or roasting marks. Carrots had been first dried for 6 hours and then boiled. Prepared that way sweetness of carrots came to prominence and complimented salty (not too much) salmon well.

Between main courses we got apple sorbets, nice way to clean the mouth.

Spis served for second warm main course lamb ribs with potatoes. Best part of this portion was French red wine which paired perfectly with lamb. Unfortunately meat was too greasy for us and potatoes reminded too much of those you can get from frozen food lockers. But the sauce was scrumptious and it saved a lot.

Intermediate dessert consisted of pear cake and meringue. Auts, it was so yammy you could have continued eating for ever. But as you might guess, portions are not so big…

Actual dessert was silver toffee ice-cream which made you hesitate thought you had when eating previous dessert. This one you could continue to eat forever…. Silver toffee (hopeatoffee) used to be favourite candy in the childhood and now you can again get it from the supermarkets, excellent! Using silver toffee in dessert is big proof that you are eating in a genuine Nordic/Finnish restaurant as this type of toffee is available only in Finland.

Spis also takes care of food allergies, therefore one dessert was sorbet.

Dinner ended up with tea and espresso. But as you are able to taste Ålvados which is calvados from Åland you have to do it. Take a look at the bottle, there is glass apple inside. And with dessert drinks still some sweets. Great way to end the dinner.

Restaurant Spis would have earned 5- for food if the lamb would not have been so greasy (most people would have liked it that way). Service was professional; contents of portions were explained well and suggestions for wines were one of the most succesful so far.

The food itself is excellent and probably one the healthiest you can eat at the restaurants. Background music was mainly new Finnish and Swedish sounds which is also quite unique.

REVIEW: FOOD 4,5/5 – SERVICE 4,5/5 – OVERALL GRADE 4,5/5

And last but not least, take a look at Marimekko Unikko towels in the restroom! If we are not in THE Nordic restaurant, then where? SPIS is now new leader with 13,50 points!

Home

Restaurant review: Spis

Comments : 4 Comments »
Tags: Finnish Scandinavian restaurant, food, healthy food, Helsinki, hopeatoffee, lamb, Nordic restaurant, Ravintola Spis, restaurant review, Restaurant Spis, Salmon, silver toffee, Spis, well-being food
Categories : Food, Helsinki, Restaurant, Restaurant review, Travel, Wine

Red wine glasses – does the size matter? (Part II)

27 11 2013

In part I we tasted Faustino VII with one result we did not write about. Right glass improved both aroma and taste of this affordable red wine. In Part II we tasted Châteauneuf-du-Pape Domaine du Vieux Lazaret 2010, which should be full-bodied with tannins, dark berries, cherry, spicy, hint of oak, nuanced regarding to Alko. Grapes in the wine are Grenache Noir, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault which is challenging combination.

We used the same glasses as in Part I with tasting results below:

Glass 1: Sommeliers Bordeaux GC (Riedel, Austria)

Huge 27 cm high glass with capacity of 0,86 litre. Could take the whole bottle! Glass maker Riedel recommends it to be used with following wines/grapes: Bordeaux (red), Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chablis, Fronsac, Graves rouge, Listrac, Margaux, Médoc, Merlot, Moulis, Pauillac, Pessac Leognan (Rouge), Pomerol, St. Emilion, St. Estèphe, St. Julien

TASTING NOTES: Glass is still too big for tasting because spinning the glass is quite clumsy. Huge size makes you careful which does not help in the tasting. However, practice makes you master and this time wine spinned more easily. Both results of NOSE and TASTE tests were in balance. Wine opened nicely and aroma was pleasant despite of tannins. WINNER OF THE TEST!

Glass 2: Vinum Bordeaux (Riedel, Austria)

Typical 22,5 cm high red wine glass with capacity of 0,61 litre. Recommended by Riedel to use with following wines/grapes: Bordeaux (red), Carmenère, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zweigelt

TASTING NOTES: Part I winner was not so impressive as it was in previous test. Somehow sniffing the bouquet made you cough. However, result of THE TASTE was as good as it was with the winning glass.

Glass 3: Essence (Iittala, Finland)

23 cm high with capacity of 0,45 litre and designed by Alfredo Häberli for Iittala in 2001. No recommendations for wines or grapes. In Finnish Iittala web -site also classified as beer glass.

TASTING NOTES: Shame on Iittala! Again LOSER OF THE TEST! Same problems with the NOSE, alcohol and with THE TASTE, tacky and lackluster.

Glass 4: Basic tasting glass

These glasses are usually used in basic wine tastings. This glass was brought on from Barcelona Estacio Enologica 100-year celebration but glass type has also been used in Finnish Wine Fairs several years ago.

TASTING NOTES: The bouquet for the THE NOSE was tender but THE TASTE was a little bit tacky and acid. Part I and Part II tests proved that basic tasting glass is excellent for the THE NOSE part of tests.

Conclusion

Size matters, at least when it comes to Châteauneuf-du-Pape Domaine du Vieux Lazaret 2010! Although none of the grapes of this wine are not mentioned by Riedel for preferred ones for Sommeliers Bordeaux GC glass, glass won the test. Wine with tannins need to get ogygen in order to open. Glass itself is like decanter which improves the experience.

But as written in the beginnng of the post, cheap and lackluster wines improve more in the right shaped glass. Best example are cognacs, do not use traditional glasses for them because you get blind due to the alcohol vapor. Buy cheaper cognac and enjoy it from flute-shaped aroma glass.

Comments : 4 Comments »
Tags: Alko, Bordeaux, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Domaine du Vieux Lazaret 2010, Decanter, Iittala, Mulled wine, red wine, red wine glass, Riedel, Wine, Wine review, wine tastings
Categories : Fine Dining at Home, Food, Helsinki, Wine, Wine review

Wine review: Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau

22 11 2013

Beaujolais Nouveau is a red wine made from Gamay grapes produced in the Beaujolais region of France. It is released for sale on the third Thursday of November. This “Beaujolais Nouveau Day” used to see heavy marketing, with races to get the first bottles to different markets around the globe.

The current release practice is to ship the wine ahead of the third Thursday of November, and release it to the local markets at 12:01 am local time. Of course not in Finland as there is only one monopoly company selling wines and alcohol (Alko) and it opens at 09.00 EET and they offer only one choice Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau. Neither restaurants promoted opportunity to taste it right after midnight.

It is important to enjoy the wine enough chilled, proof below :). It must be served between 12 – 14C degrees.

THE LOOK

Label is colorful as always, flowers mirror the freshness of wine.

Wine itself is almost violet, blue-reddish like young wines always are. More dark than last year.

THE NOSE

Fruity, even sweet aroma especially when using tasting glass. Rasberry, vanilla and fruit candy scent came in to the nose.

THE TASTE

Young fruity wine, light and fresh. Berries dominate but on the other hand quite skinny taste.

Facts and figures:

Alcohol:	12,00 %
Extract :	27 g/l
Acidity:	5,4 g/l
Energy :	80 kcal / 100 ml (320 kJ / 100 ml)
Closure:	metal screw cap

This years only available Beaujolais Nouveau from Georges Duboeuf is eligible wine. Easy to taste, easy to enjoy.

REVIEW: OVERALL GRADE 3-/5 – BANG FOR THE BUCK + / +++

Last years modest review:

Wine review: Beaujolais Villages Nouveau Louis Tête

Comments : 7 Comments »
Tags: Alko, Beaujolais Nouveau, Beaujolais region of France, Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau, red wine, Wine, Wine review, WIne tasting
Categories : Fine Dining at Home, Food, Wine, Wine review

Restaurant review – Minos, piece of Greece in Helsinki

21 11 2013

Restaurant Minos is over 25 years old restaurant which serves traditional Greek food. For example you can get Tzatziki, Pita bread, Moussaka and of course Ouzo for aperitif. You can also here Greek spoken as waiters speak it to each other.

Minos has pleasant covered terrace which can be used also in winter time, as it is heated. We always choose to dine there because you can observe by-passers at the same time. In the summer Minos has it’s own spot in popular Kamppi shopping center terrace area. Note that restaurant is not open on Sundays.

Starters usually are the best part of the dinner which was true also this time. We ordered tsatsiki, marinated olives and dolmades (vine leaves stuffed with rice and herbs). But of course ouzo Plomari for aperitif; with ice it is perfect appetite initiator; Jamas!

Tsatsiki was excellent, be careful you do not eat a full stomach with fresh bread because it is just so delicious. Dolmades were warm as they should be and again with tsatsiki, perfect. Olives as starter may sound simple but the marinade made them juicy and appropriately salty.

For main courses ordered Catch of the day, grilled fresh fish which was Dorada and Tiger shrimps on skewer with garlic and lemon sauce. You can choose from 4 side dishes to supplement the main course. Alternatives are Baked potato wedges, potato gratin, rice or seasons braised vegetables. Also ordered Grilled pita bread which came after second request.

Gilt perch (Dorada) was palatable as it tasted like just caught from Mediterranean sea. Just a little bit over grilled but not too much as it did not bother. Tiger shrimp skewer was the weakest part of the dinner, a little bit too salty and vegetables were in fact the same as you could order separately as a side dish. Luckily chose potato gratin which was ok.

Then for desserts Halva and Tiramisu with Metaxa brandy + Metaxa brandy.

Halva for dessert is interesting delicacy but as there are not so many options without lactose, tasted it. And if you like Halva, you would have liked this one also. Tiramisu is Italian dessert but Minos moistened it with brandy, that transforms it Greek dessert. But of course had to make sure that there would be enough moisture and therefore ordered just in case glass of Metaxa brandy.

Restaurant Minos really is the piece of Greece in Helsinki! Even wine list consists of Greek wines which is partly good and partly not so good thing. Enjoyed white wine; 2009 Petra, Kir-Yanni. As you can see in the picture vintage is 2012, not 2009. Greek white wines pair perfeclty with Greek starters but for fish they are challenge due to lacking character. However, if you want to enjoy complete Greek package, it must include local wines.

Service was quick and polite. You might want to check menu before hand because waiters start asking for order soon after your arrival.

REVIEW: FOOD 3,5/5 – SERVICE 4-/5 – OVERALL GRADE 4-/5

http://minos.fi/

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Tags: dorada, food, Greek restaurant, Halva, Helsinki, Kamppi shopping center, Minos, olives, ouzo, Pita bread, Ravintola Minos, restaurant, restaurant review, tsatsiki
Categories : Food, Helsinki, Restaurant, Restaurant review, Travel, Wine

Red wine glasses – does the size matter? (Part I)

16 11 2013

There is lots of fuss about the importance of glass on the taste of wines. Some thoughts around the topic in two posts.

Compared two totally different red wines, Faustino VII 2011 and Châteauneuf-du-Pape Domaine du Vieux Lazaret 2010. Part I covers tasting of most modest Faustino, Faustino VII, which should be full-bodied Spanish tempranill0 with medium tannins and delicately spicy regarding to Alko notes.

Tested both wines in four different red wine glasses:

Glass 1: Sommeliers Bordeaux GC (Riedel, Austria)

TASTING NOTES: Glass is too big for tasting because spinning the glass is quite clumsy. Huge size makes you too careful which does not help in the tasting. Mixed opinions compared to Vinum glass; actually it was a difficult task to rank these glasses with similar shapes. With affordable Faustino VII, glass did not provide any extra amazing experience; so we have to wait for how better French wine manages.

Glass 2: Vinum Bordeaux (Riedel, Austria)

TASTING NOTES: Maybe easiest shape and size to taste Faustino VII. THE NOSE and THE TASTE were in balance. Vinum Bordeaux glass was the WINNER OF THE TEST!

Glass 3: Essence (Iittala, Finland)

23 cm high with capacity of 0,45 litre and designed by Alfredo Häberli for Iittala in 2001. No recommendations for wines or grapes. In Finnish Iittala web -site also classified as beer glass.

TASTING NOTES: With Faustino VII Essence glass did not impress. It managed worst in THE NOSE and THE TASTE tests. Alcohol covered bouquet of tempranillo and flavor of the wine was bitter. LOSER OF THE TEST!

Glass 4: Basic tasting glass

TASTING NOTES: Bouquet of tempranillo was most pleasant and easily identified, but taste of wine was as bitter as it was with Iittala Essence glass. Too much tannins and spices.

Conclusion

Size does not matter but the shape really matters. It is important to choose right glass for different type of red wines. Maybe Spanish tempranillo is not the best wine for Riedel glasses, because it was not recommended by glass maker. One option might be that Riedel ignores certain countries/regions/grapes. However, tasted wine was quite modest and immature. None of the glasses did not improve taste significantly.

In Part II we analyze Châteauneuf-du-Pape Domaine du Vieux Lazaret 2010 which was tasted by using the same glasses.

http://www.riedel.com/collections/glass-collections/

Comments : 5 Comments »
Tags: Essence, Faustino VII, Iittala, red wine, Riedel, Riedel glasses, Spanish red wine, Wine, WIne tasting
Categories : Fine Dining at Home, Food, Wine, Wine review

Why Helsinki’s restaurant scene is as its hottest right now?

15 11 2013

Great article about Helsinki restaurants!

http://uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com/why-helsinkis-restaurant-scene-hottest-now-224400031.html

Can recommend both restaurants mentioned in the article. Reviews can be found by using search.

SPIS

GROTESK WINEBAR

Again good reason to visit Helsinki!

Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: food, Grotesk, Helsinki, restaurant, restaurant reviews, Spis
Categories : Bar, Food, Helsinki, Restaurant, Travel

Wine review: Christmas Riesling 2012

10 11 2013

Would you buy wine because there is Christmas tree on the label and name of the wine is Christmas Riesling?

Wonder how one wineyard (weingut) can name it’s wine as Christmas something? Has the wine something to do with Christmas?

After tasting, nothing!

Wine comes from wineyard Lergenmüller, Pfalz (The Palatinate), Germany.

THE LOOK

As you can see the label highlights Christmas. The wine itself is straw-colored and slightly greenish.

THE NOSE

Typical light young riesling. Some fruits and raisins which we often find in rieslings but no one else seems to do so; at least when it comes to professional reviews.

THE TASTE

Lack of petrol and minerals makes this wine light and boring. The name Christmas would require more character.

Facts and figures:

Alcohol:	13,00 %
Extract :	25 g/l
Acidity:	7,5 g/l
Sugar:	6 g/l
Energy :	80 kcal / 100 ml (320 kJ / 100 ml)
Closure:	metal screw cap

Wine is basic riesling which suits for aperitif and with food without too much spices. Tried it with sushi and it did not pair at all. Christmas Riesling 2012 does not create a Christmas athmosphere neither reminds you of Christmas tree or presents. For Christmas I recommend Finnish Glögg or Gluhwein.

Only positive thing is the price of the wine; it is only 8,95€ in Finnish Alko’s.

REVIEW: OVERALL GRADE 2/5 – BANG FOR THE BUCK 0 / +++

http://www.lergenmueller.de/

Comments : 4 Comments »
Tags: Alko, Christmas, Christmas Riesling, German wine, Joulu, sushi, white wine, Wine, Wine review
Categories : Fine Dining at Home, Food, Wine, Wine review

Restaurant review – Slow food at Teatterin Grilli

8 11 2013

Late dinner in Helsinki? Typical time to start dinner in Finland is 6PM – 8PM. If you want to enjoy dinner “the Southern European way” and start it, for example 10PM, you have to choose restaurant carefully in order not to be forced to eat in rush. And I do not mean hot dog stands or McDonald’s.

As a pleaseant and interesting surprise noted that restaurant serves Slow food until 30th of November. You could choose from separate list Finnish delicacies which you could never usually eat. Meats and other rare foodstuff are purchased from small producers directly without middlemen.

Restaurant Teatterin Grilli is situated in Esplanade Park (Espa) behind Swedish theatre. Restaurant (dining room) is open until 1AM on Saturday but if you want to continue in the Night Club, it is open until 4AM.

Decided to order one starter from Slow food menu Broiled lampreys from Ulvila, mustard dressing and roasted archipelago bread and one from ordinary menu Cold smoked Baltic herring tartar, poached quail´s egg and vendace roe.

Never eaten lampreys. Sometimes you can get those at markets but in Helsinki restaurants I have not seen lampreys before. A little bit crisp and chevy at the same time. Closest food might be vendaces but in this case mustard dressing made the experience totally different. Herring tartar was delicious but amount of roe could have been greater.

For main courses again Slow food 2x Rosè-roasted grey partridges, creamed sugar beet and gravy-velouté.

Partridge is a rare fowl bird which can be hunted for a short time in the autumn. Breast fillets were rose as the name of the portion promised but bird legs were dry. Never seen sugar beet to be offered as side dish, as it is usually raw material for sugar. Anyway, worth to order and maybe not possible to repeat in the near future. The outlook of portion was not so attractive as it could have been at this price level.

Wine suggestion for partridges was Luna del Sur Pinot Noir from Bodegas Callia, Argentina. It paired perfectly with the bird.

Two desserts were available on Slow food menu but decided to choose desserts from traditional menu; Cranberry crumble with baked apple ice cream and TG- dessert trilogy; White chocolate mousse, arctic cloudberry soup and Granny Smith sorbet. Crumble was a little bit tart due to cranberries but soft ice-cream hided it nicely. Mousse was really sweet, almost too chunky and sorbet did not fit to the triangle so well.

Restaurant Teatterin Grilli does not let you down. Food is always delicious and it serves best gourmet burger in Helsinki. At 10PM when we arrived dining room was almost empty which is a proof tht Finns eat early. Waitering was still at good level dispite the late time.

REVIEW: FOOD 4/5 – SERVICE 4+/5 – OVERALL GRADE 4+/5

Ravintola Teatterin grilli

Comments : 3 Comments »
Tags: Espa, Esplanade Park, Helsinki, Lamprey, Partridge, Restaurant Teatteri, Restaurant Teatterin Grilli, Slow food, Teatterin Grilli
Categories : Bar, Food, Helsinki, Restaurant, Restaurant review, Travel, Wine

Restaurant review – Gastrobar Emo

1 11 2013

Gastrobar Emo is easy to step in to enjoy easygoing service and good food. Emo (Dam in english) was opened on the 21st of August 2013 in the same place where Michelin star restaurant Olo used to be. Owners are partly the same which should be a proof of excellent food experience.

There is also separate wine bar which provides opportunity to enjoy an aperitif or glass of wine. With drinks you can order snacks from bar menu. We visited wine bar after dinner, there is narrow corridor between dining room and bar but it also has separate entrance.

Quite soon after you arrive you will get some snacks and fresh bread with celery butter which was really tasty. Brown paper bag is one way to serve bread but it would have been easier to take bread from bread basket.

You can choose your dinner from 3 “starters”, 4 “main courses” and 3 “desserts” up to assemblage of 6 foods. Our group decided to go for 3 courses and ordered first 2x FINNISH VENDACE’s and 2x WILD DUCK WITH RED CABBAGE AND APPLE.

Name Finnish vendaces might be misleading; we got Finnish fish but the way it was prepared was actually better than traditionally fried vendaces. Frying in oil instead of frying in a pan with butter made vendaces more crispy but not so greasy. On top of that side dishes were a perfect match.

Next courses were 3x GREENLAND HALIBUT WITH POTATOES “GOBBAS GÅRD” and 1x WILD DUCK WITH RED CABBAGE AND APPLE.

Halibut was bull’s eye. Cooked to a turn and two different ways to serve potato complemented fish nicely.

If you take wild duck for starter it is served on stone plate, which is clever idea to convert “main course” to “starte”r. There was three different ways to serve duck and again duck paired perfectly with cabbage and apple.

And for dessert 3x EUROPEAN CHEESE SORTIMENT and for me second main course 1x GREENLAND HALIBUT WITH POTATOES “GOBBAS GÅRD”

There were 3 different cheeses on the plate: blue cheese, cow and goat cheese. Apple and onion conserves supplemented taste of cheeses nicely.

One kind request; please make portions a little bit bigger 🙂 Or maybe intention is to eat at least 5 portions which hopefully are not too small. Otherwise Emo manages food part fine and earns a place as laid-back little brother of Olo.

We asked recommendation for dry riesling and waitress suggested MAX FERDINAND RICHTER MülHEIMER SONNENLAY RIESLING ZEPPELIN 2012 MOSEL from Germany which we ordered. After tasting, as wine seemed not to be dry, asked for the amount of sugar. 35g for “dry” is quite a lot, but wine itself was basically OK. A positive thing is the pricing of wines; most of them were less expensive than they usually are in a fine dining restaurants like Emo is.

Waitering was thoughtful and professional but we could have managed without overflowing twitter.

REVIEW: FOOD 4,5/5 – SERVICE 4+/5 – OVERALL GRADE 4,5/5

http://emo-ravintola.fi/en/

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Tags: Cheese, Emo, food, Gastrobar Emo, Halibut, Helsinki, Michelin star restaurant Olo, Olo, riesling, Vendaces, wild duck
Categories : Bar, Food, Helsinki, Restaurant, Restaurant review, Travel, Wine

Wine, Food & Good living 2013 -event – what went wrong?

27 10 2013

Wine, Food and Good living -event is now in turning point. Either it has to find larger hall to take all “private” visitors on Saturday and lower prices or focus on business visitors.

First you have to line up to give your coat to checkroom (2.50€ per person). Then you queue for tasting class (8€ – 5€ = 3€ when you return your class) and tasting tickets (2,50€ each). All tasting -seminars are fully booked up well beforehand the event starts; so no guided tasting this year.

Of course vintage champagnes are expensive but it is odd that you have to pay 6 tasting tickets (15€) for 4cl of noble drinks in the picture. Of course Dom Perignon Vintage 2004, which had arrived to Finland 2 days ago, is rare and valuable drink but if we think that Taittinger Brut Reserve (2 tickets) tastes better you do not attract customers to purchase this vintage champagne.

To crown it all, most champagnes ran out of the champagne bar 1/2 hours before event closed. From about 20 champagnes about 4 of the most non-drinkable wines were left. What a waste for the tickets.

To summarize, too crowded and too expensive. Only way to carry on is to modify Saturday; either expand floor space on that day or try change visitor profiles. Hopefully the first one because event itself is marvelous experience on a rainy autumn day.

PS. Forgot to mention that entrance costs 18€. As we had free tickets did not remember that cost at once.

http://www.messukeskus.com/Sites1/Viiniruokahyvaelama/en/Pages/default.aspx

http://viinilehti.fi/tapahtumat/viini-ruoka-hyva-elama/

http://www.domperignon.com/

Comments : 4 Comments »
Tags: Champagne, Dom Perignon, Helsinki, Messukeskus, Taittinger, Viini, Viini ruoka ja hyvä elämä, vintage champagnes, Wine
Categories : Bar, Food, Helsinki, Travel, Wine, Wine review

Wine review: Jim Barry Watervale Riesling

19 10 2013

The late Jim Barry was a pioneer of the Australian wine industry. He was the first qualified winemaker to work in the Clare Valley of South Australia and with his wife, Nancy, built a successful wine business which has produced trophy-winning wines since its establishment in 1959. Today, the company is headed by Jim’s second son Peter Barry.

Jim Barry Wines has four distinctive climatic and geographical sites in the Clare Valley:
1) Watervale towards the southern end of the Valley
2) Lodge Hill in the eastern ranges
3) Vineyards at the northern entrance to Clare and
4) Armagh to the west
In addition, the company has a 14 hectare Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard in the Coonawarra region.

Tasted wine was Watervale Riesling 2012, of course from riesling crapes.

THE LOOK

Like the label of the bottle, simple black W on white background. Sometimes labels attract to try the wine which was the fact this time.

Wine itself is bright straw yellow in appearance with green nuance. Light riesling white wine.

THE NOSE

Nice light riesling bouqet without disturbing side effects. Acidity, petrol and minerals are far away. Nothing disturbs…

THE TASTE

WIne is really dry as you can see from the facts and figures below. However, wine lacks typical riesling minerality which makes wine is a little bit unbalanced.

Facts and figures:

Alcohol:	12,20 %
Extract :	22 g/l
Acidity:	6,7 g/l
Sugar:	4 g/l
Energy:	80 kcal / 100 ml (330 kJ / 100 ml)
Closure:	metal screw cap

Wine is suitable for all kinds of fish and white meat foods as well as pasta and pizza which we made by ourselves. With pizza we also tasted Don Camillo Sangiovese which paired better with it. Of course it also depends what toppings you add on pizza.

REVIEW: OVERALL GRADE 3/5 – BANG FOR THE BUG + / +++

http://jimbarry.com/

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Tags: Australian wine, Clare Valley, Jim Barry, Jim Barry Watervale Riesling, Jim Barry Wines, riesling, white wine, Wine review
Categories : Fine Dining at Home, Food, Wine, Wine review

Restaurant review: Blue Peter

18 10 2013

Restaurant Blue Peter is situated on Lauttasaari island 4 km from Helsinki city centre. In the summer time it is really popular due to large terraces and HSK sailing club members. Restaurant is open all year around hosting private events also in the winter time. Suggest to try it instead of hotel meeting rooms.

We had dinner outside of busy season.

For starter had Crayfish Skagen, which has always been excellent. Thick and juicy crayfish tails are better than basic shrimps and combined with well prepared topping, it is really mouth-watering delicacy. And the massive heap of crayfish is really prestige.

For main course we ordered Salmon with dill-potato smash and herb oil. Fish was perfectly roasted but sweet potato (correction: it must have been pumpkin) did not match as well as carrots which the portion usually included. Balancing sweetnes for salty fish was missing.

For dessert, of course, Crepe with Old fashioned ice-cream and strawberry jam. It would be convenient to have at least one choice of lactose-free or low-lactose ice-cream because suggested sorbet does not pair with delicious crepe. We also paid normal price for the portion although decided to order it without ice-cream. Crepe is propably best in Helsinki as mentioned in earlier post, but would also value if both of us could really enjoy it with all side dishes.

Blue Peter is THE summer restaurant and therefore after busy season it might feel a little bit quiet. After combining bistro and a la carte menus, selection of portions have decreased. Sometimes it is good to focus on fewer choises, but now only warm fish available in seaside restaurant are vendaces. This may be partly because of game season as you can enjoy of elk and rabbit.

Waiting already for the next summer, sunshine, cold drinks and cheeese burger at the terraces and maybe surface renovation of the chairs at the dining area.

REVIEW: FOOD 3+/5 – SERVICE 3,5/5 – OVERALL GRADE 3,5/5

http://www.bluepeter.fi/articles/632/

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: Blue Peter, crayfish, Crayfish Skagen, crepe, Helsinki, Helsinki city centre, Lauttasaari, Restaurant Blue Peter, restaurant review, Salmon
Categories : Bar, Food, Helsinki, Restaurant, Restaurant review

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