Author: Sarah Jefford

In-between Times

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Although only last week, Christmas seems quite far away. The supply of mince pies is low, and this year there was no Christmas cake nor log in our household to keep the Christmas momentum up. But maybe that is a good thing. After all, we are in a lull before the celebrations of the New Year and these are in a different register from those of Christmas.  At Christmas we celebrate the miracle that is the birth of Jesus, but also that of birth itself and of life. We give thanks for the gift of a child and the gift of procreation. Not only that, we also praise light. According to the Bible, “Jesus is the Light of the World”. This is beautifully recounted in Handel’s Messiah,  traditionally performed at Christmas time, in the Bass Aria “The People that walk in Darkness have seen a great Light”. In Christianity, light is a symbol for God. But a few days before the birth of Jesus it is the shortest day of the year and the winter …

Where’s the Party?

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The 16th was the 3rd Thursday of November, and as written in this week’s edition of Time Out magazine “a pretty big day in the wine world”. It is indeed Beaujolais Nouveau Day, the day when the new vintage of Beaujolais Nouveau wines hit the shelves of wine shops all over the world. This date has reached such fame that you do not have to be an oenophile nor a francophile to know about it and the catchy slogan announcing it: “Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé”.   In many countries the arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau is a real day of merrymaking. An online search will quickly show you a list of events and bars that are celebrating. In London, plenty of restaurants are cooking up special dishes to pair with the light juicy Beaujolais wines. Some are also hosting winemakers at their tables. The cult restaurant Noble Rot is one them. In Stockholm, Sweden’s capital and the area in the country where the most wine is consumed, Beaujolais Nouveau Day has caught on and is …

RIOJA: When the past is leading the way forward

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The classic ageing categories Rioja is one of the classic wine-growing regions of the world. Home to producers such as La Rioja Alta, Muga, Beronia and Campo Viejo, to name a few, Rioja’s reputation as a region that produces wines of quality is firmly established. In 2021, the production of Rioja DOCa was 350 million bottles, of which the considerable amount of 41.6% was exported. Aged wines represent 57% of Rioja’s output. The majority of the wine is red (85%). White represents 9% and is a growing category.  Consumers worldwide have become familiar with the different styles and quality levels – Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva – based on the wine’s length of maturation. Rioja has made these wines easily identifiable on the shop shelf with clear front labels and colour-coded seals. Each level of ageing has its own organoleptic characteristics.  A Crianza is a two year old wine that has spent some time in wood, 12 months minimum for reds and six months for rosés and whites. The attributes of a red Crianza are …

In the hands of the chefs at Sushi Sho

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I finally made it to Sushi Sho. Sushi Sho has been for some years now on my “must-go-and-eat-there-before-I-die” list or, if that sounds rather unnecessarily tragic, on the “must-go-and-eat-there-before-it-closes-down” list. I say that because I never made it to Fäviken to partake in Magnus Nilsson’s edible artistry before it closed. That is one of my big regrets. Back to Sushi Sho.  I was commissioned recently to write an article on sake, so I seized the occasion to venture down to this much talked-about restaurant whose traditional Tokyo-style sushi have been making waves in Stockholm since its launch in 2014. I threw to the wind the idea that feasting in a one Michelin star warrants either a celebration, or diners-in-crime, or the end of the week, and rocked up on my own, casually, on a very cold Tuesday night.  The restaurant is located in Vasastan, right opposite Bacchus Antik, an antique shop I used to love spending time in when visiting Stockholm, in the days before I settled here. The shop is crammed full of Scandinavian …

Is Corona helping restaurants remember the basics?

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The sun is finally out and when that happens Sweden morphs into a different country. Suddenly the streets, parks and gardens are filled with people whose existence one did not even realise during the dark winter months. Smiles, laughter and babble become welcome accompaniments to daily life.  Although there is no confinement here, most citizens are respecting social distancing. Restaurants are open but are having a tough time with many of them going under due to lack of customers.  With the arrival of the warm weather, however, restaurant terraces are enticing trade. I myself have been adhering to working from home and restricting my movements to shopping for essentials and walks in nature. One sunny day, when a friend recently suggested coffee, it was with some unease that I agreed to meet on a terrace. With Corona on my mind, I sat at a distance from my friend. We ordered some coffee and water but were rather taken aback when the waitress pinched the lip of the water glasses with her index and thumb and …

Wine’s fall from grace

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Summer is over. It is back to a new school year, a new start and work. The days have become noticeably shorter and once the sun has disappeared over the horizon the evening air is gently chilling. Daytime, however, is still mostly bright and warm, carrying with it the echoes of holiday enjoyment and carefreeness. “Sensommar”, late summer. The streets of Stockholm are bustling once again with local inhabitants back from time off. The wine trade is in full swing again, presenting the season’s new products and trends. Restaurant terraces are full of happy diners sipping on transitional rosé. Summer is the period of the year when alcohol consumption is at its highest in Sweden. This would point to a rather responsible society that mainly consumes alcohol during leisure time and vacation as opposed to during the working week. On the other hand, this could also translate as overcompensation for not spreading drinking evenly out over the working weeks resulting in excessive drinking over the summer months. Drinking in large amounts over a short period, …

Freedom wine for France

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It was no surprise. The country whose motto is Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité wanted out of its shackles. Too many rules and regulations, no wiggle room, not enough space for creativity. Winemakers in France had had enough. They had been dreaming of possibilities that they couldn’t realise. They requested carte blanche. And they got it. They got it in the form of VDF. Vin de France. They nickname it the Freedom Appellation. France is one of the five most important wine producing countries in the world. Along with Spain, China, Italy and Turkey it holds 50% of the world’s total vineyard area (including vineyards for the production of juice, table grapes, raisins as well as wine). France’s share is 11%, Spain’s 13%, China’s 11%, Italy’s 9% and Turkey’s 6% (OIV, April 2017). As far as wine is concerned, France produced last year 43.5 million hectolitres which is  less than Italy (50.9 mio hl) but more than Spain (39.3 mio hl), the USA (23.9 mio hl) and Australia (13 mio hl). France does well on the export side. …

Travelling with wine

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Upon arrival at Stockholm airport, I received an sms from Air France informing me that they were “tracking my suitcase”. I had just come back from a trip to Chile and my suitcase appeared to have missed the Paris-to-Stockholm leg of the journey. I wasn’t unduly concerned, clothes are replaceable – and in this instance Air France would probably be doing me a favour if they were to be lost forever – but in my suitcase I did have six bottles of rather good Chilean wine that I was looking forward to consume. The following day my luggage made it back to Sweden and a courier service obligingly delivered it to my door. Somewhat unsettlingly, though, it came wrapped in a huge thick transparent sack. I removed the plastic – it was reassuringly dry inside – and next unzipped the case. All my clothes were their original colour, no red streaks anywhere, but there was a distinct perfume pervading the air. I initially thought a cosmetic bottle might have leaked until the smell started to make sense. Lees, apples…It was Chardonnay. Whenever I travel …

It’s all pink!

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The temperature in Stockholm has been below zero for a number of weeks now but there has been a change in the skies which have gone from grey and gloomy to include some rays of sunshine and moments of blue sky. Warm weather and spring are still a way off but clearly they are on people’s mind, and the newspapers last week-end have been surprisingly full of advertisements for rosé wine! On second thoughts, it probably isn’t so much the call of spring but the fact that Tuesday is Valentine’s day, a day that calls for celebration with all things pink and heart shaped. For those of you who might have forgotten this day, here is a reminder for you to go and buy that card and gift! In following with the spirit of the moment, here is a little sampler of some of the pink festive beverages that are currently available at most Systembolaget shops in Sweden. All of these are with bubbles, bar one – bubbles being synonymous with fun and festivities. (But what is it with bubbles …