American Wine Purchases

OK, now you are hopefully curious to know what I actually bought at Total Wine. After several visits I decided on some bottles from a favorite supplier, J. Lohr. I found half bottles of 2010 Seven Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon, that can easily be slipped into the suitcase. I also found a rare bottle of 2009 Carol's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, which I have heard good things about.  It comes from northern Napa, in the St Helena area. Staying in Napa, the next investment was a new find that looked interesting, 2007 White Cottage Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon Risa, from Howell Mountain. It has received great reviews on Cellartracker, so I look forward to trying it. An even bigger investment was 2006 Philip Togni Cabernet Sauvignon from Spring Mountain. This wine has an excellent reputation as high quality, long-lived Napa Cab, so the plan is to forget it in the cellar for quite a few years. To round out the American collection, I also picked an Oregon wine, 2009 Argyle Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, which I have heard good things about. All wines made it home safely to Sweden, without having to pay overweight.

Pampas Steakhouse

During our stay in Atlanta, we had an important birthday to celebrate, and this little guy loves steak. Therefore we looked for a really nice steakhouse, and ended up at Pampas in Alpharetta. This is an Argentinian steakhouse, where the meat is grilled over open fire. It looked a bit dark and stuffy when we entered, but the reception from the staff was very welcoming, and the service excellent throughout the whole evening.

The wine list was not extensive, but well put together, with some interesting bottles. To accompany our appetizers, we started out with a nice white wine from Willamette Valley in Oregon. It was called 2009 Illahe Pinot Gris. Illahe is a small family winery in Dallas, Oregon. Only about 500 cases were made of this pinot gris. This is a nice, crisp wine with plenty of acidity, but matched by some nice fruit, including pears, apples and citrus. It was enjoyed by all the wine drinkers around the table.

With the steaks I wanted to try a good Argentinian Malbec, and there were quite a few listed. I asked our waiter for advice, and he strongly recommended 2007 Luigi Bosca Single Vineyard Malbec. This wine comes from the area called Lujan de Cujo, which was created as an exclusive "DOC", similar to the European system, back in 1989. The grapes come from over 70 year old vines on the Vistalba Estate. It has matured in oak barrels for 14 months before release. It is a dense, flavorful wine, dominated by cherries and plums. The finish has some mocha and a hint of sweetness, with well integrated tannins. Obviously it went very well with our steaks. I complemented our waiter on an excellent recommendation. Pampas Steakhouse is definitely a restaurant I want to return to, both for the steaks, the wine and the friendly service.

www.illahevineyards.com

www.luigibosca.com.ar

Amerikanska höjdare

Hela årets sommarsemester tillbringas i USA. Nu har vi fyra härliga veckor framför oss "over here", så det kan nog bli lite nya vinupplevelser att skriva om också. Vi återvänder först till våra gamla hemtrakter norr om Atlanta för att hälsa på goda vänner. Vår värd, Bill, är vinintresserad, och hade plockat fram några riktiga godbitar åt oss. Vi börjar med en pinot noir från Willamette Valley i Oregon. Det är 2008 Scott Paul La Paulée. Scott Paul driver ett litet vinmakeri i den lilla staden Carlton. Han är också en stor Bourgogne-fantast och importerar kvalitetsviner från Frankrike. Hans eget vin skäms inte heller för sig. Syrligt fruktigt i medelfyllig stil, men det påminner mer om solmogna blåbär än jordgubbar och hallon.

Nästa vin är en klassisk cabernet Sauvignon från Napa Valley, nämligen 2006 Vinifera Vineyards Vitis. Mjukt, fylligt och fruktigt, utan att bli det minsta mesigt eller syltigt. Härliga svarta vinbär och mogna körsbär. Detta var kvällen klara favorit, trots den starka inledningen. Nu måste jag försöka få tag på några flaskor att ta med hem, men enligt hemsidan är det tyvärr redan slutsålt.

Kvällen avslutas långt utanför USA:s gränser, nämligen i Bordeaux. Bill plockar fram en ljuvlig Sauternes, 2007 Chateau Doisy-Védrines. Här får vi hela spektrat av honung, persika och en gnutta grapefrukt. Det blev en perfekt avslutning på en fantastisk välkomstmiddag. God bless America (även med lite hjälp från Bordeaux)!