Red Mountain Estate Vineyards & Winery

Entry to the wine estate.

View from the tasting room.

A shot from the vineyard.

Overview of the winemaking process for dummies.

Tasting set. From left: sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, Rosé d'Inlé made from shiraz, shiraz/tempranillo blend and Late Harvest made from muscat and sauvignon blanc.

Red Mountain Estate Vineyards & Winery
Taung Chay Village Group, Nyaungshwe Township,
Southern Shan State, Myanmar

Notes:

During my research prior to my vacation to Myanmar, I had stumbled across several blogposts on the locally produced wine, which was fairly well-praised. I however remained sceptic as prior successful experiences with wines from Southern Asia have been few, particularly with Indian wines. Once I had arrived in Myanmar it however became evident that local wines are intensively distributed, particularly those from the Red Mountain and Aythaya estates. My first taste of the local produce was the sauvignon blanc, which I quite honestly was very impressed with - it could had fooled my for a wine from New Zealand. Once I arrived at Lake Inle it thus seemed like a fun activity to go see the vineyards and visit the estate.

The estate is located very close to the Nyuang Shwe township, approximately 20 minutes by bike. The buildings are beautifully set atop a hill from where you have a gorgeous view of the lake (as well as a good indicator of when to leave again if you, like me, were coming by bike during rainy season sans umbrella). It is possible to have a tour of the facilities, though little information is provided by the staff, though printed marketing material is readily available. 

As to the wines, the estate's has a tasting room, where most people opt for the tasting set, which will set you back a mere 3,000 kyats (3 USD), including the wines imaged above. I chose to add the 2010 chardonnay, which apparently won a bronze medal in the World's Best Chardonnay competition in 2013. If that is a large accomplishment I remain unsure, but it surely was a pleasant drinking experience carrying many of the characteristics that an oak-aged chardonnay typically does. My favorite however remained the sauvignon blanc and the pinot noir, which turned out to be a earthy, spicy variety. No need to say, I had to bring both bottles back. All in all, Red Mountain left a great impression, and makes for a lovely activity if you're in the Lake Inle area. And do make sure to visit at sunset - the view is breathtaking! Highly recommended.

Den Røde Cottage*

The restaurant, set in the glade of a forest, just by the sea.



Cured salmon with panko crumbs, chives and creamy dots of something I unfortunately have forgotten what was. In our glasses there was Champagne, a non-vintage blanc de blancs by Franck Bonville, to be more exact.

For our second amuse lobster was the main star.

Our final amuse was fried sweetbread of veal with an apple jelly.

Two kinds of bread (one light wheat variety and a darker one) and two kinds of butter (one plain salted and one whipped with buttermilk and pumpkin seeds).

Fried turbut with young carrots and peas, later topped with sauce nage. We had a gorgeous, quite oaky 2011 chenin blanc in our glass, from Chateau Yvonne in Saumur.

White asparagus by Søren Wiuff in different textures. Steamed heads and long strips of pickled stalk, accompanied by a poached egg. Not too excited this dish, though the asparagus were undoubtable of exceptional quality.

Roast chicken with steamed spring onions and cress. For this course we enjoyed a surprisingly powerful 2009 pinot noir from Haute Cotes-de-Beaune.



Danish Thybo cheese set atop morels, crisp bread, mayonnaise (a bit too overpowering for my taste) and topped with cress. In the glass a Blancs de Noirs Champagne.

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate! A cake of chocalate in different textures and a woodruff sherbet on the side. We had a glass of 2005 Late Bottled Vintage Port to accompany this.

Petit fours for our teas and coffees, including little nut baskets with frozen cream, financier, madeleines and chocolate truffles.

Den Røde Cottage
Strandvejen 550
2930 Klampenborg

Notes:
Anita Klemensen belongs to the very exclusive Copenhagen club of female Michelin-starred chef - in fact, she's the only member. With previous experience from Søllerød Kro and Kommandanten she's schooled at classic, dare I even say, traditional places, which was also evident from our visit to Den Røde Cottage. The restaurant is set beautifully in a clearing in the woods along the coast line North of Copenhagen. The reason for our visit was the celebration of my father's 60 year birthday, and I shall therefore excuse that only mental notes were taken and unfortunately quite a few details have slipped my mind. In any case, we had a beautiful dinner! The service was probably the most attentive I have ever received in Copenhagen and the staff were generally good at creating a relaxed atmosphere in the restaurant. Among the culinary highlights I will mention the turbot and the dessert, which I found to be prime example of the tastiness that the restaurant represents. However, and to be honest I would not be able to pinpoint any dish that really blew my mind. The  dinner was a such flawless, the dishes were comforting and executed to perfection, but I missed the little quirky details that differentiate a meal from being good to being memorable. The location is however absolutely unique and I will certainly not reject that we might return, as the place also counts among most affordable Michelin-starred restaurants in Copenhagen, and the visit surely made me want to visit the sister restaurant Den Gule Cottage a few hundred meters down the road. Recommended.

Grønbech & Churchill*

Roll, glazed in licorice and topped with fennel seeds. Whipped butter with yogurt to accompany.

Spring onion, salad onions, pearl onions, chives, and ramsons atop brill in vinegar and green pepper. In our glass, a white 2009 number from Jean-Marc Boillot's Domaine Les Roques in Languedoc. Made from 95% roussanne and 5% viognier the wine appeared mature and very aromatic and with a deep finish, which seemed almost oxidized.

Different bread for the second dish, this time rolled in polenta, ground ginger and cumin.



White asparagus from Søren Wiuff and black lobster, in a creamy velouté of aspargus and Arla Unika's Havgus. In the glass, a grüner veltliner from Anna & Martin Arndorfer in Kamptal. Very refreshing, but in my opinion also rather forgettable in itself.

Braised and glazed leg of duck, abricot in its pure form and as a purée, turnip and thin slices of radish, raw leaves of endive as well as thin slices of dried duck breast. On the side a manitoba bread, a high-protein and high-gluten flour variety. In our glass, an organic number made from 100% tempranillo by Corral de Campanas.

Poached kiwi, brushed with a curry-infused oil with white chocolate snow, thin strips of fresh mint, a yogurt parfait, all set atop a white chocolate ganache. The accompanying wine was a chenin blanc "L'Étoile" from Domaine de Petit Coteau in Vouvray, Loire.

An espresso to round off with chocolate served from a cigar box. One featuring crunchy praline, another one smoky Islay (if I had less shame, I would certainly have asked for second helpings of the latter one).

Grønbech & Churchill
Esplanaden 48 / Amaliegade 49
1256 Copenhagen K

Notes:
Grønbech & Churchill had been on B's radar for quite a while, and though the place certainly is affordably - especially considering its Michelin star - we had not managed to get around to actually trying. So when we found out that the place offered a PolitikenPlus offer, including champagne, four courses and accompanying wines as well as coffee and sweets for just 800dkk we knew we had to pay the restaurant a visit. We were started off with a glass André Clouet as well as almonds, tossed in a curry mixture of sorts, which somehow did not quite do it for me. First dish quickly arrived, a very picturesque dish of brill and onions. Accompanied by a bread glazed in licorice and a glass of almost oxidized roussanne, this pairing stands among the most memorable I have had in recent time. I should mention pairs each dish with a different bread - quite a cute idea, and in this first instance the concept was very successfully employed, while the other two savory dishes did not come together quite as well as the first. I was however a huge fan of the dessert, featuring curry and kiwi, quite un-Nordic and very liberating to try something completely different, though the dish was still incredibly tasty. This generally goes for all dishes. They are beautiful and tasty, though in the end the restaurant left me with a weird feeling of not having displayed any personality other than in the dishes. The staff was friendly but not very talkative. Service was very quick. And generally the place does not ooze much personality. We did however leave the place feeling very satisfied about the food, though the surroundings just lacked... something. If you however want to try affordable Michelin-star food in Copenhagen Grønbech & Churchill is certainly a decent option.

B.A.R krog & vinbar

To start off with, two different glasses of bubbly. The rosé number being a cava from Gala Wines in Penédes - refreshing by easily forgettable. The other was a non-dosage variety, a Saumur Brut Zéro Tête en l'Air by the house Manoir de la Tête Rouge made from 80% chenin blanc and 20% chardonnay, which proved to be deep and complex in flavor.

For our sparkling wines, we also had a snack plate. Radishes accompanied by Jerusalem artichoke puree; Baby gem lettuce with egg cream, capers, and fried onions; Crispy fish skin dusted with vinegar powder; Malt crisp bread with a cream of smoked roe and dried anchovy; Pickled cucumber with mousse of rooster liver, cress and crunchy pork bits.



The first dish consisted of salted cod, creamy smoked roe, grilled cucumber, shallots, and nasturtium - very similar in presentation to a dish we recently tasted at Bror. This dish was however in comparison much more intense in flavor due to the addition of smoked roe, though by no means overpowering to the. In our glass a 2012 sauvignon blanc from Domaine de Bablut in Anjou.



Next up was tartare! A very delicate version, certainly chopped by hand, covered by thin slices of daikon, samphire and grated horseradish. The wine pairing was an interesting blend of sauvignon blanc, sauvignon gris and chardonnay - a Cheverny Blanc Frileuse by Clos du Tue-Boeuf in Loire.

For the main course we had braised ox cheeks. Alongside there was smoked bone marrow, beets, glaced as well as thinly sliced, charred leeks and garlic mayonnaise. So delicious but still extremely comforting. This time around our wine companion was a red, interestingly a merlot (can you think of a grape less modern at this point in time). Well, it was excellent - a 2008 Vin de Pays d'Oc from Clos de Barbejo

We decided to share a cheese plate. Unfortunately the exact varieties have slipped by mind, but they were all good. The final wine pairing was a Coteaux du Layon from Chateau de Passavant in Haut-Layon, Southern Anjou, made from 100% chenin blanc.

B.A.R krog & vinbar
Erik Dahlbergsgatan 3
211 48 Malmö

Notes:
For Kristi Himmelfartsdag I had taken the oppotunity to plan a short but exotic getaway for B and I to... Malmö. After having read rave reviews of B.A.R by both Helle Brønnum Carlsen and Søren Frank, I was quick to secure us a table one of the evenings. A 7pm the place was fully packed and the atmosphere was great. Our server was quite busy but also extremely engaging in his storytelling of both food and wines. We opted for a four-course menu (at 350sek quite a bargain) and in addition hereto a snack plate and cheeses to share. Further, our waiter found us some different wines to accompany each dish (all wines are supplied by Danish importer Rosforth&Rosforth, specializing in natural wines). As you can tell from the pictures, the cuisine is modern Nordic, and similar to our experience at Bror I found the dishes to be innovative but still incredibly tasty. I particularly enjoyed our cod starter, the ox cheeks, and the dessert, which I somehow forgot to snap a picture of (fyi, it was packed with bold flavors including dark chocolate ganache and dill sorbet - exquisite!). In total, our bill added up to approximately 1700sek, which I find to be amazing value - especially considering the average cost of alcohol in Sweden. Highly recommended!

Maven - Restaurant & Vinbar

Smoked cod roe, shrimps, and caper mayonnaise.

Beef tartare with cognac, egg yolk, horseradish, capers... and a lot of other condiments.

Maven - Restaurant & Vinbar
Nikolaj Plads 10
1067 Copenhagen K

Notes:
On a sunny Friday my dear mother was so kind to invite me out to lunch (bliss, having a student job where you can come and go as you desire!). It is incredible what a bit of sun and warmth can do to the Danish people, and I cannot think of a better place enjoying central Copenhagen and its lively atmosphere than Maven. The place is situated in Nikolaj Kirke, a church as the Danish name implies, now turned into an art space. The action however takes place outside, where tables are closely set on the old cobblestone. The lunch menu is very traditional, featuring smørrebrød and Western lunch classics. My mom opted for smoked cod fish roe that was accompanied by amazingly fresh shrimps from Rømø, half an egg, and a hearty caper mayo. I went with the tartare, which turned out to be an interesting encounter, served with an abundance of condiments. The tartare itself was gorgeous, obviously chopped by hand and very fresh, and in such a case I honestly think it is a shame to drown the beautiful beef in such heavy amounts of condiments. I ate the horseradish, capers, and egg yolk and was very pleased. Furthermore, I should mention that Maven breasts itself of being a wine bar and their wine selection by the glass is large, though a bit pricey starting at 75dkk per glass. We each had a glass of easily forgettable Chilean chardonnay, which did however fit the bill perfectly in terms of providing something easy to drink on a warm summer day. And on such days, I will highly recommend a visit to Maven.

Pluto

Orange wine! A 2006 Baccabianca Tenuta Grillo from Piemonte made from 100% cortese grapes. Very musky in its expression proposing a very interesting balance of sweet, sour, and savoury.

Croquettes!

Oysters with jelly of dill and horseradish snow.

Charcuteri... Gorgeous serrano, coppa, morel sausage and cornichons.

Crab salad, lumpfish roe, smoked cheese, thinly sliced daikon and cress.

Bresaola, lettuce, grated pecorino and almond vinaigrette.

Scallops, sea buckthorn, carrot and crispy crumbs.

Grilled Madagascar prawns with grilled lemon and garlicky butter sauce.

A red Loire number by Pascal Simonutti to follow. Named "Etiquette Violette", made from 100%.

Steamed buns with shredded duck, cilantro and cucumber.

Shortribs.

Bone marrow with parsley and toasted rye bread.

Passionfruit, white chocolate and licorice. 

Pluto

Borgergade 16

1300 Copenhagen K

Notes:

We were three persons with high anticipations entering Pluto on a late Saturday night. I had read plenty of reviews prior to our visit, left with the impression that Pluto is a relaxed place serving hearty and delicious food (that might have your arteries clog if you visit too often). In this culinary regard we were not let down! In order to test the diversity of the kitchen we went with the tasting menu, priced at 450, as well as a bottle of orange wine, though our server was very weaving in terms of wine recommendations. Further, if it had not occurred to us previously it quickly became evident that the place is incredibly busy, and in turn a bit understaffed. The result being intermittant carpet bombings of dishes, causing the dinner to get a rather unbalanced flow. We did however enjoy what we were served! Among the evening's highlight I would point to the horseradish oysters, croquettes, the bresaola dish, and a gorgeous porchetta-inspired dish, which I somehow failed to take a picture of. Many of the dishes are incredibly simple but so utterly full of taste. Finally, being among the last one standing, we were served three glasses of complimentary red wine, even though we had not finished the ones we had purchased. As the bill arrived and we were charged 80dkk for each glass, though we had not requested the wine to begin with, leaving us with a strange feeling of an otherwise very pleasant evening. All in all, our visit to Pluto was tasty with an accentuated hedonistic edge, and while the service was quite all over the place, I feel fairly sure that we will return at some point in the near future - at least to try their amaro-heavy cocktail menu, which looked very promising.

Bror

Bubbles to start off with - here a Blonde 2011 made from chardonnay and viognier by Andre Calek in Ardèche.

Snack #1 - Fried ox testicles. Great idea, but the execution needs a bit of work. We felt that the testicles were probably too water-y for the breading to stick properly. The tesicles in themselves by the way, did not taste like much, but the breading was very well-seasoned.

Snack #2 - Squid, söl, and white wine. B was not a huge fan, but I loved this snack. Ultra tender squid in a rich white wine broth, the consistency was almost like a pasta of sorts.

First dish was pike perch with cucumber, spruce, and nasturtium. At the table we were also served a broth made from grilled cucumber and spruce to pour over. Very delicate dish, maybe even a bit too understated in its final expression. In the glass, a Rhône number - more specifically a 2008 Saint Péray by Japanese winemaker Hirotake Ooka.

As a little intermezzo we shared a tartare - a very memorable one at that. The meat being very coursely chopped, but still tender, and incredibly flavorful. The dish also featured rhubarb, which was an excellent addition to the meat, leaving us with an impression of a very simple but pure dish.

Catfish with two sorts of seaweed and pickled onion. Accompanied by a glass of Mâcon-Prety by Alexandre Jouveaux this was one of the evening's highlights.

Onglet with charred leek and shredded cauliflower...

...with a scrumptious green sauce to accompany.

The details of the dessert have unfortunately slipped my mind, though I do remember it as being very pleasing. The main stars of the plate were white chocolate parfait, rhubarb and a lovely, sweet crunch to end it off.

Bror
Skt. Pederstræde 24
1453 Copenhagen K

Notes:
There are few places that are open in Copenhagen on Sundays, but Bror is welcome addition to the little club of restaurants that are. For B's birthday, which incidentally fell on a Sunday in April, we set out to try Bror. As you enter the restaurant you immediately sense the welcoming, buzzing atmosphere featuring dark wood, dim lighting, and a clientele that appeared to represent most corners of the world. The service is friendly and knowing but also quite unstructured and not very speedy - not that we did mind very much as we had great natural wine in our glasses and plenty to talk about. As to the food, I had initially feared that the courses would be too Noma-inspired, but fortunately I was wrong, though you can certainly see where the two head chefs have plenty of their inspiration from. I was instead pleasantly surprised to experience that the dishes at Bror leave you not only with an impression of something that certainly is a take on Nordic cuisine but also something with little pretention and where the main objective is to serve food that is well-tasting rather than just interesting - impressively Bror manages to do both. A four-course menu will set you back 350dkk, which I consider quite a bargain at this level. Highly recommended!