Last Friday, the 21th of June, I was happy to meet my fellow bloggers again, some of them at least. And this is how you know summer is here, we are fewer than during winter, and that’s normal.
12Doispe has been our local “home away from home” since 2015. We discovered them as soon as they opened and we felt very welcome every time. We like the originality of the place, their industrial interior design, the fact that it was cool in the summer and warm and cozy in the winter. Pair that with the high quality and rich variety of their food, and you obtain a place where you will always feel good. Whenever someone visiting Craiova asks us for a recommendation, we always point them to 12Doispe. Whenever our friends from Sweden came to visit us, we always went to 12Doispe, and they were always happy. Their owner and staff are very professional and friendly, and they go the extra-mile to make you feel welcome. Since 2015, 12Doispe hosted a few personal exhibitions of ours and blogging events. And from now on, it seems they will be our host for the wine tastings.
Back in 2014, when the wine tastings started, the 1st winemaker we invited was Vinarte. For some reason, I could not be there, but this being the 60th wine tasting, we invited them again and im glad they could honour our invitation, so I could also discover and enjoy their gorgeous wines. We found out a great deal of interesting information from their oenologist, Iustinian Urucu.
We were regaled with 5 of their wines, that you will only find in specialised shops:
- Avenue Feteasca Regala + Aperifrais Ile de France
- Nedeea Alb (Feteasca Alba, Feteasca Regala si Tamaioasa Romaneasca) + Havarti Castello
- Tămâioasă Roză
- Castel Bolovanu Novac + Emmentaler Delaco
- Desert MagiQ + Gorgonzola Delaco D’Exceptie
The first 2 wines were white, the 3rd one a rose, the 4th was a red and the last one was a desert wine. And I had a hard time deciding on my favourite, because I loved 4 of the 5 wines (I usually don’t go for red wines in summer).
In the end I decided for the 2nd combo: Nedeea Alb (Feteasca Alba, Feteasca Regala si Tamaioasa Romaneasca) + Havarti Castello.
Nedeea – this playful and expressive wine – is an exclusive combination of 3 Romanian varieties. Its name is linked to an old pagan celebration – Sanziene (gentle fairies who play an important part in our folklore). The idea behind the name was to “create an emotional and cultural connection with consumers, inviting them to participate in a festivity of tastes and aromas that define our winemaking” (quote from Vinarte).
Being 50% Swedish myself, I can not skip over the fact that this celebration is very similar to the Swedish Midsummer holiday, marking the summer solstice. In Sweden, we always celebrated this in the 3rd weekend of June, about the same as in Romania.
The cheese paired with this wine, Havarti Castello, has been in my top favourites since the 1st time I tested it, about an year ago. Havarty Castello is an aged cheese, which is my favourite type of cheese, if I had to choose. It was created by Hanne Nielsen, a Danish woman who travelled throughout Europe to learn cheesemaking techniques. When she returned home, she created a washed-rind cheese and named it “Havarthi” after her family farm. She is said to have also created the Tilsit cheese with cumin, for King Christian IX of Denmark. Made from fresh cow milk and aged for minimum 2-3 months, after the ageing process the cheese becomes a little harder, crumbly and crunchy. It’s pale yellow in colour. The texture is rich and creamy, and it has some tiny delicate holes. Havarti’s aroma is of fresh butter. It can be both sliced and grilled and, except for wine, it can be paired with fruits.
My choice for food was a crispy chicken burger, which was verrrry tasty, but way too big. Especially considering the heat. So next time I will go for something smaller. But you can be sure to obtain a tasty combo when you pair chicken and white wine.
We made sure to properly hydrate ourselves with Dolce Vita (flat water), as it is recommended if you don’t want to feel hangover.
Actually, we were planning to dance some too, but everyone was so tired because of the heat, that we preferred to go home as soon as we were done with the tasting.
I enjoyed this evening and im already looking forward to the next event.
Until then, take care and take it easy this summer, if you can ;)!
Positive-Mind-4-Life 