|
Kings tend to be a sensitive lot. This could be due to their royal upbringing or the inevitable mild to severe narcissism that develops along their way to being ensconced in purple velvety kinghood. It may also arise from the simple fact that just about everyone who is not a king would love to be in their position no matter the cost to the king, his kingly life, or even the lives of his entire royal family. Power can be quite a drug. The hunger for power is a high risk/high reward venture, though, and can have consequences. As the wise Omar said in that hit 2000's show The Wire, “You come at the king, you best not miss.” Two Swedes learned this lesson the hard way on December 11th, 1317.  The beautiful Nyköping castle. Well worth a visit even if you’re not a student of history. Our macabre tale begins when a man with the very regal name of Birger Magnusson became King of Sweden in 1290. Only 10 years old at the time, his reign lasted until 1318. He had two similarly royal brothers: Eric Magnusson, the Duke of Södermanland and Valdemar Magnusson, the Duke of Finland. Both were covetous of their brother’s position. The three brothers’ relationship is a complex tale of politics, intrigue, and shifting alliances that could easily fill a book, not just a silly blog. Most important for our tale is that, in 1306, his two Ducal brothers staged a little coup. They captured King Birger and his wife and temporarily imprisoned both of them in the dungeons of Nyköping Castle. And you thought your siblings were horrible…  Nyköping castle grounds. Imagine what it must have looked like in the 14th century. The coup and subsequent shenanigans resulted in other royals intervening in order to quell this Swedish mischief. Namely, the Kings of both Denmark and Norway eventually settled the matter in 1310 by splitting Sweden between the three brothers. Birger remained “King”, but in name only. All was well again, or so it seemed. Seven years after the split, Birger invited both Eric and Valdemar to an early Christmas celebration with him and his wife at Nyköping Castle. This olive branch must have been unexpected, even shocking, but probably felt like a legitimate opportunity to reconcile the brothers’ long-fractured relationship. Therefore, both agreed to attend the party. If we know anything about Swedes, they can’t resist a good banquet, and are very skilled at them, especially around the holidays. We’ll do a post on Julbords (i.e., Christmas tables) at some point, but back to the tale. Nyköping Castle is not a huge place. Therefore, it probably did not seem suspicious that, when the dukes arrived at the castle, their retinues of troops were asked to lodge in the town of Nyköping and not in the castle with their Dukes. Can you see where this is going?  This is supposedly where the brothers starved to death... After the celebratory banquet, which lasted from the evening of the 10th until the early morning hours of the 11th, the two dukes were captured. King Birger had them placed in the same dungeon that formerly housed both him and his wife. Unlike his own time in the dungeon, this was never intended to be a temporary captivity. Legend has it that King Birger, in an overly dramatic yet still kingly move, threw the keys to the dungeon into the nearby Nyköping river. The king then cut off all their food, leaving his brothers to slowly starve to death over Christmas. Signed documents reveal that both of them were alive as of January 18th, so this must have been a long, torturous death for both of them. Birger’s plan didn’t lead to peace, though. He was ousted later that same year and driven into exile. He shuffled off his mortal coil quite far from Nyköping (i.e., Denmark) in 1320. One wonders if he felt any guilt – or even an occasional pang of regret – from such ill treatment of his kin. Perhaps he felt justified? We may never know. Regardless, as you’re eating your lovely Christmas dinner this year – even if it comes from a microwave – you might let your thoughts linger a moment on the memory of those two Dukes, Valdemar and Eric, whose brother allowed them to starve to death over the holidays. Your own family probably isn’t that bad, so this may make you feel at least a little thankful for what you have. Merry Christmas. Visiting As you can see, much of Nyköping castle is still standing today, and it makes for an extremely fun visit. We’ve been there twice, always in the winter, and the castle grounds are breathtakingly beautiful in snow. Only a 90-minute drive from Stockholm, it is a worthwhile day trip. You might also visit the local museum which has an excellent gift shop with reproductions of medieval glassware for sale. Save some time to wander around the town as well, especially by the river in the evening.  Isn’t Sweden lovely? We didn’t stage this shot. It’s in town just a short walk from the castle.
0 Comments
Back in the good old days before facebook, cell phones, and Love Island, there was still wine. However, it didn’t come in glass bottles, fancy cans, or even cheap cardboard boxes. That beautiful beverage of Bacchus used to be stored in large clay jars sealed with tree sap!! This not only kept the bugs (and children?) out, but also imparted a strong taste to every single sip. Since it was always there, it presumably wasn’t any more noticeable than oakiness would be today, just one of many flavors which imparts interesting character.  A bottle of inexpensive Greek retsina (yellow liquid) enjoyed at an AirBnB in Athens along with other fine, Greek wine. Yes, that is what you think it is in the background (upper right). To the modern degenerate, though, the taste of pine sap in your fancy grape juice can be surprising at best, and ghastly at worst. Palates differ, though. Pine and wine remain a popular combination in one of the best wine regions of the world: Greece. The Greek people still produce and drink wine that tastes like the good old days. They call it retsina and it is produced by many vineyards. We like it, but it’s not for everyone. Making matters worse, the Greeks are smart enough to keep the good stuff for themselves. Therefore, much of the wine exported to the US and UK can be of pretty low quality. As a result, that first cheap bottle you drink could leave a bad first impression. It would be akin to meeting a supermodel, but only after she accidentally took PCP and went on a 48-hour cavalcade of drinking and fighting across the many dive bars of Kansas City with no time to shower, fix her makeup, or even properly accessorize. Just like retsina, you might want to give her another chance.  Mediterranean Cellars’ tasting room is located in Warrenton, VA. It boasts multi-generational and decades of wine making experience. Our proper favorite wines are the retsina and chambourcin, but the ports and chardonnay are also worth a taste. So where can you get some good retsina in the states? You can try the imported section of your favorite wine store. If you are ever on the East Coast of the US, you could even try something a bit more local. The only wineries we are aware of which produce a good domestic retsina are Mediterranean Cellars and Molon Labe vineyard. Both are located in Virginia of all places. Both also have very good quality wine, but we prefer Mediterranean Cellars a wee bit more. They produce a white retsina called rechina. Having been there many times, we have it on good authority that the wise people of Mediterranean Cellars import their pine sap directly from Athens, so you will not be tasting the trees of Arlington or Richmond, but only the actual Greek stuff. This makes sense, as the founders of the vineyard hailed from the same land that gave us Homer, Heraclitus, and John Stamos. Now, if you are a bit of a wine snob, try to bracket your snootiness and give this interesting drink a shot. Some part of you out there must be bored tasting the same old Chardonnays and Pinot Grigios, so you should give it a try. You could even turn it into a quick meal by enjoying your retsina with some fresh bread, Greek feta, walnuts, raspberries, and dates.  Mediterranean Cellars’ flagship rechina (i.e., retsina) made with real Athenian pine resin. Tasting notes
Unlike traditional Greek retsina, Mediterranean Cellars’ rechina is far lighter on the pine. The judicious use of resin is more perfume-y and less overpowering, so it’s more accessible to a less adventurous palette. It tastes of:
Interestingly, this seems to get better and more complex as it gets warm. You can drink it cold, of course, but we prefer it closer to room temperature. Better yet, you could split the difference by pouring yourself a big cold glass and drink it slowly for a strange and rewarding taste experience. If you can, grab a bottle of the 2010 vintage before it sells out, as it is particularly good. Nick-named “The King of Wines” and “Wine of Kings”, tokaj aszú once filled the posh glasses of royalty and aristocrats all over Europe. Sadly, many wine snobs today haven’t ever had, or maybe even heard of this very special wine from northern Hungary. Hungarian wine? Are you joking? Before we started travelling, we didn’t know much about Hungary except for goulash, paprika, and the inimitable Bela Lugosi. But this one fact is true: Hungary makes some of the best white wines in the world. Learning this was extremely upsetting. All those bottles we could have finished had we known sooner. Youth is truly wasted on the young…  Hungarian wine grapes in the beginning stages of the noble rot. Tokaj aszú is a VERY special wine. More posts on it will be coming, so we’ll be brief here. The base of this wine consists of some dry local varietals (e.g., Furmint, Hárslevelű, and Sárga Muskotály). To this is added grapes who have “the noble rot” (i.e., botrytis cinerea). This is a gentle way of saying that these poor grapes got infected with a special mold which caused them to shrivel up. As the grapes are affected by this wrinkly fungal shrinkage, the flavors and sweetness intensify. Having sampled some straight off the vine, let us assure you that the taste is extreme. Then, when all is ready, the master Hungarian winemakers mix baskets (i.e., puttonyos) of these moldy little raisins into the dry wine base. The more puttonyos listed on the bottle (i.e., usually 3-6) the more of that sweet funky raisin action can be found. If you can imagine a more intense French sauternes, you are getting in the general ballpark of the flavor of tokaj aszú  A traditional wine cave in Tokaj Hungary. Notice the dark walls? The black is a special mold that is essential to traditional Hungarian winemaking processes. We were on holiday in Teplitz, which is a beautiful spa town in northern Czech Republic, when we came up with this recipe. It is a beautiful town, and famous for two geniuses meeting there for the first time: Goethe (of Faust fame) and none other than Ludwig von Beethoven. They met, strolled about the town, and had lovely chats. So, it was in this locale (and running low on tokaj aszú) that we decided to turn tokaj aszú into a cocktail. Some may call this heresy, but it seemed like a good and reasonable idea at the time. The flavor is so intense, though, that it took a bit of trial and error. We eventually hit on the “simple is better” approach and formulated this recipe for what we shall call an Hungarian Kiss. Hungarian Kiss Recipe
Two boozes. That’s it. Is it even a cocktail? When you have two genius ingredients, who cares? After all, Beethoven and Goethe were able to have a great time walking around Teplitz and chatting about whatever the hell two world-class geniuses talk about. They certainly didn’t need a third wheel cocking-up the conversation, and this drink certainly doesn’t need any silly lemon wedge or mummified cherry. Enjoy! Tasting Notes This drink is sparkling liquid sunshine. Though simple to make, it tastes sophisticated, almost celebratory. This a good drink to whip out when you’re trying to impress a date or celebrate something special. The acidity of the aszú blends extremely well with the dry champagne. To our taste buds, it seems to make the acid even more complex and lingering on the tongue. The bubbly also cuts some the pronounced sweetness of the aszú and morphs this into a far-too-easy-to-drink libation with hints of honey, apricot jam, mild pineapple, and maybe even a bit of saffron. A plus to this recipe is that you can make the admittedly spendy bottle of tokaj aszú stretch a bit further and keep enjoying it. NOTE: If you have a hard time finding tokaj aszú, you might have some luck at Total Wine and More in the US or either Sainsburys or Waitrose supermarkets in the UK.  Hungarian Kiss is only two ingredients - so not a real cocktail. However, this is something to whip up on a first date or couples dinner club night. |
Categories
All
Archives
December 2024
|
RSS Feed