Last Tuesday, I had the pleasure of pouring at the Haut Les Vins Tasting at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden.

It is the first time we have poured our wines at an event in Europe and I was a bit nervous. The event focused on terroir driven, European wine makers, many making incredible wine. I was unsure how our wines would be received, how the label would be received and how easy it would be to talk about our wines considering I know not a single word of Swedish. (And, for that matter, how the wines traveled having flown from SFO to Stockholm just 36 hours ahead of the event.)

As the event started, I marveled at the room. Trade wine events are often held in large hotels - but this one had a bit more history than I am used to . The event was extremely well organized - names tags with color codes to understand who you were talking with for example (Importer, Retail or Restaurant ).

And it went well for us. Many people in the trade enjoyed the wines - several restaurants will take the wine as soon as it makes it to Sweden. And, most importantly, I hope to announce a Swedish and Finnish importers soon.

I am just learning about taking photos with my new phone - a Droid. So these didn't turn out great but I think you will get the idea.

Labels: Grand Tasting, Sweden, Syrah