It's Saturday May 3d. I get up at 7 AM. Too early for a Saturday, but there are reasons for getting up early.
It is the first Saturday in May, so I must get up early. To understand this reason you need to be a Norwegian. And a wine-lover. We have monopoly in Norway when it comes to wine and spirits. The Monopoly is organized in a "highly democratic" way. Six times a year importers can launch new products. This Saturday is one of them. The first Saturday in May is always the day when the new vintage of il mimo is launched. The il mimo has strangely enough for a rose turned into a cult-wine here in Norway and is sold out very quickly.
So I get up at 7 AM. I shower, shave, eat a quick breakfast and do the dishwashing from yesterdays dinner. It is time for a phone-call.
"Highly democratic" for the Vinmonopolet means that all citizens in Norway should have the same opportunity in getting the bottles of wines that they want. This democrazy does of course not work at all, but we pretend that it does. It's a discussion that belongs to another story anyway.
It is the first Saturday of May and it is the first chance to order bottles of the new vintage of il mimo. Normally order is what you have to do. And the democratic bottles will show up a week later. But shops can order bottles earlier. So when the day comes when the public finally have a chance to order bottles it is too late. The importer is empty. All bottles have been bought by shops who knows that this is juice that sells.
So first I have to make a phone-call to find out which stores that has bottles of the il mimo. I know one that normally takes in plenty of the il mimo each year. But I play safe. I want the il mimo. So I make a phone-call and asks where I can find the it. The shop where I normally buy the il mimo of course have it this year too. But to my surprise the very small local shop just down the road also has the il mimo. Now that was a surprise. We are talking a shop which normally makes a living out of selling cheap booze. The wine-list is, if I use kind words, very lousy.
But they have the il mimo. I get out in the car. The drive is only 5-6 minutes and I am there.I find a parking place very close to the store. Everthing looks great. The store has just opened. I enter, ask for the il mimo.
A woman behind the counter, mid-50’s, needs 10 seconds of thinking, before she turns out a great smile. ”Yes”, she replies ”the il mimo. It is supposed to be a very nice wine. We decided to take in some bottles this year.” She keeps on talking as she disappears and comes back with a single bottle and starts to finish the transaction. ”Ehmm…excuse me, but I want 15 bottles” I say. She all of a sudden stops. Her face grows stiff. Then she starts yelling ”15 BOTTLES….NOOOOOOO……NOOOOOOOOOO. NOOO PLEASE YOU WILL CLEAR US OUT.” She walks away. A minute later she comes back with the bottles. She says ”We know it is sought after, so we took in two cases. We have been open for ten minutes and are already almost sold out.” She does not look happy at all. I pay, takes the case and the plastic-bag, says good-bye. She turns out a little smile as I leave. ”I pulled off a couple of bottles for myself” she explains. I walk out. Summer can start.
I have the il mimo. Summer can start. It is the ultimate summer wine. April has been great in Norway. Weather much warmer than normal. Sun every day. Summer is here and I have the il mimo I keep saying to myself on this first rainy day in a long time. Bottles in the trunk. Drive home. Brings bottles inside. One bottle in the fridge.
Caroline and I gets ready to leave again. We drive to the town of Drammen. A 45-minute drive south of Oslo. It is time to buy pasta.
Drammen is a small and highly forgettable town south of Oslo. It is a town to pass with your car going further south to much nicer places. But in Drammen you can find the worlds best pasta. In a little shop close to one of the largest quays in Norway an italian-born pastamaker makes his pasta with great affection. I have been buying pasta here regularely for years. A couple of years ago the pastamaker started to make a great name. His pasta was so sought after by restaurants all over Norway. They all wanted the pasta. Production increased. He made a lot of money. Then one day he cancelled all orders. He had realised that increasing the production had lowered the quality of his products. So no more large orders for restuarants. He went back to his small shop in Drammen and the smaller scaled quality-products.
Weather gets nastier as we drives. As we almost reach Drammen it starts to snow!!!! It is the 3d of May. I have the il mimo. One bottle in the fridge. Summer should start?? Snow!!!
In Drammen we do our errands quickly. Brings back 3 kg. of freshly made pasta. On the way back we visit Carolines parents. I give her father four bottles of the il mimo. His not a huge wine-lover but we shared a bottle last year and he was stunned by the quality of the wine. He is very happy. Asks: ”Why is it so hard to find. Why not increase the production when it is so much sought after?”. I smile. Tries to explain. Outside snow keeps on falling on this day that should be the start of the summer. 1/3 of a meter of snow falls during this first day of summer. We eat lunch and drives home.
Time to prepare dinner. Only one easy-made course. I make pesto. Chicken from Stange. The best you can find in Norway. When the chickens live they are free to walk where they want and are fed with ecologically made corn. No filets, but I have a piece of boneless leg which is IMO juicier. I fry it fast before it goes in the oven on low temperature. Squash is fried fast with a few drops of a thick sauce of red wine. Some fresh mushrooms. And of course tagliatelle, made this morning in Drammen.
The il Mimo is brought out 15 minutes before serving the food. Opened and poured in Sommelier Bordeaux-stems (400/0). Vintage 2002 - a bad year in the Langhe. The label says Collina Novaresi DOC. Winery situated in Ghemme. Not very far from the Langhe. So what can I expect. The alcohol level is down 0,5% from the usual 13. Colour is nice. Light transparent red. Red. Not pink. More red than you expect from a rose. It is eight months since I finished the last bottle of the 2001-vintage, but I swear the 2002 is a tad more red. A tad more maceration?
The nose is very fine indeed. Intence and fresh and sweet flowery. Some currants. If you smell behind the flowers you find a lot of lemon. You can almost smell that acids are high here.
In the mouth it is acidic. But the play between the sweet flower-notes and the lemon-flavours are very well-balanced and elegant. It is dry, acidic, but with aromatic sweet flowers and this very light touch of tannins in the back.
It is very good juice indeed. It’s a very good il mimo. A bit more structure and acid than previous years. But not without loosing the sweet and fresh floweriness. A simple and delicious wine. Outside it has stopped snowing. I hope summer will start soon.