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German Riesling & Co Weeks
Spring is finally here and so is the popular restaurant event organized by the German Wine Information organization: Riesling & Co Weeks*
About 60 restaurants and wine bars from 16 cities around Finland are participating in Riesling & Co Weeks this year. See the list here!
This has been an increasingly popular event year after year. I recommend getting to know the offer of your own city and the surrounding area, because you really don’t want to miss the unique opportunity to taste different German Rieslings as well as other German wines, for example during a tasting or an enjoyable meal.
Kymin Huvila, Kuusankoski’s oldest residential building
Kouvola was first on my visit list this year. And not just any place in Kouvola. I got to see the historic Kymin Huvila, the oldest residential building in Kuusankoski. Kymi Huvila was completed in 1873 as the residence of August Palmberg, the property manager of Kymi Osakeyhtiö, and for many years served as the home of the managers (cartridges) of the Kymi factory.
In the 70s, the guests were mainly customers and other dignitaries whom the company wanted to treat according to their value. The factory workers, and even the middle management, didn’t really care about the villa. The area was isolated by a gate and visitors were only invited.
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| Kuusaansaari’s old paper mill |
Kymin Huvila has witnessed a long period of UPM’s birth history, serving first as the “headquarters” of the Kymi company and then as the meeting place for the board of directors of the three merged factories since 1943. The villa was also used to host distinguished guests.
It kept the name of the executive villa until 2016, when it was still in use by UPM.
Today, the house is known as Kymin Huvila, after restaurateur Susanna Kurvinen started hosting the villa in 2016. Now Kymin Huvila is open to all those interested in it, both as a restaurant and as a place to stay.
Kymin Huvila and the German Riesling & Co Weeks
Kymin Huvila offers versatile restaurant, accommodation and party services; weekday lunch, À la carte restaurant, corporate events, weddings and parties in general.
This year, Kymin Huvila is participating in the German Riesling & Co Weeks event throughout May, and in honor of the event, Kymin Huvila’s popular four-course surprise menus designed around Rieslings are again available on Fridays and Saturdays throughout May.
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| At Kymin Huvila, Schloss Vollrads Riesling is known as the house wine and is available all year round. |
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| Another favorite on Kymin Huvila’s list is Jakob Jung Siegelsberg Riesling. |
If you’re on the move in the Kouvola region at lunchtime, Kymin Huvila offers a great lunch on Mondays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
That too can be a great moment to taste German Riesling on the spot.
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| Kymin Huvila turns 150 this year. |
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| Gentlemen’s Lounge |
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| 40-seat dining room, former dance hall. |
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| Sikarihune |
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| Upper floor with lounges, meeting room and three suites. |
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| Suite 1 Tiivola, the official bedroom of the factory cartridge, where slept e.g. Mannerheim and Svinhufvud. |
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| We stayed in Gösta Björkenheim’s daughter’s room, i.e. Suite 2 Ehrnrooth, which in our opinion was top notch and absolutely gorgeous. The friendly and absolutely wonderful professional staff led by Susanna Kurvinen made us feel so welcome and almost like princesses. |
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| Suite 3 Swanljung |
The villa has been visited by:
Marshal Mannerheim in 1933
President Svinhufvud in 1935
and the Sugar Kingdom in 2023 (it was indeed a pleasure and an honor)
Restaurant Olé and the German Riesling & Co Weeks
For dinner, we headed to the center of Kouvola, where the Spanish-style Restaurant Olé, founded in 1982, is located.
The outside of the restaurant doesn’t reveal much about what’s inside: absolutely wonderful brick walls and arches that take you to another world in an instant. It was a really wonderful find such a restaurant in Kouvola, where good-tasting and generous-sized portions take away even the biggest hunger.
And even better when you know that Restaurant Olé also participates in the German Riesling & Co Weeks event. Why not go in and taste it!
As an appetizer, we were served Asparagus and walleye cheeks and the house wine Schloss Vollrads 2019 Riesling, which goes perfectly with it.
The dish was so tasty, springy and went perfectly with the Schloss Vollrads 2019 Riesling.
The aroma of the wine is fresh and fruity. It contains peach, pineapple and apple. The taste of the wine is dry, acidic and fruity, crisp, full of minerality. The aftertaste is peachy, peary and slightly citrusy. We enjoyed the dish very much.
And when the whole place screams Olé, we chose Härkää El Matador as the main course.
Although Riesling doesn’t usually go best with beef, I dared to try Jakob Jung Siegelsberg Riesling as a flavor pairing, which generally also goes well with spicy, oriental food and pork. Believe it or not, it also works quite well with a decent steak!
The food and wine were so tasty and even though we were full, the waiter assured us that every body has its own stomach for dessert, so we decided to test it. And it is true!
For dessert we had Chocolate Cake with whipped cream and strawberry-pineapple compote and Crema Catalana.
Restaurant Olé in Kouvola was a wonderful experience and I can only recommend it. Throughout May, Riesling weeks are held there and the house wine Schloss Vollrads 2019 is available all year round.
Restaurant Olé will organize a wine tasting on 25 May 2023, with German Rieslings as the theme.
A taste trip to the world of German Riesling
25.5 at 18:30 – 20:30
Read more and sign up.
As we were leaving, Susanna told us that on the way back, we should stop by one of the seven World Heritage sites located in Finland: Verla’s sawmill and cardboard factory, the only forest industry site on the World Heritage list. There we got to see the UPM Verla factory museum and in the wonderful environment of the old factory we enjoyed wonderful waffles in the Verla restaurant.
It was a wonderful visit to Kouvola. We will return there again sometime. Although during next spring’s Riesling weeks. Don’t wait so long! Go already this May and enjoy wonderful German Rieslings with good food, in a truly wonderful setting!
Schloss Vollrads 2019
Quality wine Rheingau, Saksa, Riesling,
The history of the Schloss Vollrads winery dates back to the beginning of the 13th century: the first document about the sale of grapes is dated 1211. The winery is also one of the founding members of the VDP (Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüte).
Jakob Jung Siegelsberg Riesling
Jakob Jung is one of the most interesting producers in Rheingau. Production is led by son Alexander Jung, one of Germany’s many dynamic winemakers. All work in the vineyards is done ecologically and winemaking focuses on ecology and sustainability.
Jakob Jungin makes Rheingau rieslings with refined and well-integrated acidity. They are light, elegant and playful wines that impress with their versatility and precision. The VDP.GROSSE LAGE® designation distinguishes the highest quality German vineyards from others and their location, and the area is defined with plot precision. The best wines are born from these orchards, which are expressive, have ripe fruit and have a special aging potential. Grosses Gewächs, or GG vineyards, are planted only with regionally precisely defined grape varieties that suit the vineyard in question best. Siegelsberg is one of these top plots. Its name is said to come from an old document that was sealed with a seal (siegel in German). Siegelsberg is located on a very sheltered south-facing sunny slope with a gradient of 16% and an altitude of 100 m above sea level. Due to this, the vines bloom early and the grapes become wonderfully ripe and can be tasted in the wine.
Thörle Riesling fine dry 2019
GERMANY, RHEINHESS WHITE WINE, SEMI-DRY
Semi-dry, tart, fruity, grapefruity, citrusy
*Riesling & Co theme weeks are organized together with Finland’s leading restaurants during the spring of May. During the week, the restaurants offer the opportunity to taste different German Rieslings as well as other German wines, for example in connection with a tasting or an enjoyable meal.
Campaign implemented by: German Wine Information
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Source: www.sokerivaltakunta.com
