CorkRules - Episodes | Hav & Mar Hav & Mar

Available on

About this Episode

Tina Johansson, WSET Diploma Graduate and Michelin restaurant sommelier and Robert Tas review the bold and eclectic wine list at Hav & Mar, a restaurant that serves Swedish and Ethiopian cuisine and a delicious selection of wines. Tina discovers the gems on the list, ranging from Austrian orange wine to the most prestigious Barolos and Hungarian Tokaj and offers advice on what to pair with the exotic menu.

Wines reviewed include:

2021 Castello di Verduno Basadone
NV Krug Grand Cuvee, Champagne
2019 Kiralyudvar Tokaj Sec, Hungary

Transcript: Hav & Mar

Cork Rules Script

Hav & Mar

RT: Hello and Welcome to CorkRules!

I’m your host Robert Tas along with Tina Johansson, WSET Diploma Graduate and Michelin restaurant sommelier.

Hi Tina, thanks for being back with us on another episode of CorkRules, - a podcast where we help simplify and demystify the wine lists at some of your favorite restaurants. We talk with certified sommeliers and wine professionals who point out interesting bottles, classic food and wine pairings, hidden gems, value wines, or splurge wines that will take your dining experience over the top.

TJ: Thank you Robert. Today’s episode is extra fun for me. We’re looking into the food and wine in the restaurant Hav & Mar, and the owner here is Swedish just like me! His name is Marcus Samuelsson and he might be most known from his time as head chef in Akvavit in New York. Hav & Mar is also located in New York, and the name represents Samuelsson's two heritages and culinary influences; hav, the Swedish word for ocean, and mar from the Amharic word for honey.

RT: Great to have a Swede with me for this one. Hav & Mar is actually newly opened and the flavors here are bold. Seafood takes the biggest role on the menu, together with a lot of vegetables, fruits and spices. It really is a mix of Swedish and Ethiopian. I would very much like to have the hamachi ceviche with green apples or the snapper with coconut rice. It’s definitely a place for sharing food so you can try as much as possible!

TJ: I agree. And the wine list is also bold, in its own way. You can find anything from funky, Austrian orange wine to the most prestigious Barolos even though the wine list doesn’t go on for pages. All wines are also marked if they are run by women or people of color as part of the restaurant's basic values.

RT: Oh really? Interesting to see a different setup of a wine list, and great for the conscious consumer. So let’s dig in! What do you think Tina, what would be the perfect seafood wine for the food in Hav & Mar?

TJ: I’ll go white as so often with seafood, but not the traditional crispy white but a more intense one to handle the spicy and flavorful elements. They have one of my favorite dry Tokaji wines, the 2019 Kiralyudvar Tokaj Sec. Tokaj is of course most known for making some of the best sweet wines in the world, and it’s definitely Hungary's most famous wine. However, in the most recent years dry wines have become increasingly popular and they are amazing! You can still feel the slightly floral and honey-inspired aromas as in the sweet wines, but with a fresh acidity.

RT: Yes, the sweet wines of Tokaj are iconic, but the dry ones are really amazing too! They really show what the region is capable of. Oh well, let’s move on to red! I know Hav & Mar serves hardly any meat, but for the red wine drinker – what do you think could go with the seafood menu?

TJ: I don’t think you should be afraid of drinking red with fish and shellfish, especially not if it’s grilled or with components on the plate like tandoori butter, coconut rice or chimichurri like some of the courses here. That really drives up the intensity of the plate, so I think a light and fruity red would be a great match. I would happily drink the 2021 Castello di Verduno Basadone, it’s a red wine from Piedmont but not from the traditional Nebbiolo or Barbera varieties. It’s made from a quite unique variety called Pelaverga that produces very fresh and floral reds.

RT: What a treat! Two wines that are not that common, this really sounds like a restaurant for the adventurous drinker. Do they hold any classic cult wines as well? A wine to bring out for a great celebration perhaps?

TJ: Yes they do! A wine that caught my eye is the NV Krug Grand Cuvee. Actually, I think that’s a wine that will catch any wine lover skimming the list. It’s one of the most prestigious champagnes of the world, and made in a richer style great for the food here. A bottle very hard to say no to.

RT: I agree, it’s one of those bucket list wines. Tina, thank you for being back with us.

And to our audience, thank you all for joining us here on CorkRules.

If you would like us to review one of your favorite

restaurants, please send us email to:

Info@CorkRules.Com or visit our web website where

we have a request form available and we will do our

best to get it in the queue as quickly as possible.

We are looking forward to being with you on

another CorkRules episode soon. In the meantime,

please check out our website for other episodes of

your favorite restaurant wine lists wherever you get your podcasts.

And finally, drink what you love and please make