By Emma Lööf Björnram

The Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce SF/SV organized a wine tasting trip in Dry Creek Valley in western Sonoma County, where the Swedish-American Bonde-Åkerlind family has their wine business, West Wines. Katarina Bonde and Bengt Åkerlind offered insight into the wine making business and lunch at their house on a hilltop overlooking the wine country, a beautiful site which left the guests speechless.
Attendees of the wine tasting event came from the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce SF/SV, the Swedish Institute and the Swedish Innovation Project exhibition at Stanford University. Altogether there were 25 people who gathered around Bonde and Åkerlind as they presented their business on November 6.
Four different wines were served in their custom made wine tasting room near the fields of white grapes. First was a lovely, buttery, smooth chardonnay. The grapes of the chardonnay grow near the Russian River at the hosts' West Creekside estate. So does the viognier grape of the second wine. The viognier wine is very flowery and has a taste of exotic fruits such as pineapple, mango and guava. A real taste experience!
They moved on to red wines, and first out was a blend of different grapes called West Crest Cuvée Reserve, their “salute to France,” since it’s been blended in a traditional Bordeaux way.
The fourth and last wine was the star among them—the West Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2005. It was served at the Nobel Prize dinner in 2010, and the attendees tasted the wine with devotion. It was a full-bodied, rich taste experience which left no one unaffected.
This wine tour was a fantastic experience thanks to first class wine, gorgeous surroundings and familiar hospitality of the Bonde-Åkerlind family. They shared their knowledge and gave an insight in their business while the attendees learned, laughed and enjoyed wine.

For more info on the San Francisco Swedish Chamber of Commerce, see SACC San Francisco/Silicon Valley at www.sacc-sf.org.