Among salvaged champagne and retro signs

Sometimes you need a surprise in your everyday life and all said and done, one Friday afternoon after work we got in the car and I told Henrik to drive east. A couple of hours later we arrived at Dufweholm Manor House just outside Katrineholm. I was incredibly pleased with myself that I had managed to keep this secret for several weeks. It was only when we passed Katrineholm that Henrik realised where we were going. An exciting start to our gourmet weekend. I had booked a gourmet package including Afternoon Tea and a seven-course dinner and overnight stay. I also added a wine package to the dinner and time in their spa. To get extra time, we arrived already on Friday evening. Nice to have the whole Saturday for everything we were going to do!

Dufweholm dates back to the 15th century but it wasn't until 1643 that the manor was given its current name Dufweholm after its owner Brita Dufva. The estate has been the subject of various family feuds, been divided and merged a number of times but acquired its current form in the mid-19th century.

Everyone who travels by train knows that Katrineholm is something of a hub and this is due, in addition to the purely practical conditions, to the cellar master Leonard Linden who ran the Railway Restaurant in Katrineholm from the turn of the century and well into the 20th century. This is said to have been one of the country's best restaurants for travellers. Linden bought Dufweholm Manor in 1917 to expand his business with another restaurant and hotel. Cellar master Linden is said to have been somewhat of an original, with sturdy knee pads and always a flower in his buttonhole. As the art and theatre enthusiast he was, he attracted celebrities of the time to Dufweholm for parties and glam. Down by the water, a small gazebo remains where Anders Zorn, Albert Engström and Carl Larsson, among others, painted on the walls, probably after consuming considerable amounts of red wine.

The mansion consists of a large main building and a number of smaller buildings where there are conference rooms, suites and a spa. We got our own little house overlooking the lake. I would have preferred to stay in the main building, but after waking up in the morning and seeing the beautiful view from the bedroom window, I changed my mind. Even after the hearty dinner in the evening, the short walk to our house wasn't too bad.

In the bar there is an incredible collection of corkscrews, reportedly around 3000. The owner of the mansion seems to be a collector of rank, the mansion's collections consist of everything from old signs to champagne. The champagne comes from the ship Jönköping, which in 1916 was on its way to Russia with champagne, brandy and wine when it was torpedoed by a German submarine. The cargo was estimated to be worth several 100 million kronor and a number of unsuccessful salvage attempts were made before the ship and its precious cargo were forgotten. In 1997 the ship was found again and the cargo was salvaged. The ship fell apart and both the wine and cognac had become unfit for consumption, but the bubbles were in good condition and a number of the bottles ended up at Dufweholm. The bottles are stored in an aquarium to avoid damage after all the years at the bottom of the sea and can be viewed downstairs in the manor's wine cellar. Every year, Duwveholm organises a champagne weekend where you get the chance to taste the find. A definite destination for bubble lovers.

Of course, there is also a small spa at the mansion. It's not that big, but there's at least one indoor and one outdoor pool and a sauna. They also offer the possibility to book treatments. For the brave, it is not many metres down to the bathing jetty. There was ice on the water along the shore so unfortunately there was no sea bathing for us. I'm so keen to try winter swimming, but I simply can't get in. It is probably not a rendahl experience that you will read about here. 🥶 But if it happens, I promise to write about it.

Dufweholm is beautifully situated by a lake and as it was sunny outside we went for a walk to visit the shop with the sign collection and look at the small gazebo with the paintings. As you can see in the pictures below, it is an extensive collection of signs and gadgets, Sweden's largest collection of product advertising signs apparently. Some signs I liked better than others, imagine putting up a sign like the bicycle sign for all electric scooters in the city. 😁 When we got tired of the signs, we went down to the gazebo and then continued the walk around the lake.

If you get tired of nature and signs, you can always go to Katrineholm, which is only a few kilometres away, or why not go to Vingåker and shop at their outlet. This is only about 20 minutes away by car.

Of course, we didn't go hungry during our stay here. After an invigorating walk, it was time for Afternoon Tea with champagne. It was a lovely mix of both savoury and sweet treats. The only thing I missed was actually scones. Scones may be of the simpler kind but I still think it belongs to a real Afternoon Tea. Now it wasn't like we left the table hungry, but as I said, a small scone would have been the icing on the cake.

What about dinner? Since it was a celebration weekend, we had paid for the gourmet package with a seven-course dinner. Here, restaurants do a little differently, some have more of a tasting menu with equally large dishes, while others divide it into starters, main courses and desserts. This is, of course, a matter of taste, but I prefer the latter, it is a little better composition of the dishes then I think.

Here we first had two starters, a fantastic potato and leek soup and a crisp with roe. Unfortunately, I realise that I will never be able to eat canned soup again, which is otherwise a standard lunch at work. This is how a soup should taste. When the main courses came in, it was first a char that became one of Henrik's favourites, followed by a chicken dish, unexpectedly good! It is unusual to see chicken on this type of menu, but here it worked perfectly.

When we were now quite full and satisfied, it was time to make room for the two desserts, but first a cheese break with some local cheeses. There is always room for dessert and luckily so, who doesn't have room for a cheesecake with saffron scrambled cloudberries and miso ice cream with chocolate cream and sesame flakes? This was really a great dinner and together with the good wines it became a real gourmet evening.

We had an incredibly nice weekend at Dufweholms mansion and we can really recommend a visit here. The mansion is quite small with only about 20 rooms and suites, but this means that there is a nice calm over the whole place. Although it was almost fully booked when we were here, we did not experience any crowding and you felt noticed as a guest. The beautiful environment and the location by the lake also did its part, of course. A great weekend simply!