Life is too short to drink bad wine

Our favourite drink down at the flat in Antibes can also be drunk here in Paris when the sun is shining and the temperatures requires an outdoor lunch in the garden. Domaine Yves Cuilleron, which has a beautiful selection of Cote Rotie, Saint Jospeh and Condrieu, also produces some more reasonable wines which are sold as "vin de pays". Among them, a Syrah Rose' called Sybel. The name comes from "belle syrah". And its just that; delicious beautiful pale red colour, fresh red fruits on the nose and a very nice fruity well balanced taste that goes well with salads, fish or just on its own. To be served cold. Syrah Rose' "Sybel" 2007 from Chavanay by Cuilleron, 5 to 6€ a summerly P++ available at Cave Bourdin, but only around 18000 btls...    Cave Yves Cuilleron

One of last winemakers we visited in South Africa was Fairview and I must say they have  a fantastic selection of wines. We visited the more fancy tasting room for the upper range of the wines and ended up being deeply impressed. So the other day (nice summer evening in Paris) we tried one of their bottles, namely a single vineyard wine called the Beacon Shiraz 2005. The grapes comes from bushvines on grey shale stone and are pruned to carry a small crop to enhance concentration.  Fermentation took place in open 500 litre french oak barrels with manual punch downs (just like Lynx). It spent 16 months in french oak (40% new) before bottling. So to the wine itself : Beautiful dark red colour with a wonderful aroma of pepper, roastbeef and dark berries. It just makes you wonder how good its gonna taste! and it goes on as the taste is wonderful complex , silky and perfectly balanced with some soft tannins. Yummy yummy! ca 18 points It's just wonderful stuff, sort of a mixture between a...

So we are on our last bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from our South Africa trip (see picture of a truck with Sauvignon Blanc in Franschhoek)and what a gem! This is the top of the range wine from Boschendal in Franschhoek and what a wine it is! Very elegant almost steel mineral like with a wonderful smell of gooseberry, grass, tropical fruit. Obviously cooler climate grapes, but also bigger in taste and more intense than the others, but at same time more subtle, pure and polished. A truly great experience! In the same class as a top Sancerre and I would say even better than Cloudy Bay from New Zealand! We just loved it! More pricy of course but still below 14€ which is were the top Sancerre would start... If only we had more.......   Boschendal Wines

Wine and food pairing can often be a challenge as it depends on so many different things. Sauvignon Blanc is a very fruity, acidic, dry and "nervous" that goes well with the following dishes; - goat cheese or goat cheese salad - most types of smoked fish salmon, cod, haddock etc - green aspargus with melted salted butter - most chicken dishes If you have a Sauvignon Blanc slightly rounder , like one from South Africa compared to Sancerre it goes well with; - prawns - lobster - langoustine It also goes well with "rilettes", type of pate. When you taste a Sauvignon Blanc grape it tastes so much more acidic and sour compared to a Chardonnay grape and its the acidity of the wine you will have to match....

Back from a visit to beautiful but ah so touristy "Mont Saint Michel", it was time for a quick dive into the cave to find something to celebrate Stoke City renewed Premiership contract. I ended up with a bottle of the 1995 Leoville Poyferre, neighbour to Latour and Leoville Las Cases. This was bought as en primeur in 1997 for a mere 20€ a bottle, what we would need to pay know I just would not like to know..(85€) Anyway dark red colour with a big aroma of cassis, damp wine cellar and tobacco. Great stuff I thought! Beautiful well balanced elegant taste with great length and taste. Wonderful stuff that made one forget about the awful service in Mont Saint Michel and remember glorious fotball events with yet another season to come. Above picture is from the Wall of Fame in Stoke as I supported the funding of the new stadium some 10 years ago... Leoville Poyferre  Leoville Poyferre 1995 at peak right now and 17 to go!!! Do I need help.....? Score 18,6 and at the price P++ ...

Vergelegen (pronounced ver che lechen) means "situated far away". The estate was granted to the governor of the Cape in 1700 and lies in Somerset West. Vergelegen produces a wide range of red and white wines. We tried the Sauvignon Blanc a nice warm Parisian evening and again the smell and taste of South African Sauvignon Blanc is just a delight; Pale green colour, with a beautiful clean nose of gooseberries, cut grass, elderflower, green pepper. A fruity zingy zesty dry white with good length and perfect balance. Truly great stuff for less than 10€! On the website they say drink now or over the next two to four years. I believe it should be hours rather years..... Vergelegen Heritage - Vergelegen Wine Estate - Somerset West, Winelands, South Africa  

Sylvie Esmonin took over the family domaine in the 90s. The domaine is based in Gevrey Chambertin where they have 7 hectares. She has started using more more stems in the vinification process to improve structure and quality. We bought some of her 2006 wines from our cave Bourdin down the road. Good red burgundy is rather pricy so the cheapest one cost 15€, a cuvée called Bourgogne rouge , from vineyards outside Gevrey-Chambertin was light, fruity and lively. Quite an easy drinking nearly Beaujoulais type of wine.  The second one (around 20€) called Côte-de-Nuits-Village comes from vineyards in Brochon, a small village between Gevrey and Fixin, has a nice raspberry smell with some smoke and pepper. The wine was well balanced with ripe tannins and sweet velvety fruit. Very nice indeed. The Gevrey-Chambertin  (around 30€) comes from 30-year-old vines and was darker, richer with more structure and taste. Dark fruit aromas and a lovely balance. In terms of value f...

One of the big surprises in South Africa was the Sauvignon Blanc's that one could get. Clear crispy zingy zesty dry white wines with just that little bit more sunshine and sweetness compared to Sancerre making them perfect as an aperitif or with white meat or salad. At J'burg airport we came across Fleur du Cap Unfiltered Sauvignon Blanc 2008 and with the temperatures in Paris on the rise it was Sauvignon Blanc time. A wonderful example of South African "Sancerre" with tropical fruit, ripe gooseberries and a zingy character it was perfect match with warm weather.  Please send us more as this was the only one we bought..... and I won't mention the price.... Fleur du Cap Online