Time is too short to taste all the wines

I believe I need to change the heading of this blog. Yet another fabulous wine tasting event, this time in Paris in the Louvre. What more can you want?
With more than 300 stands all of them with 4 to 6 bottles the task was daunting and mission impossible. It was the time for hard selection and I had to ignore stars like;
Beychevelle, Brane Cantenac, Grand Puy Ducasse, Lagrange, Langoa et Leoville Barton, Cloudy Bay etc etc instead I concentrated on the champagne, the unknowns and Burgundy.
Check out the programme below with link to all the producers.
www.grandtasting.com ~ Les vins et les producteurs

Anyway I found some fantastic Burgundy reds, + a "mad" guy from Provence producing some dense solid Syrah's, add to that some small Champagne houses with reasonable priced Brut, rose and vintage, upcoming stars in St Emilion and a Ch Kirwan that is on its way up again....

Details to follow, but Ch. Sociando Mallet 2001 was wonderful with a surprisingly "Margaux" like bouquet. As it is Mia's year it was difficult not to add a case of the wine to the selection...
Just wonderful stuff and I was told to keep my bottles of the 2000 vintage another 5 years at least! (so not this Xmas then..)

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Leoville Lascases 1988

Last week was a special week for me as I received my last pay check from my previous employer. An event that required some sort of celebration with some good friends. Of the many bottles opened during that evening was a Leoville Lascases 1988. This Bordeaux wine from St. Julien is second Grand cru classee but it has the quality of a first growth. This chateau was also the wine that made me change from beer to wine as I had the pleasure of tasting a Leoville Lascases 1945 back in 88. The 1945 just knocked me off my guard and I remember thinking what a fantastic wine it was and what an experience to drink this wine from the year when world war 2 ended. I was in shock and I then just decided to enter into the world of wine. I have always had a soft spot for this chateau ever since. And to my pleasure it has been performing well at much more reasonable prices than the much more expensive first growths in the 1855 classification. Nowadays a bottle of this wine costs around ...

Condrieu 2014 by Cuilleron

In the steep hills north in the Rhone valley there is a small appelation which is called Condrieu. Here the rare grape of Viognier is grown. A grape not well known to many people but which gives a fantastic wine when grown here. It is a full bodied white with a very pronounced and overwhelming smell of flower, peach, apricot, tropical fruit etc. The taste is dominated by ripe fruit, medium acidity and a long finish. Very good to outstanding quality. This is not a white for the fainthearted as the style is rather opulent. But with 2 year old Comte it is the perfect match. Cuilleron (manager) has many different styles. The wine is pricy and rare to get hold of. Condrieu 2014 "La Petite Cote" Yves Cuilleron ca 30€ or 400 nok

Chianti Riserva 2016

Castello de Farnatello has a basic Chianti and a Riserva on the market. Both of them are good value for money. We tried the Riserva the other day, in two different glasses; Riedel Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. The Syrah glass is more closed at the top (to the right). The colour of the wine is medium red and the nose discrete smell of cherries, leather and nuts. Attractive acidity with a firm well balanced taste. This is perfect with lamb for ex. 5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot has been added to the wine as well and that gives it more body than the pure Sangiovese. And which glass works best? The Syrah glass enhances the smell much more than the CS glass in which the wine seems much more closed. Chianti Riserva 2016, Castello de Farnatello Ca 230 kr or 13euro

Life is too short to drink bad wine

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