Life is too short to drink bad wine

Domaine Arlaud uses 100% destalking, cool pre-maceration, pumping over and new wood of varying proportion. Together with low yields his wines are thus normally of excellent quality. This Morey St Denis comes from a small plot called "Aux Chesaux" (1,5 ha) out of which Arlaud owns half it. Morey St Denis is stuck between Chambolle Musigny to the south (elegancy) and Gevrey-Chambertin (powerful) to the north. The wine is thus a bit like a "full bodied" Chambolle. The colour is medium red with purple rim, similar to those of Chambolle. The nose is wonderful and elegant with sweet raspberries, dark fruit,vanilla and flowers. Simply great stuff. The taste is dancing wonderfully on a thin line towards lovely fruit, soft tannins, perfect balance and long velvety finish. What can I say? Nothing wrong with being stuck in between Chambolle and Gevrey.... Morey St.Denis 1er cru "Aux Cheseaux" High price 449 worth every penny...cause heaven is not far away!

Bought some bottles of this wine some time back and paid around 25€ per bottle. Purchase price now is around the double. This is a big property in Pomerol and apparantly a favourite with the British Royal family. Since 1997 it has been owned by Jean Hubert and Michel Delon who also owns the Ch Leoville Las Cases (another favourite). When you drink this wine you realise how different Pomerol can be from for example a Medoc despite the fact that the same grapes are being used. In Pomerol Merlot is however the dominant grape instead of Cabernet Sauvignon. The vineyard (25 hectares) is set in a large park on a high dominated by a mixture of deep gravels and sand. The wine has enticing aromas of plum, sweet blackberry and wet earth. It makes you wonder what delicious taste is to come and you wont be disappointed by the lovely smooth creamy full bodied texture that just swirls around your tongue and polishes the mouth with soft elegant tannins. No wonder the Royal family loves this! It is

This wine from Domaine Brusset in Rhone is a mix of Syrah 20%, Grenache 60%, Mouvedre and Carignan 10%. At the decent low price of 130 it is a very pleasant every day drinking wine full of dark berries and spices. Perfect for cold evenings in front of the fire. It's a full bodied wine, quite rich packed with lovely fruit and a warm dry finish. Will fit most heavy dishes. Laurent B 2009, Cote du Rhone by Domaine Brusset, Low price 130 and high quality What more can u ask for? Domaine Brusset - Cairanne Gigondas

The 2008, 2009 and 2010 of the Sauvignon Blanc from Cloudy Bay were tested during the Arsenal-Barcelona game last week.  The 2008  Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc had a delicious  tropical fragrance of fresh passionfruit and pineapples.  The palate was long and  succulent, combining exotic fruits with a  natural acidity (maybe a bit "warm"). As it turned out the 2008 vintage was very warm with a perfect hot summer and harvest conditions. Barcelona 1-0. The 2009 vintage was more crispy, zingy and zesty with more minerality. The palate juicy with taste of citrus/lime and a lively crispy acidity. Perfect example. 2009 was in fact quite a cool year in Marlborough with more rain than usual. Arsenal 1-1. The 2010 was like a mix of the two but with a heavier texture. Apparantly slightly barrel fermentation was applied. Notes of passionfruit and more grapefruit with a creamy finish. Lovely stuff too. 2010 had a very warm start with some rain during the harvest. Arsenal 2-1. We are

I was going to write about this wine which at a Low price of 130 seemed like a bargain if it was similar to other Pinot Noirs I have tasted from New Zealand. This wine is from the lowest ranked selection at Matua Wines and should perhaps in my opinion perhaps not even been produced. Due to an unappealing synthetic smell and taste I had to stop drinking and open another bottle wine. Stay away! The only positive thing was the colour and the screwcork... Matua Wines Welcome to Matua

The search for wonderful Chambolle Musigny's continues. This one made by Domaine Sigaut comes from a small plot called "Les Sentiers". Les Sentiers lies to the very north of Chambolle. Lovely smell of red berries followed by a delicate smooth taste perhaps with a tiny bit too much acidity to be totally perfect. Would I drink it again? Yes! Would I buy it again? Not sure as there are other Chambolle which are even better and prhaps slightly cheaper, but by all means it is a very good wine. Chambolle-Musigny 1er cru "Les Sentiers" Anne et Herve Sigaut, lovely but not wonderful. High price (480) and score (18,10)

Brought this one with me back from the cave in Paris. One of the things I wanted to check out ws how long premier cru Burgundies actually last. Secondly I had never tried the producer Amiot-Servelle (Christian married to Elisabeth). The 2001 is before they started farming organically (2003), but it is still a wonderful wine. The plot "Les Charmes" is one of the best in Chambolle and Amiot-Servelle one of the recommended producers from this plot (7 hectares). The wine is medium red and packed with lovely vivid red fruit on the nose. The taste is firm and delicately balanced with soft kind tannins packed in with fruit and flowers. Quite a nice mouthful with perhaps yet another 5 more years to show for. Lovely stuff although perhaps not as seductive as the once made by Patrice Rion. Chambolle Musigny 2001 "Les Charmes", Amiot-Servelle Pricy but oh so good! (50€ or £) Score 18,20

Back in Paris for a day and dinner at a local favourite. They had updated their wine list (probably because we had drank most of the old 2000..). On the list was Ch Batailley 2004 5th Grand cru classee from Bordeaux. What hardship..... Dark red colour with lovely smell of cassis, tobacco and coffee. Lovely fruit and balance with firm tannins of the kind version. 2004 is not the greatest of years but the wines are reasonable compared to 2005 and later on and they are drinking wonderfully now and for the next 5 years at least. Ch Batailley 2004, Paulliac, 5 Grand Cru Classe, classy stuff for 36£ or around 30€

Came across this wine in the local shop. A ten year old wine from a well known producer and at a reasonable price (bottom of the medium range). The wine is typical Rioja made from Tempranillo (80%)  and Garnacha. Brick red colour with typical nose of red berries, oak, vanilla and leather. 30 months in american oak has an impact one could say. The taste is very "kind" with moderate acidity without being "flat" and a warm and dry finish. Vina Ardanza 2001 Reserva, Rioja, Low price 240 or 30$, very nice 10 year old wine

It's Saturday. Another great day of Premier league. Pepper steak. Red wine to match. Rhone. Upper part. Cote Rotie to be exact. Steep hills. Medium red colour with a purple rim. Complex and elegant nose of sweet brambles and hint of pepper. Full bodied red packed with lovely fruit, perfectly balanced and a great aftertaste of pepper to prove the Syrah connection (up to 20% Viognier allowed). Pricy? Yes! Worth it? Yes? Wonderful? Yes Yam yam.... Cote Rotie 2007 Domaine Garon, high price and sensation, Score ca 18.50 Perfect with game, steak or lamb Présentation du vignoble de la Côte-Rôtie : appellation des cotes du Rhône du nord, site du syndicat des vignerons de l'appellation contrôlée cote rotie

Digging into the special section of the local wineshop I came across this Chambolle Musigny premier cru that I have never tasted before, nor have I tried a wine made by this the producer. Les Noirots is tiny plot of land in Chambolle and Arlaud only produces 800 bottles of this wine per year. 2005 is only the second year that Arlaud has produced this wine. The vines are close to 50 years old and the wine has been nearly 18 months in oak with only 25% new oak. The wine is medium red colored and has a beautiful lovely smell of cherries, red berries, vanilla and wood. The taste is wonderfully balanced packed with fruit and velvety tannins. Long complex aftertaste. A beautiful wine. Chambolle Musigny 1er cru "Les Noirots" 2005, Arlaud,  Just perfectly wonderful, High price Official site of the Domain ARLAUD

This wine is made from 25 year old Syrah vines. Around 10% of the wine is stored on oak barrels for 10 months. 2009 is a great red wine year in France and the wine is a good example of classic Crozes Hermitage packed with brambles and hint of pepper on the nose. The taste is fruity, reflects the smell and is well balanced with a nice good length. Beautiful dark red colour with purple rim. It would probably benefit from a couple of more years in the cellar, but is drinking very well already. Les Meysonniers 2009, Crozes Hermitage by Chapoutier, Rhone Low price 179  or 13€ ( P+). Perfect with game. Hermitage - Crozes Hermitage - Saint Joseph - Cote Rotie - Condrieu - M. Chapoutier From Chapoutier tasting room in Tain l'Hermitage in Rhone.

For some reason I have managed to find quite a few 2001 vintages in the shop lately. This one from quite a decent chateau in Medoc was additionally relative reasonable, 250 NOK or 30€ for a 10 year old good Medoc in freezy cold Norway must be regarded as close to a bargain. 85% Cab Sauv and 30% Merlot and ten years storage has given a wine with a typical Bordeaux nose packed with old wood, tobacco, ceder, coffe and cassis. The taste; medium body with a good lengthy aftertaste which is well balanced with lovely integrated tannins. Classy stuff right now, but will keep even longer as well ! (at least until Xmas...) Ch Les Ormes Sorbet 2001, Medoc, Medium price 250 (30€) Lovely surprise in terms of quality and price  Présentation | Les Ormes Sorbet