Life is too short to drink bad wine

"Clos Prieur" (2 hectares)lies close to the Grand cru Mazis Chambertin with heavy clay in the lower part of the appelation. This gives an easy and accessible style. Medium dark red colour with some red and some darker berries. Quite a mouthful which leaves a fruity aftertaste in the mouth. Again the "silky" style of Patrice Rion with beautiful integrated tannins and pure smoothness all around. Gevrey Chambertin "Clos Prieur" 2007 by Patrice Rion, dont worry just buy....High price 40€

Clos de Argillieres is in the south of Nuits St George (towards Beaune). As the name indicates there is plenty of shale leading to wines which have less flesh than for example Clos St Marc. The wine has a medium dark red colour. Lovely smell of strawberries and more earth like tones. Great delicate mouthful, packed with fruit and a wonderful long complex taste. Somewhat more "pushy" and firmer than "Clos St Marc". Overall quality is wonderful and silky. This is more like art than winemaking... Nuits St George "Clos des Argillieres" 2006, Patrice Rion, incredible wine...High price 40€ Geology: Little white oolite in the upper part but otherwise the rock is dense pinkish Premeaux marble with about 50 to 80 cm of earth above with plenty of clay. 

Clos St Marc is a tiny plot (1 hectare) just next to Clos des Argillieres and is now the monopoly of Patrice Rion. The Clos St Marc has normally more body and fruit than the Clos des Argillieres due to less clay and more calcium and silica. Clos Saint Marc ha a beautiful medium red colour. Lovely red berries like strawberries and raspberries. A very long and elegant taste, wonderfully balanced and silky. Absolutely heavenly stuff! Nuits St George 1er cru "Clos Saint Marc" 2007, just perfect... High price 40€

Yet another "reasonable Bordeaux" from Haut Medoc from the very good 2000 vintage. Widely available and also very approachable in younger vintages due to the high content of Merlot 85%. Dark red colour with a discrete smell of dark berries with hint of classic Bordeaux notes like tobacco and pencil. Well balanced taste which is firm and solid but mellow. Fits with lamb and steak. Ch Coufran 2000, Haut Medoc, medium price 220 (15€), good Cru Bourgeois worth the money.

It's Saturday and time for something special. Bought this Cote Rotie in London last weekend (FA cup final weekend) from BBR. 100% Syrah have created a wine packed with cassis cherries black pepper and some bacon fat. Wonderfully elegant to drink filled with lots of fruit, enjoyable tannins and a great black pepper aftertaste that goes on and on. Life is good and this one contributes to that fact... Cote Rotie 2006, Rene Rostaing, 36£, like a Burgundy with pepper taste

Managed to get ticket to the match 10 minutes before the start. Black market was empty, so hard convincing cash arguments were necessary to secure entrance to the first FA cup final in the 148 years history of Stoke City. The match turned to be a sad affair for the ones in red and white, so back to London Champagne was on the menu. As Napoleon so rightly stated; In victory you deserve Champagne , in defeat you need it! Pol Roger 2000, Champagne, good in victory as well defeat...

This is one of my favourite Aussie wines. Wonderful complex big and dense with flavours that could easily be mistaken for being a Bordeaux in a hot year. The best bit is actually the price which compared to Bordeaux is reasonable. The funny thing is that it cost around 40€ in Norway while in UK it would be around 40GBP! Imagine Norway cheaper than UK....! The colour is deep dark dark red. The nose is wonderfully complex with dark berries, chocolate, black pepper and vanilla. The taste is big but smooth, long and lively, fruity with good acidity. The tannins are soft and elegant. Everything is just perfect! It can be easily be drunk now but would also easily keep for 10-15 more years. The 1993 for example is still going strong... Wynns Micheal Shiraz 2003, Coonawarra, great solid stuff from down under (Medium price 40€) Wynns Coonawarra Estate

Busy week with lots of meetings in Paris. On Wednesday it was 25c and sunny and just wonderful to sit outside with a glass in the hand. Paris me manque! Went to one of l'Ecluse wine bars where you can buy Bordeaux wine by the glass. After a period with a slightly disappointing selection l'Ecluse is back on song; This second wine of Pontet Canet from 1996 was just fantastic packed with black fruit, ink and pencil case. Lovely stuff for 6€ a glass. Ch. Les Hauts de Pontet 1996, drinking beautifully now, buy buy

Sancerre is a bone dry white with beautiful aromas of gooseberries/lime/green leaves and minerals. It should be drunk young and cold. It goes well with fish, seafood or as an aperitif. It is also one of the few wines that matches Asian dishes and sushi. Sancerre is in the middle of France and sort of belongs to Loire. Geologically Sancerre and Chablis wines belong to the same period (Upper Jurassic), but the grapes are different. In Sancerre the white grape is Sauvignon Blanc while Chablis has Chardonnay.  Sancerre 2010 by Henry Natter, low  price 179, bone dry delicious white

Ch Poujeaux makes deep dark red wines packed with fruit and a great density. This is not a wimpy gentle Bordeaux wine but rather masculine straight forward stuff that needs years to "calm" down. Lovely chunky stuff at reasonable price for a Bordeaux to be. Ch Poujeaux 2004, Moulis, big body and solid, 20€

The selection of rose wines in Provence is enormous. They come in different colours, different bottles , different prices and with a different mix of grapes. We came across this bottle at the local cave just outside Antibes. At 10€ it is a pricy Rose but this one is worth the extra cash due a lovely, lively fruit and delicous minerality. Great terrace and lunch stuff! MIP 2010, 10€, excellent rose at medium price for a noggie...

Dolcetto means little sweet and is one of my favourite reds for summer lunches. These wines should be drunk slightly chilled and when young. It's got a wonderful deep purple colour which is really something special. The wine is packed with fruit and acidity. Some soft tannins which makes the whole wine quite juicy. The nose is full of both dark and red berries with tendency towards cherries. Goes well with cod, pasta and chicken. Dolcetto d'Alba 2009 by Vajra, Low price 150 or 10€, perfect summer lunch wine...

20 odd degrees and summer in Norway in the month of May. Wonderful! Perfect walk along the sea in the morning, then some Chablis and prawns for lunch, footie on TV with the favourites in red winning comfortably. Rounded off with a beautiful Vosne Romanee 2004 by Robert Arnoux. Surprising brick brown red colour made me wonder but it opened up beuatifully on the nose and was just perfect. Not to worry as it was the last bottle as well.....(it would not have kept much longer). Vosne Romanee 2004, Robert Arnoux, 32€ and not an ordinary wine... Lou Reed – Perfect Day - 2003 Remaster

Petite Chapelle is a Premier Cru in Gevrey Chambertin just close to the famous Grand crus. The wine has quite a dark red colour for being Pinot Noir. Somewhat discrete smell of red berries , cherries and liquerice. 2005 is  a big year and the wine has a nice delicate style without the normal big body and tannins presently in other Gevrey Chambertin. A lovely wine with the "Chambolle" character being a bit of a surprise. Somewhat pricy for the experience (NOK 500), a Chambolle village is perhaps a better buy. Gevrey Chambertin 1er cru, Petite Chapelle 2005, by Rossignol Trapet, lovely, but pricy

Easter has passed and summer is approaching, even  up here in the north. With flat sea and sunny days it is time for Chablis and fresh prawns. (Picture from Hafrsfjord near our house) A vaste selection exists and the prices vary a lot for the basic Chablis versions. Domaine de Varoux is one of the cheapest Chablis village that you can get hold of and it does the trick. It is fruity and fresh with a nice touch of minerals on the nose. Citrus and apple and a nice green/yellow colour. Vinification in steel tanks ensures typical Chablis representation. It also has a handy screwcork which means you can just leave it in the fridge a couple of days in case you don't drink all first time around.... Domaine de Varoux 2009, Chablis, good Chablis at reasonable price (144)