Life is too short to drink bad wine

Got this Chambolle at a local restaurant. Potel makes lovely Burgundy wines, but his style is firm stylish and demanding. So also this Chambolle which has a lovely smell of red berries and flowers. The taste is elegant smooth but with a firm acidity typical of Potel. Great balance and long aftertaste... Chambolle-Musigny 2005, Potel, high price and stylish  

Henriot makes lovely Champagne. This vintage version is also quite classy. Mix of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir aged on lees for 7 years has given a great bubbly wine full of flavours and taste. Pale golden colour. Complex aroma of citrus fruit, tea and peach. Elegant rich taste with a silky finish. Henriot 2000, Champagne, charming vintage champagne. Ca 40€. PS! Consumed in 77 minutes on the terrace in Antibes...

This is a great Champagne from a small Champagne house. Mix 75% Pinot Noir and 25% Chardonnay. Pale golden colour and small bubbles that go straight to your head. A solid Champagne that goes well with food. Ripe apples are dominating both the smell and taste. Quite a mouthful with perfect acidity and dryness. Lovely wine. Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru, Champagne, NOK369 or 40€. Classy Champagne deserving food.

Cremant de Bourgogne is a nice alternative to Champagne. Perhaps maybe not as good always but considering the fact that it is half the price it is good value for money. This one is made of a mic of Pinot Noir (red grape) and Chardonnay (white). Nice pale straw colour with a good bouquet of apples and some lime. Very crispy dry taste. To be drunk as aperitif or with dessert or foie gras. Cremant de Bourgogne 2007, La Cave des Hautes-Cotes, crispy sparkling at a reasonable price (NOK 145 or 10€)

This is a great Viognier by the Bellingham vineyards. Straw green color with a wonderful aroma of lychees, peach,  rose petals. It' s just magic. The palate is fullbodied with a roundness and sweetness so typical for Condrieu (home of Viognier in France). Good balanced acidity and a long inviting aftertaste. Hand Picked Viognier, Bellingham, South Africa, Low price 175, wonderful stuff. Try with Asian food. Drink young. Bellingham Wines

The 2003 vintage is a hot year with lots of fruit and sugar. Prices went up due to the Parker score and it was a difficult year to find reasonable wines. Ch La Riviere from Fronsac is however one of those good quality wines at reasonable prices (one can also stay overnight at the chateau...). Deep dark red colour packed with fruit and Bordeaux character. Lovely lively "warm" fruity taste with a nice balance and soft tannins. Ch de la Riviere 2003, Fronsac, cheap but good stuff...ca 15€ Vignobles Grégoire

This is like a South African "Cote du Rhone"... Goats do Roam...(get it?) Apparantly the name came up as follows: One afternoon, at harvest time, my mischievous son Jason and his friend Justin let the goats out of their tower and sent them for a walkabout amongst the vines. As in the legend of the Yemeni goat herder – whose roaming flock first discovered the joys of coffee beans, our goats picked out the best and tastiest fruit – their choice serves as our inspiration for this wine. Charles Back Anyway not sure the french wine growers appreciate such humour. Goats do Roam comes with a handy screwcork and contains around 70% Syrah with the rest being other Cote du Rhone grapes... Bright ruby color and berry aromas with spice and smoke. A medium bodied wine with fresh acidity. Goats do Roam 2010, South Africa, low price 110,   

Medium dark red colour. Good smell of red berries and paprika. Very kind taste and easy to drink. Will fit most kind of food. This is an un-oaked Bordeaux made from Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Malbec. Reasonable price for being Bordeaux. NOK 150. Ch Mercier, Cote de Bourg, 2005 great year easy drinking wine.

Wine#1 Very light red colour and typical Pinot nose with lots of red berries and chocolate. Simple, but attractive taste. A great lunch wine that should go well with white meat. Panel took one sniff of the glass and said Pinot from California. Pinot Noir, Hirsch vineyard, San Andreas Fault, Sonoma Coast . Score 16,80 Hirsch Vineyards Wine #2 Another Pinot Noir, but this has more color and structure. Darker berries with dark chocolate. A powerful Pinot from perhaps a cooler climate. Soft integrated tanins and a lovely big taste. Panel in no doubt about grape. Some discussions around Cali vs NZ.. Pinot Noir 2006, Marimar Estate, Russian River (Cali), oh we like it! Score 17.70 Marimar Estate Wine #3 Another Pinot with lovely smell of red berries, flowers and vanilla. Taste is slightly "cooked" which leads parts of the panel to even warmer climates than California (how is that possible). The wine lacks acidity and is a bit dull. The wine turns out...