Life is too short to drink bad wine

This is a lovely and seductive Pinot Noir from Australia. Normally the best Pinot's come from New Zealand but this one shows that also Australia can produce good Pinot Noir. Packed with sweet raspberries and a very smooth lingering taste. Great stuff and can easily be consumed without any food.... St.Huberts Pinot Noir 2010, Yarra Valley, Australia Ca 15£ or 230 NOK.

Aux Reignots is a tiny premier cru plot close to La Romanee (Grand cru). 'Il n'y a point de vins commune a Vosne' according to Courtepee. This premier cru from Sylvain Cathiard is certainly no exception to the rule. This 2007 has an intensity and depth combined with a refinement that is just breathtaking! Beautiful perfume of dark berries, chocolate and vanilla and a delightful big seductive taste makes this wine one to look out for if you want a wine for meditation purposes. Just great and stunning! Vosne Romanee 1er cru "Aux Reignots" 2007 Sylvain Catiard What more do you want from a wine?

Bonnes Mares is a grand cru in Chambolle Musigny with roughly 10% in Morey-Saint-Denis. There used to be more on the St Denis side but as that area was within Clos de Tart it eventually became a part of Clos de Tart in 1965. It is uncertain where the name Bonnes Mares derives from but a possibility is "bonnes meres", the good mothers (nuns) of Notre Dame de Tart. The Bonnes Mares (15 ha) is slightly different from the rest of Chambolle and there are at least 30 different principal producers of this wine. Roumier holds 1,6 ha, split between the reddish and white soil, which he blends together into a rich and robust wine. The 2006 has a lovely elegant nose perhaps less fragrant than a Chambolle. The taste is wonderful complex, rich, elegant, balanced with a perfect touch of acidity. A stunning but expensive wine! Bonnes Mares Grand cru 2006  Chambolle Musigny Domaine Roumier

This is a fine village wine from Jacques-Frederic Mugnier. Light red colour and a nice aroma of earthy redcurrants and some herbs. The taste is elegant with a light to medium body. The aftertaste is balanced with a slight acidity and taste of cherries. A very fine and pure wine. Nuits Saint George 2004 " Close des Fourches",  Jacques Frederic Mugnier A lighter style of Nuits St George

One of the simplest Malbec versions around, but it does the trick. Deep dark blue-red color, smell of dark berries, leather and some herbs. The taste has a good balance although perhaps a bit short, but it warms you up and is a good fit with red meat, hamburger or BBQ stuff. Catena Malbec 2010, Mendoza, Argentine Ca 7-15€

This is a 100% Malbec from Cahors in southern France. Despite it's nearly 14 years it is drinking quite well. Smell of dark ripe berries and a nice taste of ripe fruit with some herbs. The wine is of course not as "dynamic" as a young Malbec or a younger version of this chateau, but it is still good value for money. Ca 12€ or 150 NOK. Ch Gautoul 1999, Cahors Nice example of an old Malbec

This is a serious wine based upon Syrah and the white grape Viognier. It has been 42 months in new oak and the vines are around 75 years old. Beautiful aromas of red berries, blackberries and violet. The taste is velvety with a great balance and silky texture. Great stuff and one of the best Cote Rotie around. Only 400 cases. Cote Rotie "La Mouline" 2004 by Guigal Syrah is just a super delicious grape... High price > 40€  

Slightly surprising Chassagne Montrachet with more a more oaky character than minerals. It's actually more like a Puligny-Montrachet due to the more buttery smell. Still lovely stuff and with a big solid and fruity taste, perfect with the dried cod called Skrei (teenage Atlantic cod caught in North-Norway). Producer is Pierre Colin-Morey. Chassagne Montrachet "Les Baudines" 2009 Pierre Colin-Morey Delicious big dry white

This is an expensive but also an incredible good wine! Grand cru from Gevrey Chambertin and with Domaine Arlaud in charge not very much can go wrong! Delicious smell of red berries , raspberries, cherries and vanilla. The taste is out of this world with a wonderful fantastic balanced velvety long taste. Just incredible! This is a pure meditation wine.... Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru 2009, Arlaud What has price gonna do with it???? Ca 100£

Quite a golden straw colour to be a Chablis; so obviously oaked then. I prefer crispy mineral driven non-oaked Chablis, but sometimes the oaked version does the trick. At the wonderful restaurant Renaa in Stavanger they do not mess  with the wines and this one by Moreau-Naudet was a great white, almost white Burgundy like but without the "fatness" of those wines. Still very nice minerality and citrus smell taste. Perfect with the white fish (and other seafood). Chablis Vielles Vignes 2007, Moreau-Naudet Ca 15-25€

Bolli is a safe bet when it comes to Champagne although it is not the cheapest one around. Pale straw color and a nice smell of apples, minerals and toast. Bone dry, with a long and "bubbly" taste. Bring on James Bond! or the the comedy series Absolute Fabolous Bollinger Special Cuvee Champagne High Price 40€

There are no Grand crus in Nuits St George, but who needs that when you can have wines like this Premier cru from Domaine de la Vougeraie? Les Damodes is the parcel north in Nuits St George bordering Vosne Romanee and the wine is in fact more like a Vosne than a Nuits St George which can be sometimes be more coarse. Brilliant bouquet of dark cherries, burnt chocolate and vanilla. So elegant and aromatic that we were all in a shock. The taste was equally beautiful with a wonderful seductive and lovely balance. Nuits St.George 2005 "Les Damodes" Domaine de la Vougeraie High price ca 50£

What can I say? A Barbera that smell and taste like a Barolo? Scarpa has picked the Barbera grapes from the single vineyard La Bogliona (100% clay) and kept it in big Slovenian oak casks for a year. Only 11400 bottles have been produced of this Barbera d'Asti Grande. The wine has a dark red color and a surprising nose of wild cherries and violet with some hints of vanilla. The taste is bone dry with all the fruit, normally in a Barbera, totally consumed by the oak. Big long balanced taste. I would never ever guessed this to be a Barbera! Barbera d'Asti 2007 "La Bogliona", Scarpa Shocking stuff and the most expensive Barbera I have ever bought (390 NOK or around 35€....

Left over Xmas chocolate with Recioto from Valpolicella is just a wonderful combination. Sweet cherries on the nose and a velvety slightly sugary taste. Best if served slightly cold. Lots of fruit in this wine and perhaps less dry fruit than other Recioto's. Recioto della Valpolicella 2008,  Great with chocolate and chocolate desserts and cakes. Ca 20€ for 500 ml bottles.

This is a very flexible, soft and elegant wine that goes with lots of different food. Dark red colour, dark fruit with smell of prunes, vanilla  and dried fruit. Long velvety taste with a slight bitter finish. Juicy character. Valpolicella Ripasso 2010 "Acinatico" by Accordini Ca 200 NOK or 15€. Try with lamb, rabbit or game.

This is a wine from Domaine Saint Nicolas in the Loire. Based upon 100% Chenin blanc it is just a wonderful dry white wine, perfect with fish for example. Fiefs Vendeens  is an unknown wine district on the coast just where the Loire river spills into the Atlantic. Medium yellow colour with hints of ripe apples and a vivid acidity. Dry taste with a nice minerality. Probably difficult to get and perfect in blindtasting to screw up your participants.  Domaine Saint- Nicolas "le Haut des Clos"  from Fiefs Vendeens, Loire Ca 20€ or 240 NOK

A very seductive Chianti Classico. Packed with cherries, leather, vanilla and spices. Quite a mouthful but very soft and attractive with smooth tannins. Very drinkable indeed. Peppoli Chianti Classico 2009 by Antinori Watch out for empty glasses...

This is a big dense dark wine based upon 100% Grenache from Cote du Rhone. The colour is deep dark and the smell is full of dark berries, chocolate and mint. Great stuff! The taste is powerful and fruity. Packed with firm tannins of the softer kind and a long big aftertaste. This is a very good wine indeed by a very good producer (Tardieu-Laurent). Rasteau Vielles Vignes 2007, Tardieu-Laurent Bring on the entrecôte!! Ca 25-30€

This is a very decent wine for red Bordeaux lovers. Never exceedingly expensive and always of good quality. Medium dark red colour with a nose of ripe red fruit and hints of tobacco and earth. The taste is long with subtle fruit and soft elegant tannins. This wine can be drunk young (after some time in the carafe) or kept for more maturity. Domaine Chevalier 2006, Pessac Leognan Consistent high quality and ca 30 to 40€ pending the year.