Life is too short to drink bad wine

This a bloody good red Burgundy but I drank it too early, the 2011 must be kept another 5 more years before realising its full potential...Sorry...

I found this wine in a winebar called 28-50 in London. 2002 is not a great year but Robert Arnoux makes beautiful Vosne Romanee. And good it was. Beautiful delicate flavours of red fruit and some chocolate. Great balanced and velvety taste. Absolutely lovely stuff and perfect for meditation. Vosne Romanee 2002  Robert Arnoux Ca 80£

What is there to say? Shockingly good white Burgundy with a style and elegance beyond belief. If you want to know what all the fuzz about Meursault is , then try this one. Don't serve it too cold though, then you lose some of the flavours. Remember big glasses and carafe it first. Light golden colour with hint of green. Intense smell of stone fruit, flint and some smoke. Big intense beautiful structured wine, long aftertaste with a wonderful minerality. Meursault premier cru Le Purusot 2010 Benjamin Leroux ca 600 nok or 50€

This is a delicous Champagne made from 100% Pinot Noir. Slightly yellow colour. Smell of red apples, some yeast and biscuit. The taste is fruity and creamy with apples and biscuit flavours. The wine has been on yeast 30 months before degorgement. Gonet-Medeville Blanc de Noirs Champagne Ca 290 NOK or 25€

Just a wonderful Champagne which is drinking beautifully right now. It has stamina to keep for some more years, but the quality is probably peaking right now. We found this magnum in a local wineshop which was also kind enough to lend us proper Champagne glasses as well. The quintessence of the Henriot style, this cuvée is dominated by the chardonnay giving elegance and complex structure. In respect with the family tradition, this cuvée, from the finest vineyards in Champagne, is only produced in exceptional years.  To enhance the remarkable character of the 1996 vintage, Champagne Henriot has blended the strength of the pinot noir and the elegance of the chardonnay. We have chosen grapes from 6 of the most prestigious “grands crus” in Champagne : Mailly Champagne, Verzy, Verzenay on Montagne de Reims, Mesnil-sur-Oger, Avize, Chouilly on Côte des Blancs.  50% chardonnay - 50% pinot noir On the eye: Pale gold with attractive cordon of mousse. On the nose: Discreet note

Pinot Noir from other parts of the world than Burgundy are often good and reasoanble alternatives to the "real" thing. This Pinot Noir from South Africa is mayne bot the most reasonable alternative but provides good value for money. Quite dark red/purple colour. On the nose it is quite intense dominated by plum and dark fruit. The taste is refreshing with plenty of dark fruit, great balance and a lively acidity and quite long aftertaste. A very decent and harmonious wine. Hamilton Russel Pinot Noir Walker Bay , South Africa High price

Wine # 1 Pale red colour with Burgundy rim. Say no more. This is Pinot Noir! On the nose packed with sweet red fruit like raspberries , hint of chocolate and some dried fruit. Very soft smooth and fruity taste with absolutely no resistance. Velvety tannins and low acidity. Perhaps a bit jammy. Very drinkable wine and the panel concluded it has to be new world Pinot Noir! (and we were right....) Anthill Farms Pinot Noir 2012 Sonoma Coast Score 18,0 (Price 380 NOK or 50$) Wine # 2 Very similar pale red colour as wine no 1. On the nose more darker fruit with hints of pepper. More complex smell as well. Definitely Pinot Noir again. The taste is better with more structure and acidity although it is still a bit "jammy" with some spices. A complex wine and the panel is dithering between new world and Burgundy. We were told Burgundy and then I said it had to be a warm year, not Volnay and not Montille as the producer. and it was in fact all those things...!!

This is red from Alentejo in Portugal is the perfect match on those cold and wet autumn/winter evenings. The colour is a fantastic deep purple one which creates a lovely sight in the glass. The nose is packed with dark fruit and spices providing you flashbacks of a hot spicy wine (gluhwein). The taste is big, fruity and with a firm tannin structure. Should go well with entrecote, game and cheese. Esporao  Alentejo, Portugal Low price range

This is a lovely seductive wine, a bit like Chambolle Musigny. Pale to medium red colour. Beautiful complex nose of red fruit and mineral like tones. Taking into account the pale colour, light and seductive smell the taste quite surprising as it is more on the heavy side, a solid mouthful, nut very seductive, complex and long. Perhaps the tannins are a bit too stringent and need a couple of years to be smoothened. Morey-St-Denis 1er cru "Aux Cheseaux" 2011 Domaine Arlaud High price (ca 500 NOK or 40€)

"Les Creots" is perhaps a less famous premier cru in Saint Aubin, but once Colin-Morey is the master of the wine you are ensured top quality in the glass. Pale straw yellow colour. Lovely fresh smell of butter, lime, almond , flowers and some spicyness. Again the taste is just amazing with great complexity and  balance. Lots of fresh fruit and acidity with hints of orangeskin. A truly lovely wine. Saint-Aubin Les Creots 2011 Pierre Yves Colin-Morey High price

Comparing wines can be an interesting exercise. The other day there was Saint Aubin on the schedule; both bottles from the same premier cru plot in Saint Aubin called "En Remilly", both from the same year, both also obviously based upon 100% Chardonnay. The only difference was the two producers: Hubert Lamy and Vincent Girardin, both well known producers of white Burgundy. So based upon the terroir theory there shouldn't be much of a difference.... First the colour of the two wines were very different: Lamy's wine was pale straw yellow while the Girardin expressed a much darker yellow colour. On the nose they were oceans apart: Girardin was more oaky with tropical fruit, a bit like modern world Chardonnay nose while the Lamy was more subtle with lime, butter and a lovely minerality. The palate was more similar with a lovely balance, fruit and acidity for both although the one by Girardin was more buttery and nutty as compared to Lamy which had more towards l

I have been dying to write about a Krug tasting I attended back in November last year, but I never seems to have the time. The Champagne that were tested were as follows: - Krug Grand Cuvee (Jereboam sized bottle) - Krug 1981 - Krug  1982 Selection - Krug 1985 (magnum) - Krug 1988 - Krug 1989 - Krug 1989 selection An amazing selection that had been gathered by Frank Sanden. We all had our different favourites but we all agreed it was a fantastic evening. Below follows some explanations from the website as well as personal notes. Krug Grande Cuvée is the archetype of Krug’s philosophy of craftsmanship and savoir faire: A blend of around 120 wines from ten or more different vintages, some of which may reach 15 years of age. Blending so many vintages gives Krug Grande Cuvée its unique fullness of flavours and aromas, its incredible generosity and its absolute elegance - something impossible to express with the wines of just a single year. Its exceptional finesse is

Montille has a fantastic structured style and makes some of the best red Beaune wines you can get hold of.  On the nose really nice fresh fruit of red berries. Extremely finetuned taste and balance with a lovely firm acidity and smooth tannins. This is just a wonderful red Beaune from a warm year (2009). Beaune 1er cru Les Perrieres 2009 Domaine de Montille High price (ca 400 NOK)

This Margaux from 2004 is drinking really well right now. The 2004 was not a top year but still some very decent wines were produced that year. This version has 67% Cabernet Sauvignn, 28% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc. The wine has spent 18 months in oak out of which 60% is new oak. Intense purple colour with a red rim. Delicious nose of dark fruit like blackcurrant, plum with some oak and floral notes of violet. Smooth and velvet taste dominated by dark fruit and gentle tannins. Brane Cantenac 2005 Margaux High price

This is a basic white Burgundy by Matrot. His Chardonnay grapes for this wine come from the Meursault region and is thus of reasonable quality for a such a generic wine. The vines are more than 30 years old and the wine lies more than 11 months on the lees. The wine is thus more like a poor man's Burgundy and is thus very different from Chablis. Oaky notes on the nose with some toast, lime and butter. Well balanced taste with a nice acidity. Quite a good every day white. Bourgogne Chardonnay 2012 Pascale Matrot Low price

This is just a stunning Meurasult by Remi Jobard! It smells of delicious white flowers and discrete citrus fruit and the taste is just unbelievable balanced with a length and aftertaste that takes your breathe away. Food is not really required. This is a meditation wine, wine for the big occasions or when you need to be lifted up in life. Meursault "En Luraule" 2010 Remi Jobard High price

This is Bordeaux Superior wine from an area close to St:Emilion. 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc and only 4000 cases made every year. Jean Faux has been producing biodynamic since 2011 and his 2009 and 2010 (very good vintages in Bordeaux) have received very good reviews. The 2009 is dense with subtle Bordeaux flavours and a very smooth, strucured and long aftertaste. Very good value for money. Jean Faux 2009 Bordeaux Medium price  

This is a rare and special Condrieu by a producer called Gangloff. Yves Gangloff who, despite the slightly rock-and-roll look, maybe a little too well-established to be described as an ‘ enfant terrible ’, continues to astonish even his fellow winemakers with the concentration and quality of his wines. His popularity is legendary in France, which means that not very much of the already diminutive production is available for the export market.  With a very limited production  and high demand, the prices are high, but so is the quality. Extremely dense and oppulent Condrieu that goes well with most Asian food. Fantastic smell of tropical fruit, apricot and pear.  "Yves’ Condrieu displays its customary brilliance, with ripe but finely textured fruit, a comely Rubenesque shape, and a pleasingly tailored finish." Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer Condrieu 2009 by Gangloff High price

Barolo wines are high on alcohol, tannins and acidity and can sometimes be a bit of a challenge. Food is thus required. This single plot Barolo from the "Le Vigne" by Sandrone is just wonderfully balanced with a sublime taste. Notes of dried fruit, autumn leaves, liquorice and rose. Absolutely delicious. The taste is equally beautiful and is balancing on a shoe string. Sandrone is perfectionist and this just shows is this wine. 2005 is drinking perfectly now. It would be great to compare this one to the Cannubi by Sandrone, maybe some other time. Barolo "Le Vigne" 2005 Sandrone High price