Life is too short to drink bad wine

This is a monster of a white wine! On the nose it is packed with ripe yellow apples, hint of oak, tropical fruit and some citrus. The colour is pale gold. It is a truly full bodied white with a very long and solid aftertaste. High in alcohol (14.5%), high intensity and a nearly wax like taste. White Burgundy from the likes of Meursault or Chassagne Montrachet are nothing compared to this one. This one is massive. Not really delicate. Maybe a bit blunt in a way. I am not sure like it as much as I like white Burgundies. It's lacking a bit of finesse and is perhaps a bit too much in your face. But it's good. Heaven forbid. Ridge 2013 Monte Bello Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains, California ca 60$

This is a monster of a wine from Rioja in Spain. 100% Tempranillo from low yielding old vines. Malpuesto is a red wine produced by the Orben winery La Rioja, at the foot of the Sierra Cantabria. The Orben winery belongs to the Izadi Group, a group of well-known wineries in Ribera del Duero, Vetus or Toro. Malpuesto is a single varietal Tempranillo from the Malpuesto Finca. The Finca vineyard was planted in 1931 and is today one of the oldest vineyards of La Rioja Alavesa. The name, Malpuesto, comes from the irregular arrangement in which the strains were planted. The farm is located on a hillside and has an area of 1.2 hectares. The soil is sandy and poor, resulting in a low yield yet with high quality. The harvest is done manually in small boxes of 15 kg. Once in the winery, the grapes undergo a strict selection before being placed in vats. Fermentation takes place at controlled temperature and a very gentle pressing is applied before the wine undergoes aging in barrel

Some of the older white Burgundies are cheaper than the most recent ones where the price has increased due to high demand and low supply. This 2008 Meursault by Jobard is drinking perfectly right now although the first I opened was oxidated. Lovely medium straw colour with a nose dominated by lime, butter and spices. Perfect full bodied white with a long aftertaste and still with a lot of energy. A truly lovely wine. Meursault 1er cru Poruzots 2008 Antoine Jobard Ca 40€ or 550 NOK

The 2015 vintage is just perfect for German Riesling and this example from the Mosel valley by Markus Molitor is just delightful Medium straw colour. Delicious nose of ripe apples, citrus , some spice and minerality. The taste is offdry although it says dry on the bottle. The acidity (medium +) matches the sugar level in a nice manner and there is a lot of fruit to go with it. Nice minerality in the aftertaste as well. Perhaps is just too approachable? Try with fish and sushi. Markus Molitor Riesling 2015 Mosel Ca 10€ or 160 NOK

I came across this wine in the local wine-shop and I bought it as I wanted to know what all the fuzz about the 2009 vintage really was. First of all it was not cheap and secondly I thought it was great, but not fantastic. The reason for that? The fruit was too "warm" and if I had been served it in a blindtasting, I would probably have gone for a Californian Cab Sauv. Nothing wrong with Cab Sauv and California, but for me a top Bordeaux has this "nervous" style straddling between failure and success due the fragile climate. The wine had a medium to dark red colour with lots of nice dark fruit on the nose. Seductive fruity long taste with soft integrated tannins and medium acidity. It can of course be stored for a long time but to me it lacked energy and complexity. Perhaps my expectations were too high? However, it showed a bit more character two days later after having been left in an opened bottle in the fridge.... Ch.Lagrange 2009 St.Julien, Bordeaux