Life is too short to drink bad wine

Castello de Farnatello has a basic Chianti and a Riserva on the market. Both of them are good value for money. We tried the Riserva the other day, in two different glasses; Riedel Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. The Syrah glass is more closed at the top (to the right). The colour of the wine is medium red and the nose discrete smell of cherries, leather and nuts. Attractive acidity with a firm well balanced taste. This is perfect with lamb for ex. 5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot has been added to the wine as well and that gives it more body than the pure Sangiovese. And which glass works best? The Syrah glass enhances the smell much more than the CS glass in which the wine seems much more closed. Chianti Riserva 2016,  Castello de Farnatello Ca 230 kr or 13euro

Malbec is a grape that used to be grown in Bordeaux. It is still used in southern France but it has sort of immigrated to Argentine where it is truly blossoming. The Hess Family who runs the Colome estate has developed a full bodied, dense and beautiful Malbec. The grapes are grown in high altitude in the Salta region. And when we talk about high altitude it is really high: between 2100 to stunning 3100m altitude. The wine is consequently of outstanding quality and a price of 250 NOK or around 20usd is well worth spending on this elegant wine. Dark purple colour. Lots of brambles, dark fruit, liquorice and spice on the nose. Massive taste, but very fruity and smooth tannins. A long and elegant finish. And what glass to use? We tried Riedel Cab Sauv and Syrah/Shiraz glasses and found the Syrah glass to work best. Malbec Colome Estate 2016 Calchaqui Valley Salta region, Argentine Ca 250 NOKor 20usd

This is a biodynamic produced wine with major parts of the wine fermented in the Beaujolais style- i.e carbonic maceration (fermentation starts within the grapes with no yeast and then normal fermentation occurs). Wines from Morgon are on the more full bodied side of Beaujolais and can also be stored longer than the lighter versions like Chiroubles, Fleurie and Saint Amour. Red colour with a slight brownish rim. Delightful smell of red fruit, earthy flavours and flowers. The taste is beautifully light and balanced with almost no tannins and a delightfully refreshing acidity. This is a very nice, although slightly pricy, Beaujolais. Drink now or keep for a couple more years. Serve slightly chilled. Morgon 2016 Antoine Sunier Beaujolais Ca 14€ or 260 NOK

Domaine Faiveley has a number of different Burgundies and most of them are reasonable priced compared to many other "managers". Their Mercurey monopole La Framboise is one of the best buys and especially when it comes in good vintages like 2016. His other Mercurey and Bourgogne rouge are also very good buys and worth a try. Nice and attractive bouquet of red fruit (perhaps towards redcurrant) and flowers. refreshing acidity and reasonable good length. A very good village Burgundy from perhaps not the best villages in Burgundy. Good quality price ratio. Mercurey La Framboise 2016 Domaine Faiveley Ca 280 NOK or 17€

White Burgundy, Saint Aubin is the village and the 2016 vintage in the glass. A first by this producer for me but what a pleasant surprise. Sylvain Langoureau has produced an elegant and refreshing wine with a bouquet so typical of a top white Burgundy. Citrus, yeast and butter notes with a medium body beautiful balanced taste that makes you want yet another sip. A very good Saint Aubin version that does not cost and arm and a leg. Approx half the price of certain other producers. Saint Aubin 2016 Sylvain Langoureau Ca 240 NOK or 18€

Greide å få tak i noen flasker hvite burgundere av PYCM forleden. Hans generiske burgunder fra 2016 er superdelikat og av landsby kvalitet.  PYCM har gått vekk fra battonage og lagrer heller vinen lengre på fat. Helt OK synes jeg.  Superfriskt. Elegant. Nydelig og delikat. Bare så synd det er nesten umulig å få tak i. I managed to get hold of some bottles of white  Burgundy by PYCM some time ago. His generic 2016 white Burgundy is super delicious and of village quality. PYCM has stopped doing battonage but instead he uses extended contact with the lees. Works really well in this version I would say. Super fresh.  Elegant. Beautiful and delicate.  It's a shame it so difficult to get hold of. Bourgogne Chardonnay 2016 Pierre Yves Colin Morey Ca 30£

The grape Dolcetto has a lovely purple colour that hangs around in the glass for a very long time. A bit like beetroot in a way. This Dolcetto d'Alba by the newly diseased Bruno Giacosa is a full-bodied version packed with fruit and elegant tannins. Lovely smell of the red and dark berries. Supersoft and fruity taste with a refreshing acidity and well integrated medium high tannins. Elegant and juicy wine. Try with pasta, light meat dishes or on its own. Dolcetto d'Alba 2016 Bruno Giacosa Ca 20€

The Schug winery in Carneros lies to the south of Sonoma and Napa valley.The vines are impacted by the  early morning fog from the bay and Pacific Ocean. Their Carneros Pinot Noir is a blend of many different parcels in Carneros. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks with with daily punch down. The wine is transferred to big oak casks for malolactic fermentation before it spends 9 months in French oak out of which 20% is new oak. The result is wine which is dominated by red fruit cherry, some smoky flavours and hints of spicy new oak. Beautifully balanced taste with a smooth silky finish. Will probably improve with 2-3 years of storage. Try with lamb, game and cheese. Schug 2016 Pinot Noir Carneros ca 24 usd or 270 NOK

Here is a review of the 2016 in Chablis as seen by J Moreau & Fils: Vintage 2016 was really rough on us in Burgundy, but it was nothing compared to the living hell we went through in Chablis!  It all started with a mild winter followed by a chilly and rainy spring that lead to a bud bursting in mid-April. We could have settled for that, as we were in the average trend of the 10 previous years. Unfortunately, a first frosting incident in the end of April caused some huge damage in the vineyard. The first assessments estimate that about 20% of the Chablis vineyard was harmed...and if the vines were to grow again, the new vegetation would not bear fruits.  The damage even went to the extent of jeopardizing the pruning for the next vintage. It was a hard blow to take, and the gloomy weather that seemed to settle didn’t help much: the growth slowed down and the vegetative cycle started running late. And as the saying goes, when it rains, it pours...a second frosting inciden...

Photograph: Jason Lowe Here, in this article, Berry Brothers & Rudd Wine Director Mark Pardoe MW offers insight on one of the key factors affecting Burgundy 2016. It is an unvarying truth that, when assessing a new vintage in a series of intensive  in situ  tastings, one or two themes emerge during the sequence of visits that come to define the character and essence of the year. Of course, the severe spring frosts are the headline news for 2016 but, re-reading my notes from my two weeks in Burgundy in early November, two other more arcane topics are also a constant presence. Mildew and whole-bunch are referred to regularly in our descriptions for the wines, so merit further examination and explanation. Today, I’ll be considering mildew; tomorrow I’ll look at whole-bunch. As if the Burgundian  vignerons  didn’t have enough to contend with after the 2016 frosts, nature hadn’t finished with them yet. Mildew, encouraged by a cool and damp late spring, appea...

Photograph: Jason Lowe The BBR Wine Director Mark Pardoe MW reflects on the fashion for whole-bunch: When it came to harvest time in 2016, I wonder how many producers in Burgundy pushed their hats back on their heads and shook their heads in weary disbelief. After the litany of the year’s adversities – frost, mildew, uneven ripening, drought stress and a late harvest – in the end 2016 delivered a perfect harvest of ripe, juicy small berries of Pinot Noir, with perfect skins and wonderful ripe tannins. On reflection, I suspect not many; the ups and downs of recent vintages have created a sense of  Weltmüdigkeit  among some Burgundian  vignerons . Fruit being harvested in such perfect condition brought another of Burgundy’s discussion points firmly centre stage: whether or not, or in what proportion, to use whole bunches (or whole-cluster, as it is also known) in the fermentation process. Until the arrival of de-stemming machines (which remove the berries from t...

Photograph: Jason Lowe Here follows the Berry Brothers & Rudd report on the 2016 vintage in Burgundy. Frost, mildew and small harvest are the main items. BBR Buyer Adam Bruntlett details the 2016 growing conditions, and how Burgundy’s vignerons triumphed against the odds The 2016 growing season was one of the most testing for many years. For the Côte d’Or and Chablis, the most significant climatic event of the season came shortly after budbreak, on the night of the 26th and morning of the 27th April. As temperatures descended to -4°C on the night of the 27th, what the  vignerons  term a  gelée d’hiver  (winter frost) caused damage to low-lying parcels, particularly in the villages of Savigny-lès-Beaune, Chorey and Ladoix. But the frost damage was a two-pronged attack, with a  gelée de printemps  (spring frost) causing damage to many of the best-exposed sites. The previous day’s rain had frozen on the buds and, as the sun rose, its rays had ...