Life is too short to drink bad wine

This is a fantastic Garnacha (Grenache) by Terroir sense Fronteres (terroir with no limits).  The grapes are from an area called Montsant which lies like a horseshoe around Priorat. The grapes come from 40-80 year old plots around the village of LaFiguera at around 750 above sea level. The terroir is predominately chalk on steep terraces. The wine has fermented and stored on cement tanks before being bottled. 2017 is the first vintage made and only 4000 btls were produced. The colour is pale ruby. Delicious nose of fresh raspberry, strawberry, flowers and some liquerice. Fresh and light taste with a perfect balance and soft tannins. Very elegant with ripe red fruit and a long aftertaste. Just super delicious. Vertebra 2017 Terroir sense Fronteres Montsant, Spain 370 NOK or 25€ Lys rød farge. Særdeles innsmigrende og lett aromatisk nese av friske bringebær jordbær, blomster, urter og lakris. Svært frisk i munnen med flott frukt, finslepne tanniner og flott tekstur....

White Burgundies are everyone favourite at my wine courses and finding the right one can be a challenge due to high prices and the chaotic world of terroir and "managers". Mercurey is not the most famous village wines but is good value for money when you have a good manager like Michel Juillot. Packed with lime, butter, ripe apple and herbs. Full bodied taste and lovely acidity. Refreshing aftertaste with some minerality. Mercurey 2017 Domaine Michel Juillot Ca 20€ or 270 NOK

This is a stunning white Burgundy from Meursault and its from 2017. I came across this wine during a wine festival in Oslo and it really stood out according to my taste. Delightful nose of yellow apples. lime, honey and spices. A taste that is super balanced with a delicate long finish. Outstanding wine and just very very smooth and light. Heitz Lochardet is an unknown producer to me but I really need to know about the wines from this one. Meursault La Barre 2017 Heitz Lochardet ca 40€ or 500 NOK Wine does not get better than this just more expensive!

This is a 100% Gamay from the village of Brouilly in Beaujolais. The wine maker favours minimum intervention and the grapes are grown organic. The colour is red but slightly unclear! (no filter). Let it rest in the glass before trying it. Lovely smell of red fruit and spicy cherries and plum. This is a light bodied red with a very juicy taste and light tannins. Refreshing wine that should be served slightly chilled and will give you a good touch of summer days. Brouilly 2017 Ch.Cambon Beaujolais ca 220 NOK or 13€

The Alvarinho grape in Portugal (Albarino in Spain) is a thick skinned grape that can survive the wet climate north in Portugal (DOC Vinho Verde) giving light elegant and refreshing whites without too much problems of rot. Normal style is zingy and zesty with exotic fruit, lemon and a distinct acidity and minerality. But not everything is normal, so this Casa has made a different version of the Alvarinho grape by using some of the principles of Burgundy white wine making. The extended time lees with battonage gives a quite different character and complexity to the wine due to the additional flavours from the lees and a more subtle acidity due to malo. The nose is thus citrus, apple, white flowers and some yeasty character. The taste is crispy, dry, high acidity on the smooth side and quite a decent length. A well made different style of Alvarinho that drinks well young which can probably keep for 4-6 years as well. Alvarinho 2017 Minho, Vinho Verde Casa do Capitao-mor...

PYCM dunker til med en rose på 100% Pinot Noir fra Burgund. Nesten 50 år gamle vinstokker og hans andre årgang med rose.  Hans vidunderlige hvite burgundere er bare blitt dyrere og vanskeligere å få tak. Har drukket en del rose fra Provence etc men dette her tar rose vin til nye høyder. 25€ er dyrt.  Men for en vin! Det lukter Pinot, ser ut som diskret rose og smaker aldeles himmelsk med en balanse og lengde totalt ukjent når det gjelder rose. Unfined/unfiltered. Jeg gir meg over for en rose vin! PYCM has created a rose wine based upon 100% Pinot Noir from Burgundy. Nearly 50 year old vines and only his second rose wine ever. His wonderful white Burgundies have just become more and more expensive and more more  difficult to get hold of. I have drunk quite a few rose from Provence but this one takes rose wine to a different level. Although 25€ is expensive. But what a wine! It smells Pinot, but it is discretely rose coloured with a heavenly taste and ...

The 2017 vintage is now out from certain regions, Beaujolais being one of them. And nothing is better than a chilled Gamay on a warm and sunny day. The quality from the region is on a rise and there are many old and new "managers" that are searching quality based on the Gamay grape. Jean Paul Brun is one of those making wine old style Beaujolais, i.e Burgundy method. The colour is wonderful purple red. The nose filled with red fresh summer fruit, redcurrant, raspberries etc. The taste is also refreshing with great acidity and medium soft tannins. Delightful stuff. Reasonable priced and good value for money. Beaujolais Le Ronsay 2017 Jean Paul Brun ca 170 NOK or 8€

There were severe frosts over the entire region on the nights of the 22 nd  and the 29 th  April (you might remember, we experienced the same thing in the UK). These were primarily located in the Côtes de Castillon, Côtes de Blaye, St. Emilion and Pomerol. This is on the Right Bank. On the Left, the frosts affected the areas of vineyard situated outside of 1 kilometre from the river. The good news is that very few of the big estates have been affected, if anything it is the lesser vineyards of these that might have had some damage – those that supply the second or the third wine. This is with the exception of Ch. Angludet in Margaux – a Berry Bros. & Rudd customer favourite. Sadly, this Château, although situated far from the river, had 100% of its crop decimated. We usually open our EP campaign with this Château, often selling out in minutes, but this year we regret to inform, there will be none available. In Pessac, the vineyards have also been affected, more so tha...

Bordeaux 2017 – harvest and weather report Bordeaux 2017 will be a ‘fascinating’ vintage to taste, according to Gavin Quinney (@ GavinQuinney)  of Chateau Bauduc. In the article below, he summarises everything you need to know about this year’s harvest. Bordeaux 2017 will go down as the year of the frost. But now that the harvest is complete, it’s clear that this really is a vintage of haves, have-nots and somewhere-in-betweens. For those growers and châteaux with vineyards that weren’t hit, there has been every chance of making very good wine. Here is a look at how the weather stamped an indelible mark on the vintage, along with numerous images of the harvest. Contents and highlights Introduction – a small crop 45% down on last year due to April frost The growing season Pretty good – rain end of June, dry summer, hot August, damp start to September, fine finish The harvest – a view from the top 80% of top wines from 150 leading châteaux not impacted by frost T...