Life is too short to drink bad wine

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

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 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€

This is a delightful wine from one of the villages in Beaujolais. Thillardon is also one of the many new producers in this region that produce great wines in small quantities and most of all based upon biodynamic principles. Whole cluster fermentation and carbonique maceration which is the traditional method in Beaujolais. 7 months storage with 50% in old oak barrels and the other half in cement tanks. Very fruity and fresh red that can be served slightly chilled. Lots of red fruit and flowers on the nose with some peppery notes. Deliciously fresh with a firm aftertaste. Serve with light meat, salad or cheese. Perfect for lunch. Chenas 2015 Vibrations Domaine Thillardon Ca 15€

Morgon is one of the 10 villages in Beaujolais where Gamay is the grape used. A wine that has been dominated by the Beaujolais Nouveau which character and quality may be questionable. This wine from Laurent Perrachon is an example of upcoming quality wines from the area and can remind you of basic Burgundy if tasted blind. Lots of delicate red and dark fruit on the nose. Medium dark red colour that may suggest that Pinot is not the grape. The taste is smooth and packed with dark elegant fruit. Lovely balance and medium length. A very decent wine with low tannins. Morgon 2016 Laurent Perrachon Beaujolais Ca 15€ or 180 NOK

Good Beaujolais is delightful to drink when the sun is out and it's hot. They are light and refreshing and best served slightly chilled to obtain most of the flavours. This Cote de Brouilly (one of the 10 grand crus) by Thivin is perhaps not the cheapest one but it's certainly good. Beaujolais wines are never expensive anyway so don't worry. Medium dark red colour with purple rim. Light and attractive smell of flowers and red/dark fruit with some spicy undertones. The taste is light and perfectly balanced with perhaps a light acidity on the aftertaste and some discrete, smooth tannins. The wine is slightly "nervous" and the taste will vary pending the temperature. Cote de Brouilly Chateau Thivin Ca 12€

With summer returning for a while, I had to try this Beaujolais from Cote de Brouilly. This is an unusual Beaujolais with much more power and taste than the normal ones. Dark fruit, coffee and wet wool on the nose. Highly unusual stuff for being Gamay grape. Fruity and silky taste. Very good indeed. Serve slightly chilled. Cote de Brouilly 2012 Ch. Thivin Beaujolais Ca 12-15€ or 220 NOK

Beaujolais is a delightful light red wine that should be served slightly chilled. Perfect lunch wine or for remaining summer evenings on the terrace. The town Julienas is named after the Roman leader Julius Caesar. The wine is light well balanced with spicy red fruit and flowers on the nose.

Had a cold Beaujolais at dinner the other day at the newly opened restaurant called Nacional in Anitibes. Groovy modern restaurant and a equally groovy modern looking label on this Chiroubles. Vin de Kav has a deep purple colour with lots of delicious dark berries on the nose. Fruity well balanced taste. A decent wine but not brilliant. Chiroubles "vin de kav" 2011 Karim Vionnet

It's approaching Beaujolais Nouveau time but if you are to drink Beaujolais then try one of the village names. Chiroubles is one of my favorites, always light red berries and flowers. Fresh fruity taste with a nice balanced acidity. If you drink Beaujolais remember to serve it slightly chilled (around 14c) as that reveals the freshness of the wine. If it is served too warm it becomes limpid and boring. Chiroubles 2010, ca 8€ or 24€ at resto in France. Do not save, to be drunk young...

Beaujolais wines are normally light and very drinkable. Perfect for lunch on those warm days out in the garden or terrace. This Cote de Brouilly is however quite a dark and dense Beaujolais, but it does the trick. Lots of jammy raspberries and a good mouthful packed with fruit and balanced acidity. Brun has a special style from this domaine called Terres Dorrees in Charnay.   Drink slightly chilled (never above 15c) to get the right flavours. Cote de Brouilly, Beaujolais by J P Brun, Low price ca 160 or 6€.

Went to one of Stavangers "herlige" restaurants yesterday. Very good food and also a nice big selection of wine, but the prices?? Perusing the winelist for something good and reasonable was like searching for the correct seven numbers in the lottery. In France, the most expensive restaurants apply a factor of 2 or 3 to the purchase price which is OK as the starting point is low. In Norway with all the taxes and certain restaurants applying factors between 3 and 5 the wine prices become astronomical. I noticed that they had Chiroubles from Beaujolais at the "resto" yesterday, which is a simple red wine mostly used on warm days or at lunch time. Well yesterday it was cold and it was dinner time. A good Chiroubles would set you back around 6 to 7 € in France and maybe around 17€ in Norway at the local sales point for wine. The price yesterday at a well recognised restaurant was no less than 700 NOK or around 85€!!! 85€ for a Beaujolais who on earth in his right mi...

A couple more of the Beaujolais bought when visiting Fleurie, Chiroubles, St Amour have been tasted. Fleurie "Domaine de la Grand Cour" 2006 by Jean Louis Dutraive was medium light coloured with the typical Fleurie flowery nose and light body. An average good Fleurie for sunny warm days. Another and similar in style was Fleurie "Domaine du Niagara" 2006 by Arnaud Despres . Both of these wines offer reasonable value for money, but are a step behind two other Fleurie namely the Lionel Despret "Madone" and Domaine Chignard "Les Moriers" . All these wines cost around 7€ per bottle.

The weather is heating up! Its gonna be warm warm today! around 24c actually! and what´s better than a glass of cold Beaujolais in the garden for lunch? When we visited Beaujolais we brought home some samples from some Fleurie producers that we had not heard of before. Two have been already tasted (it was nice and warm last weekend u c) "Madone" Fleurie 2006 by Lionel Despres €7 was  more "fullbodied" Beaujolais than normal ones without the sometimes quite sharp aftertaste you find in Fleurie wines. A definite P+ Apparantly the best Fleurie comes from the hillsides close to the Madone statue... At Domaine Chignard they make a Fleurie called " Les Moriers " which is even more "fullbodied". We had the 2006 (should always drink Beaujolais young and slightly chilled) and it was in fact more burgundy like with smooth long lively well balanced taste. We missed the flowery Fleurie smell though... We will back with more notes over the next few days. Pr...

In Beaujolais they make light red wine from the Gamay grape easy to drink and perfect at lunch time on a hot summer day. The wines should be drank chilled and young. No point in drinking old Beaujolais even though though some can be stocked up to 4-5 years. When drinking Beaujolais you are looking for something fruity, drinkable and enjoyable.  The best ones come from the villages in northern part of Beaujolais where the soil is granite based (like in St Amour see picture).  If the bottle is labeled Beaujolais it comes from the southern part with limestone as the soil. This wine is also often sold as Beaujolais Noveau (third Thursday in November) a wine good for the bank  accounts of the producers, but bad for the drinkers and the Beaujolais image. Good wine from the best villages like St.Amour, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Julienas, Moulin a Vent only cost about 6 to 10€ anyway and for that you get summery, flowery, silky juicy wines! There are many different producers for each of the villag...