Life is too short to drink bad wine

Cote Rotie, 100% Syrah and steep hills down to the Rhone river. A wonderful landscape and brilliant wines. Think dark fruit, smooth velvety well balanced taste. Soft tannins. You take a sip and realise it could be a full-bodied Burgundy or perhaps a super fruity Bordeaux. But it's Cote Rotie, a tiny appellation with legendary quality wines. The 2007 is at peak right now, no need to keep it further. Just drink. Alone. or with something you really like. Cote Rotie 2007 Michel & Stephane Ogier Ca 25€

This is a stunning wine from Beaune and Albert Morot. The Bressandes plot keep impressing me with velvety structured wines at an affordable price. Smooth red fruit on the nose with hints of pepper and some earthy flavours. Silky firm tannins on the palate with a lovely delicious and long finish. Wines does not get better than this. Just more expensive. Beaune 1er cru Bressandes 2012 Albert Morot Ca 28€

This is a delightful Chardonnay from Margaret River in Australia. Hand picked grapes and whole bunch pressed. Malolactic fermentation and battonage, just like they do in Burgundy. The result is a wine with notes of ripe peach, grapefruit, fig and nuts. Wonderful complexity with a lovely balance and long full bodied finish. Creamy texture. A great wine that can compete with white Burgundy both in quality and price. Will keep for 5-6 years. Evoi Chardonnay Reserve 2015 Margaret River Australia 55 Australian $ or 399 NOK

This wine from Pomerol and 2010 is absolute stunning! Below is an extraction of an article from the Crush wine & spirits site which sums it all up. The 2010 Bordeaux produced wines that are built for the ages. This is a vintage that harks back to the wines of old.  This is a special vintage for Bordeaux. More importantly, for us,  it is a vintage that marks something of a return to a more classic idea of Bordeaux.  These are poised to be some of the longest lived modern-day examples. Vieux Chateau Certan (VCC) has turned out two absolutely stunning wines. And note we wrote “wines” – plural. The 2010 vintage at VCC is not only about the Grand Vin.  In fact, one of the most sought after wines of the 2010 vintage is the estate’s second wine, La Gravette de Certan. There’s no way around the fact that Pomerols are pricey. It’s almost impossible to find sub-$60 Pomerols that deliver the level of quality that have made the area famous.  Forget about fi...

One of the labels on this blog is called Meditation wine. The wines I choose to label like that are wines that do not require food as they are so lovely just on its own. On its own when things are bad and you need to be cheered up or there is something to celebrate. Or maybe because you are worth it! This Meursault by Remi Jobard from 2010is like that. Drinking perfectly now with a super delicious smell of butter, lime, white flowers and some spice. Perfectly balanced with a long velvety finish. Pure and full bodied white. A truly lovely wine. If you want food try with fried cod or Comte cheese. Meursault 2010 En Luraule Remi Jobard Ca 40€ or 500 NOK

Not the best of pictures but it was quite dark in the restaurant when this picture was taken. Quite a delicious nose of citrus, green apple with nicely integrated oak flavours and hint of wet stone. Very concentrated taste with a lovely acidity and a refreshing and quite fruity aftertaste that lingers on for a very long time. A beautiful balanced wine that goes well with most white meat, white fish and cheese. But as many white Burgundies it is also perfect for meditation purposes. Drink now and over next 10 years. Chassagne Montrachet 2013 1er cru Morgeot Domaine Ramonet High price

Bon Pasteur is a small property in Pomerol close to St.Emilion. The vineyard is spread around in different plots with various types of soil. The soil varies between clay/gravel to clay/sand. Normally 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc is used in producing the wine. The grapes are hand harvested and double sorting. Fermentation in steel tanks and ageing for 15-18 months in new French oak. Deep brilliant ruby colour with a delicate nose of red fruit. The tannins are slightly firm with a well structure palate. Very nicely balanced wine. Quite powerful and full bodied with a long finish. Drinking perfectly now. Ca 30€. Only 20.000bottles are made.

The name of this wine is pronounced similar to the "ujjayi" breathing technique in yoga. And both have a soothing effect on the stress level in your body. Both can be used for meditative purposes. Quite a pale reddish colour with a delightful nose of ripe red fruit, plum and spices. The taste is wonderfully soft and balanced with easy going tannins and sweet red fruit. Typical meditation wine! If food is required try with game. Ojai vineyard Pinot Noir 2014 Kessler-Haak Sta. Rita Hills Ca 30$r 340 kr

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 ba...

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

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 ...

This Paulliac Grand cru classe is drinking beautifully now. 2008 is not the best of vintages but at least the price was decent as it was the year before the price rocketing years of 2009 and 2010. The colour is medium to dark red with a red rim. Very elegant indeed. The nose is delightful with dark fruit, some red cherries, liquorice, leather and pencil sharpener. Great stuff! The palate is ever so smooth despite the present tannins which fortunately are of the soft kind. Medium body with a long refreshing aftertaste. Grand Puy Lacoste 2008 Paulliac Ca 35€ 

Sean Thackrey is quite a special wine person. He makes wine because it should taste nice and in this version he use many different grapes.  In  Greek mythology , the Pleiades were the seven daughters of  Atlas  and thus the wine is said to contain seven grapes (though it might sometimes contain more) and some of the commonly used grapes include  Syrah, Barbera, Carignan, Petite Sirah, Zinfandel, Sangiovese  and white  Viognier . Thackrey does not measure the percentages of the grapes, using what he feels like, tasting and testing as he goes along. It is a nonvintage wine, each release receiving a new Roman numeral. The Pleiades have intense flavors, complexity and unique character.  They also possess an appealing, earthy gaminess that could remind you of  Burgundy. Pale red colour, a bit like Burgundy. Delicious nose of red fruit, rose  and gingerbread. Lovely balanced taste dominated by raspberry and spicy c...

Nuits St.George wines in Burgundy have almost always a dark and intense colour. Close Saint Marc is a premier cru which is just across the road from the Patrice Rion facilities. The Clos Saint Marc is just less than 1ha and only 4000 bottles a year are produced from around 60 years old vines. The nose is firm but delicate and dominated sweet raspberries, cherries and some earthy undertones. His wines are biodynamic and all the stalks are removed before fermentation. The taste is wonderfully balanced with lots of elegant red fruit with a long and complex finish. Stunning stuff as always from Rion! Nuits St. George 2009  Clos Saint Marc Patrice Rion ca 40€