Life is too short to drink bad wine

A challenge with older white Burgundies are still oxidation. Therefore I have decided not to keep such wines if they are older than 8 years. Last year when I was emptying my stock nearly half of the 2007 and 2008 vintages were oxidised! This one by Remo Jobard from Meursault is drinking beautifully now. Delicious lime, butter, spice, yeast and oak flavours on the nose. Gorgeous balanced taste with a velvety long finish. Perfect meditation wine at the cabin! Meursault "En Luraule" 2010 Remi Jobard 400 NOK or 35€ (much more expensive from 2015+)

Right now a bottle of Angelus is closer to 300£ than the 30£ I paid for this 1993 last millennium. 1993 is not regarded as best of the vintages in Bordeaux but it's better than the 2011 that now costs 300£. Elegant dark red colour. Lovely and complex bouquet of dark fruit, leather, cellar, forrest and chocolate. High intensity. Big, solid, complex, beautiful balance. Refreshing. Long. Powerful. Tasting notes from blind tasting giving an overall score of 18,70 Ch. Angelus 1993 St.Emilion Grand cru classee Ca 30£

This is a small producer in Napa valley that buys grapes from around the valley to produce wine of great pleasure and quality. A goal that they seem to fulfil. Very dark dense coloured wine with a great complex smell of dark fruit, chocolate, mint, leather, dried fruit with somewhat sweet undertones. The taste was long with lots of dark fruit. Big, but soft tannins. Quite a mouthful with great balance and lovely acidity. Very approachable style and the wine was tried during a blind tasting after a Ch.Angelus 1993 that got a score of 18.70. This one scored 18.90! Elizabeth Spencer Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 Napa Valley Extraction from the tasting sheet Upon arrival at the winery, our Cabernet Sauvignon grapes were hand-sorted. The berries were lightly macerated and then given a long, cold soak in order to extract color and flavor from the skins. Fermentation was allowed to begin with “native” yeasts. Once fermentation was complete, the wine was fur...

Super lovely Barolo by Falletto produced in Bruno Giacosa cellar. 2005 is a "kind" year in Barolo with wines that are approachable early on.   Quite a medium red colour with red brown rim. Great smell of raisins, chocolate, cigar and some flowers. Well balanced wine with integrated tannins and a very long finish. Some cherries on the palate and medium + acidity. All notes above were done in a blindtasting. (Score 18.6) A great wine! Barolo 2005 Falletto Ca 80€

This is the only single estate in Italy that has it's own DOC! The first time I had it was last week when I found out that one of the local restaurants (Sørensen oppe) had one bottle left. So I asked the wine waiter to set aside the bottle for me. A few days later on a sunny warm late summer day I turned up with a friend and reclaimed the bottle. We sat outside, on a tiny balcony, overlooking the Stavanger harbour, watching the sun go down drinking this stunning wine. Gorgeous aromas of dark chocolate, supple red fruit and lots of cassis. Old cellar, vanilla, ripe fruit. Simply wonderful! But the palate was out of this world thanks to a complexity, balance, body and length that really shocked the both of us. At the same time it was soft and elegant as well as big strong and firm. It had lots of fire power, but at the same time silky. A truly stunning wine. Worth drinking at least once! But of course there are no more 2001 left in Stavanger ....

Let it be said at once; this 2009 red Burgundy from More-St-Denis is pure magic! It can remind you of a full bodied Chambolle in a way as it has similar bouquet and smoothness. The smell is dominated by delicate raspberries with hints of chocolate. Subtle, but ever so lovely. The taste is incredible smooth, packed with ripe delicious fruit, an enormous length and wonderful balanced aftertaste. Pure magic! I am uncertain what to eat with this wine as I am afraid many dishes would take away the fantastic experience it is just to drink it on its own. Try veal with a discrete sauce....perhaps.

This is wine number 1000 on this blog and the choice of wine number 1000 is not accidental. Chambolle Musigny by Rion is a pure meditation wine with a silky texture and balance that must be experienced in order to understand what the fuzz is all about. I have tried all the Chambolle Musigny's by Patrice Rion since the 2006 and every vintage has been of great quality. The purity, balance, smoothness and delightful taste is just amazing. The wine is so delicate that it is difficult to recommend any food with it and that's why it's for me a pure meditation wine. Serve slightly chilled in a big glass, lean back in the chair or sofa and just enjoy; sip after sip.... Stunning stuff for 39€. Wine does not get better than this, just more expensive.....

This is a magical Pinot Noir by Copain in California. Copain has many different Pinot's from different regions and this from Anderson valley is just pure silk. 6 years in the bottle has smoothened the wine without losing structure and acidity. On the nose it is packed with attractive and slightly sweet red fruit, but the taste is what makes this a top wine; Super smooth with silky tannins all the way. Silky long aftertaste and a wonderful balance. Just stunning! The price has increased lately due to increased demand and exchange rate effects. Expect to pay around 40-60$ pending on location.

This is the "ultimum" white wine. It has everything you can imagine ; a lovely and complex bouquet, a gorgeous and delicate taste and a very long finish. Although it's very young (2013) it opens up perfectly  in a Burgundy glass and if you drink it at around 10-12c it will reveal all it's flavours and complexity. Expect to pay 60-100€ for such delicious white wine which is expensive but it's pure magic in the glass! Lequin-Colin has many different white Burgundies and is normally a safe bet in the wine shop.

The label is somewhat ruined thanks to the humidity in my cave in Paris. But the cave has perfect storage conditions something which is proven by this 1998 Haut-Bailly from Pessac Leognan in Bordeaux. Medium dark red colour with a surprisingly red rim. The wine has a lovely bouquet of red fruit, old cellar, leather and cigar. A typical  Bordeaux nose of the very attractive kind. In the mouth it is beautifully balanced with lots of structure but very smooth and elegant tannins. It's drinking perfectly now and compared today's prices for this Chateau which are close to 100€ the original costs for this bottle was a pure bargain.

This premier cru plot called les Charmes by Patrice Rion is a wonderful red Burgundy. It's silky, smooth and wonderfully balanced. The tannins are soft and elegant. The taste is big, fruity, delightful and ever so complex. The aromas are filled with fresh red fruit, a bit of chocolate and some smoke. The wine can keep for 5-10 more years but it's drinking beautifully now. High price ca 600kr or 45€.

Richebourg is a small appelation with Grand cru status in Burgundy in the commune of Vosne Romanee. Only 7,4 hectares with a total of 26.000 bottles produced by different producers. Prices vary from 300$ per bottle to 24.000$ bottle. I bought this bottle together with some friends from a local wine shop in the east of Norway. The same shop also rented us 4 Burgundy glasses !!! What a service! Let it be said at once: this is a stunning wine! Just super delicious and enormously complex. The 2001 vintage is drinking perfect now. Medium red colour with rusty red rim.  The aromas are just wonderful with many variations like: red meat, cellar, wet wooolen socks, chocolate, dark cherries and burnt wood. The taste is just as great and I have never tried such a powerful Pinot Noir. Silky and elegant tannins with a super sharp balance and very long and decadent  aftertaste. Great great stuff! Stunning really and worth every penny of the roughly 300$.... At the time of writi...

This Anthill Farms Pinot Noir is from a single vineyard in Sonoma Coast called Campbell Ranch. It's pricier than the normal Anthill version and the colour is deeper leading towards more medium red. The bouquet is just incredible with a lovely "chilled" red fruit that just explodes in the glass. The taste is big, massive and intense with a great complexity and with lots of cold red fruit and a great acidity. This is just a very very nice Pinot and definitely a step up from the basic version which is also very good. Burgundy watch out! Anthill Farms Pinot Noir 2013 Campbell Ranch   Ca 450 NOK or 40$

This is a superduper drop dead gourgeous Pinot from the Sonoma Coast.The colour is rather medium to dark red suggesting maximum extraction and power. The nose is just wonderfully complex and big with lots of "cold" red fruit with hints of chocolate and some redcurrant. The palate is firm, solid, fullbodied, smooth with firm tannins. Lots of red fruit. Very direct in style and a great acidity to go with it. It's too early to drink now and should be kept for 3-4 years for maximum potential. Some other comments about this wine: “Readers who can find the Occidental Pinots should not hesitate to grab them, as they are truly magnificent.” Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media Running a successful winery for over 30 years with a long wait list just to get on to their mailing list to get an allocation of wine just wasn’t enough of a challenge for Steve Kistler and Mark Bixler. Kistler Vineyards built their reputation on Chardonnay, but many praise their smaller produ...

Having never tried a white Burgundy from Lafon this 2011 was a bit of a shock. An absolute stunning and well balanced Meursault, so beautifully constructed and with an enormous concentration and length. This must be one of the best village Meursault I have ever tried. It's like drinking gold! Elegant nose of peach and ripe yellow apples with discrete lime and butter in addition. An extremely balanced, refines and polished taste. Pricy indeed, but sometimes it is worthwhile to spend the extra money to taste such a beautiful balanced wine. Faboulous on it's own but probably even better in February with fried arctic cod. Meursault 2011 Domaine des Comtes lafon High Price.

Could not resist opening this one down at the cabin on a sunny summer day. Colin-Morey has an impressive list of white wines and this one is no exception. Wonderful and elegant nose with discrete lime, butter, herbs, oak and apples. The taste is so balanced, long and vivid that it is just shocking. A truly great wine and the biggest probelm is that the bottle seems to empty way too fast and that there are limited bottles to be obtained. Puligny Montrachet Les Champs Gain 2011 Pierre Yves Colin Morey Ca 50€

It's a bit early drinking the 2011 Charmes right now because the 2004 which I still have some left of is drinking perfectly right now. Very similar smell to the Chambolle Musigny village wine from the same year but more complex nose with sweet red fruit and chocolate. Shockingly nice and complex taste with firm but soft tannins. A great wine that can easily be stored 5 more years and be even better then. The only problem with wines from Patrice Rion is that bottles seems to empty way too quickly... Chambole Musigny 1er cru Les Charmes 2011 Patrice Rion Ca 40€  

Genevrieres is one of the three top premier cru in Meursault (the other two being Charmes and Perrieres). Meursault has for some obscure reason no grand cru wines, but these three plots are normally of such high standard. The name of this plot derives from the juniper bushes that used to grow in this area. The vineyard has a high mineral content as one of the trade marks. The wine has a pale straw colour with a beautiful nose of white flowers, sitrus and minerals. The taste is amazingly light and refreshing with lots of fruit and minerality. An incredible balance throughout which makes it just heavenly to drink. An amazing white with less butter and hazelnut that normally describes a top white Burgundy. Meursault Genevrieres 1er cru 2011 Domaine Michelot High price

This is a fantastic Champagne based upon a mix 50/50 of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Medium straw colour and an explosion on the nose of sitrus, butter, oak, vanilla, nuts and biscuit. A bit of ripe red apples as well. Complex and beautifully developed. The taste is just enormous with a great balance, acidity, minerality and long "mousse" like aftertaste. It's 40% cheaper than top cuvees from other more famous Champagne houses which makes it a bargain. Henriot 1998 Cuvee des Enchanteleurs High price

Omg what an exciting wine.....only 100 bottles made and this one is 90 years old!!! Tar like colour and substance. Incredible dark colour with close to oarnge rim. The smell is just enormous with lost of burnt prunes, figues, mocca, earl grey tea, walnut and sweet coffee. Just incredible. The taste starts off sweet but ends with a wonderful acidity and balance. This is just an enormous wine, just amazing stuff. Valdespino "Moscatel Toneles" 1925 Jerez