Life is too short to drink bad wine

Wine # 1 Pale red colour with Burgundy rim. Say no more. This is Pinot Noir! On the nose packed with sweet red fruit like raspberries , hint of chocolate and some dried fruit. Very soft smooth and fruity taste with absolutely no resistance. Velvety tannins and low acidity. Perhaps a bit jammy. Very drinkable wine and the panel concluded it has to be new world Pinot Noir! (and we were right....) Anthill Farms Pinot Noir 2012 Sonoma Coast Score 18,0 (Price 380 NOK or 50$) Wine # 2 Very similar pale red colour as wine no 1. On the nose more darker fruit with hints of pepper. More complex smell as well. Definitely Pinot Noir again. The taste is better with more structure and acidity although it is still a bit "jammy" with some spices. A complex wine and the panel is dithering between new world and Burgundy. We were told Burgundy and then I said it had to be a warm year, not Volnay and not Montille as the producer. and it was in fact all those things...!! ...

This is a stunning Volnay premier cru from 2006. Pronounced bouquet of dark fruit, coffee and chocolate. A streamlined fruity well balanced taste that is both lovely and big bodied. The acidity is balancing on a shoestring, but is always falling down on the right side. A real blockbuster Burgundy…. Volnay-Pitures 2006 J.M Boillot Ca 40€

More top reds from Burgundy: This was a selection of the 2010, 2009 and 2008 from Volnay. Volnay just south of Pommard with big fat red silky Burgundies can sometimes be challenging due the less accommodating acidity in the early years. The 2010 was young, strict, firm and straight forward giving away no velvety flavors in either direction. The 2009 was similar on the nose but had opened up on the palate which was more approachable and velvety with a firm finish. The 2008 however was starting to opening up both on the nose and palate. Dark fruit with a hint of wet wool. A firm well balanced taste with a smoother and slimmer after taste. Volnay 2008 Mostue ca 40€

I am sorry for the unclear photo which was largely due to the endless amounts of white Burgundy served before this one (at Renaa). Pale ruby color and an elegant smell of raspberry, red cherries and minerals (wet wool). The taste is balancing on a shoestring in the mouth as the acidity and fruit is like a fine tuned sinus curve. Perfect symphony! Volnay Les Caillerets 2004 Michel Lafarge A firm fine balanced red.

Not often you find a 12 years old Burgundy at a restaurant, but it is possible. Volnay is one of the most acidic Burgundies around and this premier cru from clos des ducs is no exception. Great acidity and a long balanced taste. Volnay 2000 "Clos des Ducs" ca 50 euro or 600 NOK or 999 NOk at resto..

Third wine in an adhoc tasting. Beautiful red color. Stable smell of dark cherries, leather, cedar and somewhat "cooling" aromas. Big solid long taste packed with fruit and balanced acidity and kind tannins. Panel mislead to Piemonte... Volnay 1er cru "Clos des Angles" 2005, Rossignol Balances on a string... Score 17.80 (a bit tough....)

Rossignol's style is based upon on firm well wines with perfect adjusted acidity. This one as well. A premier cru of wonderful quality and balance. Raspberries and dark berries, leather and oak on the nose. A big solid wine, very firm, structured and correct in style and taste.  A wonderful Volnay. Volnay 1er cru "Santenots"2006 by Nicolas Rossignol. High price 30-40€, but worth it.

What can I say? Big red Burgundy , medium deep red colour with a lovely purple rim and long legs. Great elegant smell of dark berries and vanilla. Big mouthful that is balancing on a knife edge all the way through without the acidity taking over. Big structured wine with "cool" fruity taste and a long life ahead. I won't say where I got this, I need more!!! Volnay 1er cru Clos des Angles 2005 Nicolas Rossignol, NOK 380 P++ This is not wine,  this is art!!!! Nicolas Rossignol - Vins de Bourgogne - Accueil

Continuing down the Burgundy trail and focusing a bit on Volnay this reasonable village was found in the local shop last week. Olivier Leflaive, situated in the white wine village of Puligny Montrachet, used to work with Domaine Lefalive before staring on his own in 1985. He is predominately recognised for the white wines, but has over the years built up a reasonable portfolio of red Burgundies. His website is very good and he also runs a hotel. http://www.olivier-leflaive.com/ The Volnay 2006 is the basic Volnay in his selection, medium pale colour with nice discrete smell of red berries. The taste was firm, elegant and pure but quite acidic compared to for example Beaune 1er cru or Chambolle. This is, I believe, also many times the major difference  between Beaune and its neighbour just to the south. Volnay 2006, Olivier Leflaive, 30€ , reasonable but perhaps also forgetteable?

Having tasted quite a few of Nicolas Rossignol different premier cru reds from Volnay during the wine tasting Paris early December, we had the Volnay 1er cru 'Santenots' 2006 the other day. And what an experience! Lovely great red colour with wonderful complex smell of dark berries, leather and oak. Although still a very young wine the taste was balanced, with a nice acidity and  along firm and seductive taste which would improve even more with time. A extremely well structured wine that required 3 to 5 years to develop in order to peak, but again absolutely fabolous right  now as well. Volnay 1er cru ' Santenots' , Nicolas Rossignol  385 NOk or 45€, lovely stuff and worth every penny! Nicolas Rossignol - Vins de Bourgogne - Accueil

Still on the Burgundy track, wine from another upcoming producer in the glass last evening - Nicolas Potel. Beautiful red colour with a somewhat closed nose of raspberries, mineral and oak. The taste is silky velvety like most Volnays, but the aftertaste was a bit too acidic compared to the other Burgundies recently tasted. Based on that its difficult to give the same high score as for the Chambolle and Beaune 1er cru, but a solid good wine it is respecting the terroir of Volnay. It is also not as good as the Volnay we had at restaurant Maison Blanche in Paris beginning of December which was more even more feminine. Due to the wintery conditions across most Europe right now I enclose a picture from Burgundy covered in snow. Hard to believe that this could be the home of great red and white wines! Volnay 2006 Vielles Vignes by Nicolas Potel ca 35€ or 300 NOK a P or around low 17 score.

The colour of this wine is very pale red. Volnay, the commune just south of Pommard, are normally delightful wines that are elegant and delicate with a very feminine expression. This is in stark contradiction to its neighbour Pommard which is possibly the most masculine wine in Burgundy. Funny to think that they are both Pinot Noir and that this effect comes exclusively from the terroir which is lighter in Volnay than in Pommard. The Premier cru "Clos des Ducs" is just north of the town Volnay and the producer Marquis d'Angerville has monopoly on this parcel. The wine is very delicate and feminine with a smooth velvety finish with a medium light body but a long aftertaste. 2000 is generally a very good year, but perhaps not the best for Volnay or the wines from Cote de Beaune. All this thanks to a thunderstorm on September 12 that year that brought between 25 to 75 mm of rain in the Cote de Beaune. The price is around 30 to 35€ which makes this a P (worth the price but...