#WINE
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 This remarkable bottle from the Loire Valley in France, features a transformation much like nature undergoes during autumn. While all wines change with air, this one takes on a whole new personality as days goes by. Starting with an intriguing mix of light red berries and darker ones. On day two, if you managed to save some, it will have turned in to forrest notes. Displaying smells of wet earth, leaves, mushrooms and sweet red berries. On the third day I got some black berries and more sandy tones. Extremely fascinating wine! Tasting Notes
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September is upon us and we are getting ready for all the fantastic lamb we have here in Norway. Fårikål is, for now at least, our national dish and it is so much better with good wine. This weeks wine is a perfect accompaniment to Fårikål!  Lamb can be a difficult ingredient to pair with wine. It’s fat and has it’s own flavour, but if you search you can find som super pairings. I like to go to the Rhône valley when I have wine with lamb. And our good friends at Domain du Colombier never disappoints! Their Crozes-Hermitage is superb and so much wine for what you pay. A fantastic wine with food! A few years ago we visited the domaine and got to taste the beautiful wines there. You can see the story in the YouTube link above. Tasting notes:Colombier Crozes Hermitage 2017 - 234,90 kr Very fresh and young. Black berries, currants and cherry on the nose. It continues in the mouth with hints of the Forrest as well. This just feels like autumn! It has great structure and acidity as well making it perfect with food. It can handle most fat meats and is perfect with the lambs we have in fall. Open it a good few hours before drinking and you will be rewarded!   In my eternal quest to find white wines with butter-toast notes, I stumbled across this beauty from New Zealand. A single vineyard Chardonnay, spontaneous fermented in both new and old oak barrels, and some steel tanks as well. The Babich Family is New Zealands most experienced winemakers, founded all the way back in 1895. Their focus is on easy drinking wines, which applies well to our wine of the week. Tasting notes
One region that I have forgotten the last couple of years is Chablis. I don’t know why, really, when you get a good bottle nothing is better. So when we ordered a mountain trout from Hardanger, we got this weeks wine to go with.  When I started collecting wine, Chablis was one of my first and favourite wines to get. Opening a bottle and smelling the bouquet was like being at the beach or fishing from a cliff at home. And perfect with shrimp, crabs and the fish we get at home. And one of my first favourite producers was Laurent Tribut.  Tributs wines have been a staple of the great Chablis that we get here in Norway for the last few decades. His wines are crystal clear and pure. They have everything you want from a Chablis and are perfect with seafood. But also great to drink by them selves. Tasting notes:Tribut Chablis 2016 - 295,90 kr Oh my Word what a wine! Like a evening stroll on the beach in the nose, with the saltiness and minerality really coming through. Great acidity and then the lime and ocean in the mouth, makes this just perfect. Great with just about any seafood.   This week we head to northern Spain and the famous wine region of Rioja. Mostly known for their robust and powerful red wines, but lately we've seen more whites, rosé and sparkling being produced. 
Tasting notes
I had the pleasure of spending the week in Ålesund. A great week of exploring the beautiful countryside in this spectacular part of Norway. There is also some great restaurants and Apotekergata 5 sticks out. Anders Göransson has really transformed the restaurant in the classic Hotel Brosundet to an outstanding restaurant. And in addition there is a great little bar where you can get all of their wines if you only want to have a drink. And there are some gems there for sure. I found this weeks wine among the great list that they have to offer.  As many of you know I’m not to fond of the Beaujolais Nouveau. The wines are just not finished. But that doesn’t mean that Gamay isn’t great. On the contrary, in can be fantastic. In Apotekergatas winelist I found Chateau des Jacques Fleurie 2015 at a very reasonable 700,- kr. It cost 250,- in the vinmonopol so this is a good buy, both in the shop and in the bar.  Chateau des Jacques Fleurie vineyard is east/south-east oriented in a nice windy place. The grapes benefits from a consistent maturation. The top soil is very thin and appears to be salmon-coloured in places where the crystalline rock of the subsoil is flush with the surface. What I like is that the wine needs two or three years to reach its peak, and can then age comfortably for several decades. Have some patience with the Gamay! Then you will be revarded! Tasting Notes: Ch. des Jacques Fleurie 2015 - 249,90 kr Lovely bouqet of flowers, strawberries and raspberries. Very elegant acidity that balances the wine really well. Pure pleasure in the mouth with great lenght. So good.  This Burgundy style beauty from South Africa is our wine of the week. Made from 100% Chardonnay grapes, partially spontaneous fermented and stored in oak barrels. It's rich, round and smooth. It imitates much what is loved by expensive Chardonnays from Burgundy. Delicate smells of butter, toast, oak and roasted nuts, at an affordable price. Tasting Notes
 I've picked my flight of wines for this summer. A good blend of whites, reds, rosé and bubbles. Summer vacation up north in Norway, calls for many different occasions; wine vice. You need good aperitifs, interesting food pairings and things to just enjoy on the terrace.  Kjerringøy is a peninsula 30 minutes outside of Bodø, north of the Arctic circle. Stunning scenery, great for hiking and where my better half has her family roots. 
To this beautiful place I've brought a good variety of bottles for everyone to enjoy. I've selected things to go well with my cooking, but also new stuff that can be fun for all to try.  The bottles, brief tasting notes and food pairing
 Finally some heat and what better way to enjoy the warm summer than a great and affordable champagne?  The history of our Lanois goes back to 1872 when the house of Launois Père et Fils was founded in the village of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. Located on the prestigious Côte des Blancs, the home of the very best Chardonnay grapes, the vineyards are classified as “Grand Cru”: la crème de la crème. And it shows in this weeks wine Tasting notes:Launois Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut 2011 An outstanding Blanc de Blanc. A lot of citrus fruits on both the nose and in the mouth. Great minerality, acidity and length. A perfect aperitif for these long summer days.   Have you seen the cow? Austrian producer Meinklang is easily recognisable with their cow logo and well known for high quality wines. Meinklang is a multi cultural family operation run and owned by the Michlits family. The Angus cow on the bottle is a symbol of the diversity of their farm. Meat, fruits, vegetables and wine are all biodynamically farmed by the family. Impressive!  "Prosa", our wine pick of the week, is a semi sparkling rosé wine, made from 100% Pinot Noir grapes. Semi sparkling means that there is less bubbles than in a normal sparkling wine, and the bubbles appear more gentle in your mouth. This is one of my absolute favourites. One of my "go to" bottles when I shop. It's clear, refreshing and with the grace of only 10,5% alcohol. Perfect sunset wine in the summer. Tasting Notes
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