I must say that I was quite excited to taste the Champagne that everybody talked about, but no one tasted yet. A great reunion with my old friend, Rodolphe Peters whose champagne making skills are nothing less than
exceptional. A ground-breaking style that blends Chardonnay from Côte de Blancs of which one part is the actual vintage, one part reserve wines and
one part mature wines from bottle. The rosé part being Pinot Noir from Vertus made as a rosé de saignée blended just before bottling to keep the notion of youthful red fruity freshness.
It shows a very gentle bright rosé colour and a vivid mousse with fine bubbles. The nose starts out elegantly – layered and nuanced with chalky notes, fresh hazelnut, marzipan, fresh butter, pink citrus and lemongrass.
After some time in the glass the Pinot enters with aromas of crushed raspberry, cherry and pain d´épice. The palate is nicely built, showing great flavour intensity and an invigorating freshness. It´s classically bone dry (4,5 grams of dosage) with a chalky presence , balanced by a mellow creaminess. Flavours of marzipan, confit de citron and peach with layers of mature
nuttiness and pastry. Elegantly built with great persistency and precision. Drinks truly well today but should certainly improve from further cellaring. 95 points
Non blind tasted 7th of October #champagne #fleurdemiraval #fleurdemiravalrose #champagnepierrepeters #cotedeblancs #rosechampagne #champagnelover #winelover #bradpitt #angelinajolie #familleperrin #miraval #sommelierlife #sommlifestyle #sommelierproblems ...

Ze French Chef loves to sauce and to flamber even it’s à relaxed lunch à deux! Filet of perch on Savoy cabbage with Carelian caviar beurre blanc served with the super tense, refined, invigorating and powerful 2018 Puligny 1er Cru Les Pucelles from Marc Morey, a lovely definition of what white Burgundy is all about and for readers of vintage charts yes a sunny year but hell what a freshness!! With the quail wrapped in Lardo di Colonata flambéed in Cognac with a truffle jus and Jerusalem artichokes pommes Anna two very distinct and different yet great wines served. 2005 Marquis D’Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs being restrained at first, certainly flourished after an hour in the decanter - wet earth, truffle, slightly darker fruit notes with a dense and silky palate with great depth and length. 2010 Château de Beaucastel great from the first sip - perfumes with unmistakable lavender, garrigue, bay leaf, kirsch and dark fruits with a bold and warm palate, lovely layers with tremendous power and length. #zefrenchchef #homecooking #simplehomecooking #lacuisineclassique #domainemarcmorey #pulignymontrachet #lespucelles #chardonnay #burgundy #burgundylover #marquisdangerville #closdesducs #pinotnoir #seduction #chateaudebeaucastel #chateauneufdupape #rhone #sommelierproblems #sommlife #sommelierlifestyle #asisomms #cookingsommelier #drinkinmoderation @familleperrin @carelian_caviar ...

Apéro à la maison - a smashing 2006 Comtes de Champagne having reached a lovely harmony and drinkability. Pure, chalky and gently toasted with crushed nuts, confit de citron and pale stone fruit leading to a creamy and bright palate with plenty of layers and a great persistency. Served with @carelian_caviar and spicy mango, avocado and crab tacos... a nice start and more to come @champagnetaittinger #taittinger #taittingercomtesdechampagne #aperitif #champagne #champagnelover #blancdeblancs #homecooking #simplehomecooking #caviar #crab #crabtacos #sommlife #sommelierlifestyle #sommelierproblems #asisomms ...

Can you do the cooking? Yes I can! As long as you open a few decent bottles that is! Said and done. Starting of with 2012 Deutz La Côte Glacière – pure and elegant house style with the power and structure of Aÿ Pinot. Followed by 2010 Dom Pérignon served with tartatre of Otoro with mango, avocado and chili, very Dom-like despite its relative youth feeling very Pinot-dominated today. Three whote burgundies to the Turbot in sea urchin beurre blanc and savoy cabbage – 2018 Fontaine-Gagnard 1er Cru Les Caillerets certainly makes you question why we are supposed to age white burgundies if they´re this good young. 2007 Ravenau Les Clos a very complete wine showing all of the positive attributes we talk about in white burgundies and also shows why its worth to age good white Burgundies. 1985 Roulout Meursault Perrières unfortunately dirty and dusty which shows that nothing lasts forever! Last white 2005 Smith-Haut-Lafitte served with a chicken heart and lemongrass skewer, very flinty and toasted with nice layers of tropical sauvignon and a healthy amount of freshness. 1999 D´Angerville Volnay Champans and 2003 DRC Romanée-Saint-Vivant for my pièce de resistance truffled farm chicken from Hagby with a gratin of topinambours, ceps, truffle and Vieux Comté a decadent dish for super refined wines the first very silky, perfumed and harmonious with a perfect drinkability, I would not keep this for longer even if I could. The DRC always shows that extra something, a great presence of ripeness and sweetness typical for the year but so balanced, layered and complex with a humongous length. It´s not easy to be served after a DRC but if anyone wine can stand up after that it would be Latour, a great 2001 being very complete and showing that rare combination of tremendous power and structure, yet the elegance and nuance of the finest, a true thrill. I rarely make desserts – however when I want to drink fine Sauternes I make my Roquefort cheesecake, this time with honey glazed figs – served with two of my favourite sweet wines 2011 Vin de Constance a pure essence of grapes with marvellous bite and zest. 2009 Château Coutet, harmonious, complete, with layers of honeyed stone fruit. ...

Lazy burgundy afternoon! Frying fresh perch and plenty of chanterelles in generous amounts of French butter calls for a decent lunch bottle or? Indeed the 2017 Meursault 1er Cru Goutte d’Or certainly fullfills those criteria showing the boldness and vinosité expected, yet with a very healthy freshness, fine extract and bite with nutty stone fruit and serious length, a great partner for the fish and chanterelles. Another bottle would be nice no? Sure l! 2010 Latricières-Chambertin from Domaine Faiveley, showing a super elegant, floral red fruit nose reminiscent of Chambolle, yet tasting it those finely distributed albeit ample tannins certainly proved that we were in the vicinity of Gevrey - intense, long and powerful. Speaking of Vosne, maybe we should have one or? Ok! 2008 Sylvain Cathiard, a wine I thought I finished long time ago, even after the imposing Grand Cru this showed great structure and persistency and that remarkable perfume that explains why Vosne is the appellation I drink the most. Maybe another one just for fun? Ok! 2011 Domaine de Bellene Les Quartier de Nuits - super complex and perfumed blending sois bois, ginger, truffle, sweet red fruit with powdery tannin and a super silky finish, the most complete wine today in this ensemble! #sommelierproblems #simplecooking #homecooking #burgundy #meursault #latriciereschambertin #vosneromanee #pinotnoir #burgundylover #winelover #sommelierlifestyle #sommlife #asisomms @domainefabiencoche @domainefaiveley @domaine_de_bellene ...

When a friend comes for lunch… IT CAN EASILY TURN INTO SOMETHING OUTRAGEOUS! Like letting two small boys on the loose late Wednesday lunch with a simple theme “make that chicken with the crispy skin please”. Said and done starting out with the 2011 Bollinger James Bond Cuvée, not really easily recognizable as Bollinger at first but with some time in the glass, it showed more of that nutty, profound and ripe Aÿ Pinot Noir still appearing rather youthful. 1996 Salon is certainly benchmark Champagne that shows an incredible power paired with tremendous freshness and all the layers of confit de citron, fresh butter, crushed nuts and cool tropical fruit led to a super harmonious creamy and long palate accompanied by king crab tacos with avocado, mango and chili ketchup. 2013 Emerich Knoll Riesling Smaragd Kellerberg was the pairing for the Sashimi of Otoro with ponzu sauce, rich and bold with layers of unctuous apricot, ripe citrus and a bold yet super fresh palate with immense length. Time for the Poulet that was stuffed with generous amounts of black truffle under its skin, served with potato, ceps, chestnut mushrooms and some that got a healthy treatment in the duck fat spa! A lovely dish you could pair with any serious wine. And serious it got – startin with the 1975 Haut-Brion a sweet nose with ripe dark cassis, liquorice, chocolate and almond notes, perfectly rounded with less of those 75 tannins we tend to feel far north in the Médoc. 1982 Latour – when I put my nose in this I just said whoaaahhh, a great indication of a great wine, this is clearly one of the best wines I ever had and continues to keep that position! Enormously intense and powerful, yet layered, nuanced and elegant with a mind blowing complexity! Qualities only very few wines can brag with. A big surprise was the Mouton 1966, blind I was in Pauillac but opted for something far younger, still a dense dark fruit with the classic cigar box, leather and coffee/mocha notes with great purity and aged sweetness. To finish as this became a Bordeaux theme, the excellent 2017 Château Coutet being one of my favourite Sauternes wines with its impeccable, balance, elegance, freshness, and layers. ...

I certainly had better Tempura, especially at the top establishments in Japan. However for an improvised lunch at home I’m quite happy with the result. Sweet potato, aubergine, mushrooms and broccoli, served with a kind of ponzu with some ginger and Chili for extra bite, heat and freshness. Oh yes speaking about freshness - this dish certainly calls for a wine with plenty of that particular quality! The 2018 Pouilly-Fumé from Comte Henry D’Assay is a style quite opposed to the green and “stereotype” Sauvignon that wine lovers love to hate. This is rather on the yellow fruit, textured and broad side, yet with a good dose of that flinty freshness we associate with the appellation... #cooking #homecooking #simplehomecooking #tempura #japanesecuisine #homecomingishomecooking #pouillyfume #sauvignon #vinsdeloire #comtehenrydassay #terroir #silex #sommelierproblems #sommlife #sommelierlife #sommelierlifestyle #sommelier #winetasting #wine #winelover #anotherharddayatwork #drinkinmoderation ...

There´s something about Kellerberg. Indeed one of, and often considered THE best site in the Wachau. Certainly one of the best site for dry Riesling in the world. As much as 2018 was a hot and dry year, there´s still a wealth of freshness, grip and extract giving a lift to the unctuous apricot, crushed stone, lemongrass and floral flavours. Impressive texture with breadth and superior length. A tremendous vinification by the Domäne Wachau! The only thing I might regret a tiny hint is that I already drunk half of these bloody magnums I just bought. Well, wine is made to be drunk in the end. Accompanied by some spontaneous and simple home cooking – a baked loin of loup de mer with a crayfish beurre blanc, a fistful of butter sautéed chanterelles and salt cucumber. A nice definition of Swedish late summer flavours. #simplecooking #homecooking #homecomingishomecooking #riesling #kellerberg #domänewachau #vineawachau #rieslingsmaragd #austrianwine #wine #winetasting #winelover #sommlife #sommelierlifestyle #asisomms #anotherharddayatwork #drinkinmoderation @domaenewachau ...

Spontaneous lunch à la maison. An abundance of chanterelles with baked ling, crayfish beurre blanc, salted cucumber and pickled red onion, nice rustic Swedish late summer flavours. Paired with the extraordinary Conciso Branco from Dão made by the extraordinary Dirk Niepoort. Old vines of Bical, Encruzado and Malvasia with intelligent oak treatment barely noticeable blending zest, lemongrass, wild herbal notes with more exotic yellow fruit notes as the wine opens, everything with that mineral (sorry if we’re no longer allowed to say mineral) sensation leading to a very long and concise finish. Stylish, precise and bloody enjoyable! @dirk.niepoort @niepoortvinhos @wickedwine_sweden #simplecooking #simplehomecooking #cookingathome #homecomingishomecooking #niepoortvinhos #dao #homersimpsonsfavouriteappellation #bical #encruzado #malvasia #oldvines #winesfromportugal #vinhosdeportugal #terroir #winelover #sommelierproblems #asisomms #sommlife #sommelierlifestyle #anotherharddayatwork #lebistrodelarueduvigneron #drinkinmoderation ...

The perfect summer lunch! A grilled dry rubbed skirt steak with kind of Asian salad - bean sprouts, cucumber, red cabbage and fresh onion dressed with a fiercely hot red Chili, garlic, ginger, scallion, brown sugar, soy, lime, fish sauce and sesame dressing. Food requiring Riesling! I could easily have opted for a slightly sweeter style considering that sweet/sour/hot flavour profile, yet didn’t have one at home so I settled for nothing less than the 2016 Mordthal Erste Lage from Fritsch in Wagram. This wine boasts all of the qualities you expect from an Austrian Riesling - lush and ripe yellow fruit with a bold spiciness, powerful and structured with a magnificent structure, purity and freshness, very long, grippy and finely spicy finish, drunk way too fast unfortunately but bloody hell what a pleasure! Served in some of the most beautiful Austrian glasses ever made #riedelgrunerveltliner @maxiriedel #lebistrodelarueduvigneron #homecooking #lunchonthebalcony #simplehomecooking #cookingathome #asiancooking #homecomingishomecooking #riesling #austrianwine #austrianriesling #wagram #terroir #mordthal #weingutfritsch #rieslinglover #sommelierproblems #sommlifestyle #sommelierlife #asisomms #anotherharddayatwork #drinkinmoderation ...

Just came home from my first trip in a long time. After some classic Bordeaux food and wine decadence for 8 days, quite a a relief to eat spicy Asian flavours with a supremely invigorating Austrian Riesling on the balcony. Chicken leg marinated in soy/ginger/garlic/chili with broccoli, fresh red onion, bean sprouts and mango, delicious and juicy. In the glass - 2016 Riesling Privat Ried Pellingen from @weingutnigl a lovely definition of how good Riesling can get! An extraordinary purity with crushed stone/ flint and then an abundance of lime, lemongrass, mango, peach and floral notes. Great bite on the palate with good extract, mouthwatering acidity, layers of exotic fruit and a tremendously long lingering finish. Even if Wachau is the star, Kamptal boasts the big famous guys , Kremstal is still in my mind seriously underrated. #simplehomecooking #homecomingishomecooking #asiancooking #weingutnigl #kremstal #riedpellingen #riesling #rieslinglover #winelover #sommelier #sommelierproblems #asisomms #sommlife #sommelierlifestyle #austrianwine #drinkinmoderation ...