Here is a re-post of my original story which appeared on March 5, 2012 on the innovative new Polish wine site Winicjatywa. I will be contributing my thoughts there on a regular basis. If you are Polish reader of my blog, you can click here to read the Polish language version of this story.
I grew up in California, but spent almost every summer with my grandparents in Bologna, Italy. Therefore it wasn’t strange to me when back in 2006 Non Dos, the same guys that introduced me to the wines of Frank Cornelissen, also brought in a bottle of Camillo Donati’s Lambrusco; a traditional red sparkling wine made from the Lambrusco grape from the Emilia Romagna region in Italy.
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I thought that publishing my top 9 list would be fun for people to see and also for me to look at in the future to see if my favorites remain my favorites and also to watch my moods change! Why is it a top 9 list instead of a top 10 list? Why not? For now, the wine style I can’t seem to get enough of is that lightish red colored, fresh and slightly CO2’d wine sitting at between 11 and 12% alcohol. Wine number 2 is a good example of what I am talking about (although the last bottle I drank noted an alcohol of 12.5.5% – there’s no mistake in my post, this is exactly the way it was printed on the label)! (I have left out vintages because I didn’t feel that they were necessary here.. )
- 1. Frank Cornelissen Munjabel Bianco
- 2. Jean-Marc Brignot Rayure
- 3. Camillo Donati Rosso della Bandita
- 4. Laureano Serres Montagut Vinyes Arrencades Blanc 2008 *
- 5. Maison Pierre Overnoy Arbois Pupillin
- 6. Domaine Le Mazel Cuvée Raoul
- 7. Camillo Donati Malvasia Secco
- 8. Domaine Griottes P’tite Gâterie
- 9. Jean-Pierre Robinot Concerto d’Oniss
* (I noted the 2008 vintage here because this is the first and only vintage of this wine I have ever tasted.)
Of course I have many more favorites and could have made this list quite long… but these are my favorite 9 for now!
And along came natural wines. Pure, fermented “grape juice”. I find it difficult these days to drink wines that I can see through. I’m not saying I want to have a glass of super-dark, jammy, inky wine. In fact, I like wines that are lighter in 
color and fresher in taste. What I am actually saying is, I prefer my wines to be totally unfined and unfiltered. I love cloudy wines, wines with bits and pieces of “deconstructed grapes” floating around freely. A glass of wine that I can’t see through because of the living particles afloat in the glass. I believe that fining and filtering a wine is partly to blame for the “death” of a wine, along with over-sulfuring. Read the rest of this entry »
While many restaurants in Norway feature traditional Norwegian Christmas food, at Jacob’s Bar & Kjøkken we do things differently. Our concept for the Christmas menu is the same as usual – simple, fresh and creative food. The wines I have selected to pair with these dishes also don’t steer away from my usual focus on Biodynamic and Natural wines. Please note that since we only use the freshest of ingredients and small wine producers, the courses and the wines (and vintages) can change slightly. So, without further ado, here’s the Christmas menu and the wines: (click on thumbnails to enlarge photos and make yourself hungry and!) Read the rest of this entry »
