On Sunday, Brian Smith and I had some time to spare in Oslo, so we lunched. We’d been recommended Nedre Foss Gård, which is a restaurant in an old building in a park on the Akerselva river. The restaurant reopened in 2017 after a fire two years earlier, and it’s very stylish. We lunched well: the menu on Sundays is more geared towards brunching, but I had a sensational fish soup, and then a perfectly prepared beef tartare. To drink, we made two very good choices from an excellent list, packed full of the sorts of wines I love to drink. As you can see from the bill, the only downside about Norway is just how eye-waveringly expensive everything is, but this lunch was worth it.

Herve Souhaut Syrah 2016 Vin de France
11.5% alcohol. Tight, mineral, peppery and elegant. It’s dominated by bright red and black cherry fruit with some reductive notes and compact fruit. Lovely iron and blood savouriness. Fantastic stuff. 94/100

Sandhi Santa Barbara County Chardonnay 2014 California
12.5% alcohol. This is very Chablis-like, with a subtle creamy edge to the pure, restrained pear, citrus and pineapple fruit. No evident oak but it has some bread and nut character. Balanced with nice flavour but also delicacy. 94/100