Arne Ronold is a Norwegian Master of Wine, [1] a journalist and editor of the Norwegian wine publication Vinforum, and considered an expert on Italian and Burgundy wine.
Ronold was from 1993 until 2008 the only MW of Norway, [2] [3] and was the first in Scandinavia to attain the accreditation. [4] [5]
Prior to his career in wine he has a background in the research of theoretical physics, nuclear physics and mathematical flow models, with a degree in engineering from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
A co-author of several books, including Verdt å vite om vin and Italiensk Vin, he annually publishes the pocket-sized consumer guides Norges beste vinkjøp. [6]
In 1986 Ronold and Ola Dybvik founded the publication Vinforum. [5] [7] The magazine is annually published by Pedicel AS in five issues, in addition to six subscriber newsletters that are distributed digitally or as paper edition. Typically ca. 70 pages long, the magazine includes features, wine reviews and a column by Jancis Robinson MW translated into Norwegian.
The motivation behind founding the magazine was, according to a statement in a 2010 Vinforum editorial by Dybvik, because the Norwegian alcohol monopoly chain store Vinmonopolet "failed in its responsibility to its customers by practicing an arrogance with the inherent insolence of dictating the tastes of the Norwegian people. And worst of all, they managed to convince the Norwegian people they were doing a good job." [8] At the time Vinmonopolet had an Italian wine selection which totalled 14 labels (including reds, whites and sparkling). This situation has since improved significantly over two decades, with Dybvik declaring in 2010, "we are living in paradise". [7]
In 2003 Ronold and Vinforum challenged the Norwegian ban on all advertisement of alcoholic drink, after the equivalent ban in Sweden had become overturned following actions by the magazine Gourmet and it had been demonstrated to oppose EU free trade rules. In June 2009 Norwegian supreme court ruled against Ronold and Vinforum, leaving the Norwegian alcoholic advertisement ban intact. [9] [10]
In 2012, Ola Dybvig sold his 50% shares of Vinforum publisher Pedicel AS to the publishing house Forlagshuset Vigmostad og Bjørke, a previous publication collaborator, with Arno Vigmostad and Arnstein Bjørke as replacement partners to Arne Ronold. [11]
Dessert wines, sometimes called pudding wines, are sweet wines typically served with dessert.
Vin Mariani was a coca wine and patent medicine created in the 1860s by Angelo Mariani, a French chemist from the island of Corsica. Mariani became intrigued with coca and its medical and economic potential after reading Paolo Mantegazza's paper on the effects of coca. Between 1863 and 1868 Mariani started marketing a coca wine called Vin Tonique Mariani which was made from Bordeaux wine and coca leaves.
The electricity sector in Norway relies predominantly on hydroelectricity. A significant share of the total electrical production is consumed by national industry.
Burgundy wine is wine made in the Burgundy region in eastern France, in the valleys and slopes west of the Saône, a tributary of the Rhône. The most famous wines produced here—those commonly referred to as "Burgundies"—are dry red wines made from Pinot noir grapes and white wines made from Chardonnay grapes.
Ultra low frequency (ULF) is the ITU designation for the frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 hertz and 3 kilohertz, corresponding to wavelengths between 1000 to 100 km. In magnetosphere science and seismology, alternative definitions are usually given, including ranges from 1 mHz to 100 Hz, 1 mHz to 1 Hz, and 10 mHz to 10 Hz. Frequencies above 3 Hz in atmospheric science are usually assigned to the ELF range.
The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976—known as the Judgment of Paris—was a wine competition organized in Paris on 24 May 1976 by Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant, in which French judges carried out two blind tasting comparisons: one of top-quality Chardonnays and another of red wines. A Californian wine rated best in each category, which caused surprise as France was generally regarded as being the foremost producer of the world's best wines. Spurrier sold only French wine and believed that the California wines would not win.
Vinmonopolet, symbolized by Ⓥ and colloquially shortened to Polet, is a government-owned alcoholic beverage retailer and the only company allowed to sell beverages containing an alcohol content higher than 4.75% in Norway.
Straw wine, or raisin wine, is a wine made from grapes that have been dried to concentrate their juice. The result is similar to that of the ice wine process, but is a much older process and suitable for warm climates. The technique dates back to pre-Classical times with wines becoming fashionable in Roman times and in late Medieval/Renaissance Europe when wines such as Malmsey and Candia were highly sought after. Traditionally, most production of these wines has been in Greece, the islands off Sicily, Cyprus, Northern Italy and the French Alps. However producers in other areas are now using with the method too.
Kai Henning Gjesdal Henriksen was a Norwegian businessman. A former politician for the Conservative Party of Norway, and having served a period as the chief executive officer of Storebrand Bank, Henriksen was CEO of the Norwegian government-owned wine and spirits retail monopoly company, AS Vinmonopolet from 2006 until his death in 2016.
Carsten Thomassen was a Norwegian journalist, political commentator and war correspondent for the Norwegian daily newspaper Dagbladet. He had earlier covered the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake from Thailand and Indonesia. He was killed in the 2008 Kabul Serena Hotel attack in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Gullruten is an annual award for the Norwegian TV industry, founded in 1998 by Norske Film- og TV-produsenters forening. The awarding committee has representatives from the major national TV companies, NRK, TV 2, TV3 and TVNorge. In 1998, the show was hosted by Nadia Hasnaoui, and from 1999 to 2012, by Dorthe Skappel. From 2013, the show has been hosted by Henriette Steenstrup and John Brungot.
La Revue du vin de France is a French magazine on wine published monthly. The publication has been described by wine critic Jancis Robinson as "France's only serious wine magazine".
SS Sanct Svithun was a 1,376 ton steel-hulled steamship built by the German shipyard Danziger Werft and delivered to the Norwegian Stavanger-based shipping company Det Stavangerske Dampskibsselskab on 1 July 1927. She sailed the Hurtigruten route along the coast of Norway until she was lost in an air attack on 30 September 1943 during the Second World War.
SS Irma was a 1,322-ton steamship built by the British shipyard Sir Raylton Dixon & Co. Ltd. in Middlesbrough in the north-east of England. She was delivered to the Norwegian passenger ship company Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskab of Bergen in 1905. Irma sailed for the company until she was attacked and sunk by two MTBs belonging to the Royal Norwegian Navy on 13 February 1944.
Jeannie Cho Lee is a Hong Kong-based, Korean-American wine critic, author, journalist, consultant, wine educator and Master of Wine, the first ethnic Asian to achieve this accreditation. She was 25th on Decanter's Power List 2013.
Alcohol laws are laws in relation to the manufacture, use, being under the influence of and sale of alcohol or alcoholic beverages that contains ethanol. Common alcoholic beverages include beer, wine, and distilled spirits. The United States defines an alcoholic beverage as, "any beverage in liquid form which contains not less than one-half of one percent of alcohol by volume", but this definition varies internationally. These laws can restrict those who can produce alcohol, those who can buy it, when one can buy it, labelling and advertising, the types of alcoholic beverage that can be sold, where one can consume it, what activities are prohibited while intoxicated, and where one can buy it. In some cases, laws have even prohibited the use and sale of alcohol entirely, as with Prohibition in the United States from 1920 to 1933.
Azienda Agricola Testamatta is an Italian winery run by Bibi Graetz, a winemaker of artist background from Italian/Norwegian heritage, who produces several Tuscan wines from vineyards located in the hills of Fiesole that overlook the city of Florence. Graetz has been described as a "cool winemaker" and "one of the rising young stars in Tuscany". The wines are all classified as Toscana IGT.
Kari Innerå is a Norwegian gourmet chef who has won the Nordic Culinary Championships and the Culinary Olympics. Innerå is known for her restaurant Cru vin & kjøkken which she established in 2008 together with investor, former Olympic cross country ski champion Thomas Alsgaard. When she was headhunted to establish the gourmet restaurant Fru K at The Thief (hotel) in Oslo, Innerå was simultaneously introduced to a wider audience nationally and internationally.
Church building in Norway began when Christianity was established there around the year 1000. The first buildings may have been post churches erected in the 10th or 11th century, but the evidence is inconclusive. For instance under Urnes Stave Church and Lom Stave Church there are traces of older post churches. Post churches were later replaced by the more durable stave churches. About 1,300 churches were built during the 12th and 13th centuries in what was Norway's first building boom. A total of about 3,000 churches have been built in Norway, although nearly half of them have perished. From 1620 systematic records and accounts were kept although sources prior to 1620 are fragmented. Evidence about early and medieval churches is partly archaeological. The "long church" is the most common type of church in Norway. There are about 1620 buildings recognized as churches affiliated with the Church of Norway. In addition, there are a number of gospel halls belonging to the lay movement affiliated with the Church of Norway as well as churches belonging to other Christian bodies. Until the 20th century, most churches were built from wood. 220 buildings are protected by law, and an additional 765 are listed as valuable cultural heritage.