So a lot of people have asked what I’ve been doing in California for three months.  It’s been tough to be away from the vines for so long (even if the weather here is really beautiful, I miss my vent Cers). Well I can finally announce that Naked Wines is coming to the USA, and [...]

Just a few miles outside of Carcassonne, you can see a collection of different grape varieties like Syrah, Grenache, Macabeu, Mauzac, Picquepoul, Terret, Vermentino, and more!   Just before budbreak 2012, dad planted the ampelographic garden at O’Vineyards. A big thanks to the Chambre d’Agriculture who helped us find the best grape varieties, choosing the [...]

At Vinisud, I had the pleasure of introducing an alternative wine tasting for the Outsiders. The Alternative Tasting Basically, we just did a fun wine tasting where we encouraged people to describe our wines with images that Louise Hurren had picked out for our tasting booklet.  Forcing people to think about a wine with images [...]

So, I’ve been pretty cagey about this but here’s the official announcement: Ryan O’Connell is moving to California for part of 2012.  The company I’m working with in California is looking for new wines and new business opportunities and they think I can help.  I think I can help too. I’m leaving tomorrow.  I’ll be [...]

This is part of my guide to ViniSud 2012 For lists of winemakers at Vinisud that I know very well, try 7 wines that tell a story or 8 Outsiders at Vinisud. There has been a big response to the Vinisud guide so far but I can imagine that people would like a list that isn’t [...]

This is part of my guide to ViniSud 2012 Like all the great music and art festivals, Vinisud draws a lot of talent to the area where it’s held (Montpellier).  So every day, after the fair ends, the party is just beginning for other people. The French refer to afterhours parties and tastings as “OFF’ events. [...]

This is part of my guide to ViniSud 2012 The 2012 edition of Vinisud includes a space devoted to the web called Pavilion 2.0 I’ll be spending a lot of time there.  Additionally, I’ll be doing a presentation with some of my buddies from the Outsiders on Monday afternoon at 16h and on Tuesday morning at [...]

Every two years, I meet lots and lots of people at ViniSud who are there for their first time.  If you’re not a part of the trade specialized in Mediterranean wines, it can be an overwhelming experience.  Even professionals who are native to this region organize their salon far ahead of time and have meetings [...]

This is part of my guide to ViniSud 2012. Vinisud is a massive wine trade fair in Montpellier.  It’s easy to get lost in the sea of mediterranean winemakers, so I’ve compiled a list of southern French wines that I think are genuinely interesting. If you ever feel overwhelmed, just take a deep breath, pick [...]

update: a reader has sent in a version with even higher contrast saying it works best: So hopefully we’re getting somewhere!   A lot of people had trouble scanning the QR code I made out of wine corks so I made some modifications to help it become more scannable. Hopefully this version works a bit [...]