One way of bringing traffic to the website or the vineyard is to be included in lots of regional directories.
Since the New York Times and Stephen Colbert announced the death of the white pages, it might be a good time to talk about the future of information directories and annuaires online.
So with companies refusing to deliver the white pages, let’s look at online alternatives.
Here are a few links to directories that list O’Vineyards. Notice that they’re all pretty specific. Deligogo only does food and wine. Languedoc Midi Info is obviously based on Languedoc and Midi listings. Best of Carcassonne gets ultra specific and only includes listings around Carcassonne. Some of these directories charge you to be included. Others allow anybody to sign up. I think specific directories like this are cool because (a) they fill the role of the yellow pages so people can find your business and (b) they give you content-specific backlinks which help search engines define and highlight your site.
A recent article in the Revue du Vin de France about the terroirs they believe to be Grands Crus du Languedoc shows disagreement with the CIVL classification. Notably, they include the Cabardes (my appellation and the subject of my book “Wines of Carcassonne“) as a grand cru. It makes me happy that the Cabardes made it onto the VIP list. And while the disagreement between the prestigious wine magazine and the interprofessional organization seems like it could damage the promotional efforts of the “grands crus” system, it will only be noticed by wine nerds like me.
In more detail
So the RVF decided to name their top 11 grands crus. I was excited to see my own appellation named as one of the grand crus of the Languedoc. GO CABARDES! There’s a nice little portrait of one of my neighbors, Clement Mengus and they talk briefly about how we are the westernmost appellation in the Languedoc and we’re doing interesting things.
Now where this gets weird is that the CIVL doesn’t actually consider us a grand cru. And we don’t have the legal right to use the trademarked phrase “grand cru du languedoc” on our labels even though my wines meet all the requirements for the grands crus status. And apparently, experts agree that the Cabardes is a grand cru.
Part of me is a little worried about the mixed messages of this initiative. On the other hand, I should repeat that this worry is silly because only the nerdiest wine geeks will even notice discrepancies like the RVF-CIVL disagreement. The important part of this article is that people will read about my beautiful appellation and may be inspired to try our wines or to read other books about the Cabardes. Just as the important part of the CIVL grands crus initiative is that people will see “grand cru du Languedoc” on a wine label and some people will be inspired to try a bottle of Languedoc thanks to that initiative. That is the important thing. It’s much more important than the nervous rambling I get into when people start asking me serious questions about it.
Differences between the RVF and CIVL Grands Crus du Languedoc
PS, since people will ask, the RVF’s Grands Crus du Languedoc are:
Aniane-Puechabon (part of the terrasses du larzac)
Terrasses du Larzac
Saint Chinian
Faugeres
Pic Saint Loup
Pezenas
Corbieres Boutenac
Minervois la Liviniere
Fitou
La Clape
Cabardes
Notable differences include the strange specificity of Aniane-Puechabon, a part of the terrasses du larzac. This is especially odd since the terrasses du larzac themselves are just a specific cru within the AOC Coteaux du Languedoc. And so their number 1 grand cru is actually a subset of their number 2 grand cru, neither of which is technically an AOC. It’s also notable that the RVF included ALL of Saint Chinian instead of specifying certain crus within it like the CIVL did (eg roquebrun). Inclusion of Cabardes, as mentioned before, defies the CIVL’s initiative and makes me gleeful because I know we deserve to be a grand cru. The omission of Gres de Montpellier from RVF’s list might shock a few winemakers in the Herault since the Gres have been on the list since the CIVL’s earliest drafts back in the summer of 2010. Limoux’s still wines are also omitted although I’ve seen them on and off the list lots of times.
If somebody has the official CIVL list that got released recently, please send it to me so I can repost. I’m having an absurdly hard time finding the official CIVL list. Here’s an article from December that has a CIVL list that seems very accurate based on what I’ve heard in aoc meetings.
The O’Vineyards UK tour was a blast. Thanks to everybody who participated, organized, drank, or just wished they could be there.
There were two parts:
The Languedoc Outsiders (scroll down for press coverage and reviews)
Naked Wine Villages (click for a full post about the UK Villages Tour with amateur reviews)
For now I’ll talk about the Languedoc Outsiders. Updates on the Naked Wine Villages Tour will come later.
The Languedoc Outsiders tasting took place at the Maison du Languedoc Roussillon on Cavendish Square where Louise Hurren united 12 winemakers from all walks of life who have come to the Languedoc Roussillon to make wine with a different perspective. The event went very well with something like 70 tasters over the course of the day. They were all engaged, enthusiastic and appreciative. And when I ran around at the end of the day to taste the wines myself, I understood why everybody had so much fun. Killer wines. Very happy with the whole event. Can’t wait for a version in the Languedoc!
Here is some of the press coverage O’Vineyards received from the Outsiders event so far:
Harpers:
“Each producer has its own interesting story to tell about how they came to the south of France — and having them all under one roof proved an inspirational way to demonstrate that good winemaking is an achievable feat for anyone, anywhere and at any time in their lives.”
“O’Vineyards Proprietor’s Reserve: A blend of Old World and Californian styles, it has a nose of damson and deep-red fruits, with a hint of orange and cloves. The palate is juicy and dry, well-balanced with good length and a bright future. O’Vineyards wine is made by 20-something American Ryan O’Connell who came to Carcassonne in 2005 and is founder of blogging site love-that-languedoc.com”
“Ryan O’Connell, his American father Joe and French/Vietnamese mother Liz arrived France in 2005, having traded the family business building luxury homes in Florida for a more rural existence making wine in the Cabardès region. Ryan is full of infectious enthusiasm and, as well as making some very good wines, works tirelessly in promoting the wines of southern France as a whole. His favourite toy is his flip video camera, which he uses to good effect, creating an ever-increasing number of informative and enthusiastic (and occasionally very funny) short videos, featuring visits to different growers the length and breadth of Languedoc and Roussillon, which he posts regularly on his Love That Languedoc blog. In fact, Ryan leaves no stone un-turned in using the power of the Internet to get the message across about the joys of wine as a whole, and about Languedoc and Roussillon in particular. Long may he keep blogging, Facebooking, Tweeting and generally bigging-up his adopted region!”
O’Vineyards O’Syrah 2005 Vin de Pays de La Cité de Carcassone
100% Syrah. Cassis, plums and bramble, beef and spice aromas – lots of fruit, but savoury too, with notes of garrigue herbs. The palate is rich and very spicy, but the Syrah character still comes through, and it is surprisingly elegant, for such a big wine.? At 5 years old, it is good to drink, but there is absolutely no hurry.
O’Vineyards Trah Lah Lah 2005 Vin de Pays de La Cité de Carcassone
65% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep, dark colour, with a tiny rim. Again, a savoury, meaty nose, like a fruity gravy, with hints of new leather. The palate is rich with sweet fruit, still quite tannic, but with good underlying acidity. The finish is bitter-sweet. Another keeper. For me, not quite as enjoyable as the Syrah, but a good wine nonetheless.
O’Vineyards Proprietor’s Reserve 2005 Cabardès
Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. There’s oak, but it is nicely integrated, with plenty of rich cassis and plum fruit, leather, polished wood and spice. The palate is loaded with rich, sweet fruit flavours, but with excellent balancing acidity, something akin to a new world Claret blend. In fact, if I somebody told me it was from California, I might believe them – and that would be no mean compliment. Very nice wine!
I like the way Ryan and his father are pushing the boundaries in the somewhat unfashionable (by which I mean relatively unknown) region of Cabardès, immersing themselves totally in the French culture, whilst bringing fresh ideas and new world innovation to the winemaking process. They deserve to succeed.
Ryan O’Connell, the cheeky chappy, together with his parents, Joe (American) and Liz (French Vietnamese) moved from Florida in 2005 to set up the O’Vineyards in Cabardes, within view of Carcassonne. They now produce a range of five robust, rich red wines made with Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Ryan is a great ambassador for the Languedoc, the Outsiders and la joie de vivre.
O’Vineyards must be as well known for Ryan O’Connell and his extrovert Languedoc wine videos as it is for wine. Being near Carcassonne the Mediterranean influence is relatively feeble which is why Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are more suited. One word that summarises the three 2005s, their first full vintage, is oomph – but these wines are certainly not out of control and are not trying to be Bordeaux. O’Syrah 2005 is nice and chewy and I got pine, mint and dried plums. Trah Lah Lah 2005 (Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon) had spice and plenty of classic Merlot fruit cake and plum. Proprietor’s Reserve 2005 (Syrah with Merlot and Cabernet) combines the elements of the first two but racks up the fruit concentration while keeping everything in balance – it will go on for years.
Passion is an overused word when it comes to wine but it’s difficult to see what else could justify giving up a well-paid desk job to scrape by making wine in rural France. Any romantic dreams vanish after weeks of pruning in January’s biting winds. So they have made a conscious decision to move country and careers, as opposed to inheriting a domaine. Starting from scratch means having to learn quickly, not be afraid to ask lots of questions and to ask for advice. And just, well, give it a go.
Attending the tasting of the “Outsiders”, a group of Languedoc-Roussillon producers, in London this week made me think about what might have been. They’ve all done what I briefly considered, investing in vineyard and winery projects in the south of France, in many cases giving up successful careers to do so. The dozen members come from the UK, Ireland, Holland, Switzerland, New Zealand, Sweden, the USA and Bordeaux. If the last location sounds less exotic, it shouldn’t do. To most Bordelais, the Languedoc might as well be Tahiti.
The Mediterranean south is France’s biggest vineyard area, and one of the country’s most exciting wine-producing regions. So much so that over the past couple of decades folk from all over the world have been relocating to the south and following their vinous dreams, a move that invariably involves a change of career, from teaching, the law, advertising, finance, sales and marketing etc.
At a tasting this month in London a number of these so-monikered, (for the purposes of creative PR, one imagines), ‘Languedoc Outsiders’ presented some of their wines.
I’m a member of a group of winemakers known as The Outsiders, our forces marshaled by Louise Hurren. And in anticipation for our London tasting on November 10th, this article is an exploration of what being an outsider even means.
What the heck is an outsider?
There are people in this world who just always end up in weird situations. Outsiders will regularly surprise you. Not with contrived novelty. Not by jumping from behind a corner and shouting “Boo!” But by being genuinely and irrepressibly strange.
Am I an outsider?
Being a winemaker at a highly technical web conference gave me several glimpses of that priceless moment of surprise. Somebody says, “I’m a front end UX designer.” Somebody else says, “I’m a coder working on the W3C”. I say, “I’m a winemaker.” [small double take] In that moment, the true definition of outsider emerges. Somebody who is so unusual in the milieu, that they can contribute real insight. It might not always be great insight, but it’ll be original.
But if being a winemaker makes me an outsider to the tech world, doesn’t that mean I’m an insider in the wine world. Well, honestly, if you know anything about me, you know that’s not true. I’m a first generation winemaker with no training, certifications, or degrees. I was born and raised in a part of the US where award winning wine production is dominated by fermented fruit concentrate with flavors added (no joke, definitely a link worth clicking). I just love wine and I’m pretty good at making it.
People ask why
People also ask how. But all these questions are very hard to answer. I don’t have a rule book or manifesto that guides my decision making. I guess that’s also part of being a natural-born outsider. Who knows why we do the crazy things we do? But when you look at our amazing lives, our beautiful countrysides, our delicious wines, et cetera. . . don’t your questions fade away?
Sharing the Outsider Experience
I hope the Outsiders Tasting in London this November 10th will give a lot of people a glimpse of true weirdness. Not that the wines will be over the top, heavy-handed efforts to surprise you. They’ll just be effortlessly surprising. Because we’re all genuinely strange people. And we can’t help but make interesting wines.
Who exactly are the Outsiders?
At the London tasting, we will be many. In no particular order:
Looking at pictures from harvests all over the northern hemisphere can really show you how naturally beautiful vineyards are. There’s no need for trickery. You can get a lot of mileage out of some relatively cheap amateur photography. You don’t have to touch up or photoshop your pictures later on. Vines are just pretty. And wine is just beautiful.
This strikes me as important, especially after reading Good Grape’s review of Food Styling. The book is written by Delores Custer, a prominent food photographer, and it’s got a lot revelatory insights about advertising photos you might take for granted. How do photographers get cereal to float perfectly on top of the milk? (It’s not milk; it’s Elmer’s Glue.) How is that beer bottle always dappled in the perfect amount of dew? (Again, not dew.) And the truly gross tool known as a T-28 which makes fresh cooked meat look steamy… (Just read Good Grape’s review for this one).
All in all, there is a lot of deception in food marketing. And on the whole, I’m really happy to work in a field where taking beautiful pictures is pretty effortless. I mean, there are parts that are less pretty. And some professional equipment will definitely make your press photos stronger. But artisanal winemakers don’t have to lie. Even the least romantic parts of the job (assembly line work like sorting tables and bottling lines) look pretty good without any effort. The picture to the left is a perfect example from a bit south of here at Domaine Gayda where even the boring jobs look great.
I should mention that Food Styling does contain some wine trickery. If there’s no wine on hand, the photographer can fake it by diluting Kitchen Bouquet with water. You might wonder why a photographer would happen to have Kitchen Bouquet around but not a bottle of wine. Well, they also use this brown thickening sauce to fake coffee, to dye poultry, etc. It’s a part of their tool box.
Dolores Custer and her colleagues are masters of food forgery in a way. And I’m sort of glad I don’t need to use their services. While much of the food and beverage industries are driven to advertise that one fleeting moment where a product looks perfect, wine tends toward a more long-lived appreciation. Maybe that’s why we’re more candid?
It’s a clever conceit, but also — I imagine — functioned as a visceral reminder that our obsession with only buying flawless fruit and vegetables over-prioritises a single, freeze-framed moment in an organic cycle.
–Edible Geography
By recreating a 17th Century still life painting in reality and watching that still life die and live and die again, Grahame Weinbren sort of calls into question our fascination with immortalizing short moments of food porn. Really, a lot of the things we consume are still alive. This is especially true about wine.
Wine is alive and changing all the time and it can be enjoyed at almost any moment. You’re not obligated to wait for some fetishized, fleeting seconds when the wine will be perfect. You can drink young wine to appreciate certain characteristics of youth or you can wait and drink older wines that feature more aged characteristics. Whenever you open it, there it is, waiting for you.
But maybe some of you think I’m getting too philosophical here.
And heck, some people might even think I’m dead wrong about wine photography. After all, it’s hard to flip through a wine magazine without finding three pictures of wine being poured. Is that our obsession? The moment it comes out of the bottle? Are there photographers who pour Kitchen Bouquet into the bottle so the wine will look thicker as it streams out in front of the camera? Not at O’Vineyards.
Well, while I was putting dirt in the bottle, Eduardo del Fraile was putting dirt on the outside!
This bottle was designed to honor Agapito Rico, an important figure in the DO of Jumilla Spain. He was a pioneer in achieving quality wines in this region. The grape that is grown in this land is the Monastrell, a strong flavored grape suitable for arid areas.
There you go. 🙂 I’m not sure if Agapito Rico’s wine goes into the bottles or not. I’ll keep you posted if I discover more.
The winemakers of the Cabardes all got together recently for a dinner in the events room at Chateau Pennautier, often billed as the Versailles of the Languedoc. It wasn’t the Hall of Mirrors, but it was very cozy and the food was delicious. Naturally, we all brought wine along, so we drank well too.
The discussion was Cabardes-centric. Since we were provisionally placed in the Grands Vins category, we are trying to find a way to get bumped up to Grands Crus. The video shows Nicolas de Lorgeril (owner of Pennautier) and Olivier Ferraud (Chamber of Agriculture technician and a sort of manager for the Cabardes). De Lorgeril talks about how we might be able to shift the entire AOP into the standards that the CIVL has set forth for Grands Crus. Then Olivier talks about how we might also point out that those standards are flawed, favoring appearances over actual quality.
After this little speech we all start eating and I asked a few more questions, but it would have been weird/rude/difficult to film. The subtext of the video presentation is that the new CIVL hierarchy is still malleable. This may come as a surprise to all the people who read about it in the trade lately. But the truth is, it’s not yet a law. It’s more a marketing maneouver. Olivier actually said it was marketing and corrected himself by saying “Communications”. From his tone, it seemed like he was borrowing that term from the CIVL itself.
This supports my theory that the CIVL owns some kind of trademark on “grands vins du Languedoc” and “grands crus du Languedoc” and they get to decide who puts it on the bottles. While I believe any AOC wines were allowed to carry the phrase “grand vin du Languedoc” on their labels in previous years, the new hierarchy means the CIVL will now try to prevent certain winemakers from using the phrase unless they meet those requirements.
That explains why the Cabardes ODG (among others, probably) is trying to lobby to get moved up a little. It seems reasonable to ask for a small amount of time to adapt to the standards the CIVL put forward. Mostly, that means selling your wine a little less cheap to raise average price. And lowering yield. Unless we can convince them that they should take foliage into account (a ratio of yield over surface area of leaves).
Anyway, interesting discussion, right?
Another point that came up was that while it’s not a law yet, we all assume the CIVL will seek INAO approval or some sort of legislative reinforcement for this marketing/communications strategy so that it can be comparable to the Classification of 1855 or the Grands Crus in Bourgogne. Just looking for a little legitimacy.
There’s probably a whole other post to be written on the intriguing switch from legislation to marketing. While INAO classification used to be the end-all for wine prestige, modern efforts start at the trademark office. And doesn’t that make sense? Few people can make any sense of the intricate European wine laws that have built up over the centuries. In a market dominated by brand-building, maybe the interprofessions are correct to move away from politics and toward marketing spheres. Grands Crus du Languedoc, Sud de France, etc.
Only a week after I decide to write down my thoughts on trends in online wine sales in France, I have a little more to report.
In the article on Love That Languedoc, I named four trends in the way French wine is being sold online:
The phenomenon of retailers who do everything including become bar tenders, restauranteurs, caterers, venue managers, online merchants, and anything else they can do just to stay in business.
Group purchasing and “team buying” where companies group individuals online to order large volumes of wine and benefit from the economy of scale.
Pre-sold custom wines which often include some kind of “wine experience” or “wine education”.
Regionally-specialized wine merchants who only sell goods from one specific place like the Languedoc Roussillon.
Well I got a nice email from Eve Resnick who writes the Wine Brands Blog. She noted:
And rather hilariously, I discovered another site that advertises “prix du domaine” direct sales AND specializes in the Languedoc (two birds with one stone).
But all of this is harder for me to differentiate from conventional e-commerce sites. Buying directly at the property is what all my cavistes and online retailers do. I guess a fair amount of online retailers still buy from a wholesaler, so these are websites that step away from that model.
Maybe you could also define part of the differentiation as these are usually sites that deliver to your door and have no brick and mortar store front. But is this new? Did most online retailers start off with physical stores?
In this breath, it may be worth noting the evolution of businesses like Majestic in the UK and Curious Wines in Ireland. Those are wine guys who stepped away from high cost store fronts but still let people come and shope out of the warehouse. They also do the mixed cases delivery thing which is pretty great.
Which brings me to another point I didn’t really want to tackle yet… are my buddies at Naked Wines doing ALL OF THESE THINGS? I’m going to take a whole post later on to really address this question. While regional specialization is only slightly applicable, all of the other innovations I’ve mentioned do get used. Pre-selling, mixed cases, no storefront, and a bit of do-everything.
Something to look forward to in this ongoing series on wine marketing trends online.
That screenshot from Upcoming makes me so freaking sad. “Sorry, there are no popular events in your area!” I even lied about my area and made it the biggest city near here. 🙁 Which brings up another problem. If web services don’t cater to rural areas, countries that are predominantly rural (eg France and Spain) might experience stalled adoption rates, even in moderately sized cities.
For those who have no idea what “where 2.0” is about: the Internet is getting really interested in location location location.
YouTube, Twitter, and the usual suspects all want to know if you’ll please enter geographical data along with every new upload. Sites like Gowalla and Foursquare are putting big money on geographic location-based gadgets. And for a while, sites have been finding ways to get people away from the desktop and into the street to meet up for flashmobs, dance parties and massive group discounts.
But these sites have largely focused on big metropolitan areas. And that’s understandable. These are businesses and they figure the easiest way to get clients is to focus on places with high adoption rates and a big potential consumer base. Not a lot of winemakers prune with their iPhone handy waiting to hear about a discount on designer jeans.
And I’m wondering if California winemakers are going to be reaping the profits of proximity to major tech hubs like San Fran while poor old Languedoc hangs high and dry.
Is it part of our job as winemakers in a rural area to assess the current Internet landscape and retool some of the services out their to serve our needs? I’m working on this idea and I’ll keep coming back to it. For sure, there are ways that social media can sell wine like when Twitter-ers bid on wine at a Toques et Clochers auction in rural France. But we might have to actively study these examples if we want to replicate their success.
I’m very excited about my upcoming trip to Catalunya and the Alimentaria conference in Barcelona. The Catalan govnernment and Catavino have teamed up to organize a really exciting trip around an already exciting conference.
And a few people are casting a curious eye at Love That Languedoc because my readers are very perceptive and they realize that Catalunya is distinctly not in the Languedoc Roussillon. But the Roussillon and Catalunya share a lot in common. For example, certain communities in the Roussillon consider me to be more of a gabatch (outsider) than their neighbors to the south.
And I want to take a moment to remind everybody that wine’s not a zero sum game. I love that Languedoc. But there’s a little secret: I love other places too sometimes.
And when we have the opportunity to travel to new places and experience new things, we also have an opportunity to exchange cultures. And I am all about that. A little mixing and matching to make something altogether new. And I can try some new wines while I’m down there. And you better believe I’m bringing some of my wine for others to taste. And by the end of the week, we’ll all be fans of things we didn’t know much about before.
photo by CarbonNYC via Flickr
It’s important not to think of wine marketing as a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos. Where there are only 20 marbles on the playing field and getting one more marble is the same as taking it out of your starving starving opponent’s mouth. There are tons of people who have little to no knowledge of our regions and blogging or otherwise communicating about our cultural exchange can pique a stranger’s interest! Somebody who loves Catalan wines and knows nothing about Languedoc might discover me next week. Or the reverse!?
In case you’re curious, I prefer to think of life as a game of Crossfire. Every shot you take at your “opponent” only gives them more ammunition to shoot right back at you. It is only when we realize that the game is not nearly as cool as the commercial and that we abandon the notion of competition entirely that we have truly won. Or if you shoot the little pucks into your opponent’s tray. One of those two things is the win scenario.
How to find us
Domaine O’Vineyards, located in the North Arrondissement of Carcassonne, is just minutes from the Carcassonne train station, the Medieval City, and the Carcassonne Airport.
GPS coordinates: 43.259622, 2.340387
O’Vineyards
Wine, Dine, Relax at our Boutique Vineyard
Unique thing to do in Carcassonne
Wine Cellar. Winery Visits. Wine Tasting.
Wine & Food Pairing
North Arrondissement of Carcassonne
885 Avenue de la Montagne Noire
11620 Villemoustaussou, France
Tel: +33(0) 630 189 910
Best by GPS.
Follow the signs to Mazamet/ Villemoustaussou using the D118. At the end of the last straight part of D118, you will come to a roundabout with the Dyneff gas station.
Take the exit towards Pennautier. Continue 500m to a small roundabout and go straight over.
Look out for the second road on your right, Avenue des Cévennes which curves up hill (about 1km) to Avenue de la Montagne Noire on the left.
At the last juction, bear left. the road sign “Ave de la Montagne Noire” (confusing as it seems to show a right turn)
After another 500m you will see our red brick color building in the middle of the vines.
So the RVF decided to name their top 11 grands crus. I was excited to see my own appellation named as one of the grand crus of the Languedoc. GO CABARDES! There’s a nice little portrait of one of my neighbors, Clement Mengus and they talk briefly about how we are the westernmost appellation in the Languedoc and we’re doing interesting things.
