Another post from Joe the winemaker, my dad.

Welcome to week 2. I am back as promised with more basic wine information and photos to help you follow the entire cycle of  a year in the vineyard. As I mentioned in last week’s vineyard update I expected that you would be amazed by the change in the growth of the merlot vines we are following, but even I was estonished by the rapidity of the growth this past week. This is pure speculation on my part, but I believe that the late start of the vines due to an extremely harsh winter followed by record breaking temperatures the final week of April could be the reason.  (can anybody say global warming ?).

Our Norwegian lady friends (hello, ladies) who visited us 2 weeks ago, with Anthony Swift of  Wine Pleasures tours, can bear witness to the rapid change in the growth of the merlot. We are very pleased that we chose to lower the wires in the merlot when we did  because if we were attempting that with the present growth we would be knocking off far too many shoots (buds, future grapes). Fortunately for us the progress of the syrah and the cabernet saugvignon does not match that of the merlot this year. This is not unusual for the cab but very surprising for our syrah which is normaly ahead of the merlot. I attempted to take the photos in the same spot that I did for the first post and will continue to do so we have an accurate account of the progression of the vines. The majority of the photos show the same vines as week 1 and I have included a close up a  future  bunch of grapes. The “baby grapes photo” is something I always found intriguing and I hope you will also. We still have wires to lower in the cabernet but we are extremely happy with where we stand today. Hopefully my son will not read this but I think we will soon be able to cut back to  45 hour work weeks. I am not complaining because I have never felt heathier in my life and the fringe benefits are outstanding!

We are considering doing some weekend BBQ/Blending sessions for wine enthusiasts living in or visiting the  Carcassonne area this summer. give me some feedback if you find this interesting.

Thanks for following and remember to come back next week for more free wine information.

It’s spring and it’s wonderfully hot. We went from one of the coldest winters to one of the hottest Springs. And in brief, it feels like Summer at O’Vineyards.

And now we’re starting to get our dearest vacationers so it feels even more like Summer. The other day, Anthony Swift from Wine Pleasures came through with a group of Norwegian wine women. These wine ladies had just visited Carcassonne’s castle ramparts in the morning where I met the group and led them back to the vineyard just a few kilometers away.

I like all the tour groups we get, but Wine Pleasures was a special pleasure because Anthony is as obsessed with the Internet as I am (maybe more?). So the group doesn’t get shy around cameras. And we get to share the tasting with you.

We did a live stream that you can still access here:

What you don’t get to see in the stream is the delicious schmorgesborg that my mom prepared for the luncheon after the wine tasting. The photos don’t do it justice. But if you follow the blog or visit us with any frequency, you know that my mom is a cooking machine.

You can follow Anthony Swift on Twitter and Facebook.

As you probably know, the O’Podium gift box features one wine aged three different ways.  It’s a unique way to learn the difference between different aging processes because the wine is exactly the same except for the three aging processes:

1. Unoaked
2. 8 months in new American oak
3. 12 months in new French oak

The difference between unoaked wines and oaked wines are pretty well-known.  Oak affects the flavor and complexity of the wine, adding aromatic qualities like toast, vanilla, etc. while also imparting certain structural changes that can add to the aging potential of the wine.

The difference between American oak and French oak is less well-known.  Wine nerds will talk about it frequently, but it’s a rare opportunity to smell and taste the difference for yourself.

American oak is much denser than French oak.  The difference in grain means that American oak can be sawed while French oak is traditionally axed.  Axes follow the grain of the wood, but saws cut against the grain and open up the wood to create a larger surface area that is a lot more porous.  The American oak has an immediate and somewhat superficial effect on the wine.  French oak is a little tighter, adding a subtler flavor and giving more of the nuanced structural qualities for aging.

Anyway, Juliet Bruce Jones, Master of Wine, just did a great write up of how the O’Podium 2005 wines are tasting and compares the three wines in her conclusion:

The wine aged in oak did have more complexity and richness than the unoaked version which was nice but quite simple. The American oak wine was more approachable now, despite the grippy tannins, as the fruit was more forward and appealing. Needs robust food. The French oak gave fine structure but the fruit is still shy. Worth trying in a year or two to see if the fruit has emerged from its hidey-hole.

As a lot of you know, Vicky Wine has been tearing up the wine tasting circuits, with grandiose events in London, Paris and beyond.

In her recent flurry of London tastings, she presented a couple of wines from O’Vineyards (to rave reviews).  And she even found a home for the Mediterranean Mojo in London.

The top notch wine-innovators at Borough Wines are taking the Mojo under their wing for good.  So if you want to get your hands on that Mojo, contact Borough.  And if you want to get a sneak peak before you splurge, keep an eye on Vicky’s page where she’ll announce her next tasting in your area.

A big thanks to Sud de France’s Maison du Languedoc in London, for providing a space for Londoners to Love that Languedoc.

I’ll probably swing by the next London tasting myself.  So you won’t have to watch the ridiculous videos we make to say hello to you from afar. Instead you’ll have to deal with the ACTUAL me.  Thank god you’ll be drinking!! ;D

Intro video from last London tasting:

Lauren Buzzeo, a writer for the Wine Enthusiast, stopped by the Domaine O’Vineyards stand and tasted through our wines at ViniSud this week.  A lot of great people stopped by, but Lauren wins the contest for first person to pop up in my google alerts with her article for the Wine Enthusiast.  She likes our wines with their distinctive Atlantic influence, unique in the Languedoc.  But she talks about a lot of great winemakers that she met at the salon!  I can’t wait to see all the articles and posts that roll in as a result of ViniSud 2010 which was a fantastic experience.  I got to put a lot of faces to the names and goofy avatars of my online friends.

We had one of those epic lunches that lasts until way after sunset.  Our friends from l’Oustal Blanc in Minervois La Liviniere came over and we had a lot of great food and delicious wines.  The Fonquerle’s brought us a pretty epic Rhone wine from Plan de Dieu called Calendal (Philippe Cambie & Gilles Ferran).  It accompanied some of these lovely platters of charcuterie quite nicely!  Everything prepared by mom, as usual!

Soon, I’ll post some post video footage of a couple conversations in the winery. For now, I just wanted to post some food pictures before it all spoils. 😀

The starling birds migrated south a few months ago but I never posted this. It’s so wintry and I have to prune. I wish I could fly south sometimes. But the wine is delicious up here, so I stay put.

Anyway, a few months ago, I was having a business lunch at the winery when this huge flock of starlings passed over the vineyard to fly south for the winter. But they stopped at the vines and flew back and forth. I ran out into the vines and caught some of the migration on my flip. Pretty awesome footage! What a lucky experience. The birds formed a perfect dome over me.

It’s worth going to fullscreen!

I just had a wonderful and hectic time in Paris, the city where I never sleep.

I did a big Languedoc-themed shindig with Vicky Wine at a nice art gallery called l’Oeil du Huit.

We also did a Love That Languedoc episode at the Paris cave de dégustation of Crus.fr before opening up the doors to do a Domaine O’Vineyards tasting.

Here is a little snippet from the crus tasting where one of their dear patrons talks about which of the three Podium wines she liked best:

We’re experiencing a mighty snow storm these past couple days. Pruning is impossible. Snow drifts have entirely covered small sections of the vines and have blocked a few doors.

Power went out for a bit the other day because everybody in France is cranking the heat. Thankfully, we’re working off a woodstove and we could stay warm.

Most of my appointments for Love That Languedoc have been rescheduled until the roads clear up. We’re not used to this kind of snow down here. We only get a handful of snow days and it’s usually nothing serious. That’s wonderful, but it leaves us a little unprepared to clear roads and whatnot.

I hear a good freeze is good for the vines. Helps the sap run down or something. Well, the vines are chilling.

We hope you have an excellent Christmas Day no matter what holidays you observe.  The count down just restarted for a lot of children : 365 days before next Christmas! We hope Santa brought you everything you wanted.

At Domaine O’Vineyards, we are now actively preparing for New Years. We want to wish you a very Happy New Year filled with joy and love!