Honeymooners enjoyed O'Vineyards

“So good it deserves 6 stars!” TripAdvisor. Review 4 June 2014 by Helen Fairley

5 of 5 stars

This was without doubt one of the best experiences we’ve had on our honeymoon in France. Joe and Liz, the owners of O’Vineyards, are a fabulously welcoming, friendly, fun couple who made us feel completely at home the moment we arrived for our visit to their winery to be followed by lunch.

We had biked up from Carcassonne (about 35 mins if you take the D118 route) and arrived somewhat hot and bedraggled. Joe immediately offered us a large glass of ice cold water, swiftly followed by a glass of delicious white wine, as we cooled down in the surroundings of their beautiful home.

Joe then took us outside, where we enjoyed 360 degree views of the beautiful countryside and rolling vineyards stretching as far as the eye can see. He explained about the different grapes they grew, and the different cultivating and cropping techniques they used to get the best crop out of each type of grape.

We went then went into the sorting and fermentation room. Joe talked us through the entire process, from harvesting to sorting, fermenting, distilling, mixing and barrelling. We tasted generously sized samples of their reds straight from the tanks and barrels. (Joe later quipped that he couldn’t understand why French domains normally serve such small sample sizes – the one thing that they have in abundance as wineries is wine!)

This was then followed by a delicious lunch cooked by Liz, where the conversation and wine never stopped flowing. To start, we had a fresh salad with slightly curried eggs, local red spiced lamb sausages and home made pates. For the main we had perfectly cooked crispy whole legs of duck with artichokes and courgettes picked less than one hour ago from their garden, with the tastiest fried rice I’ve ever had (no grease, but packed with flavour) and a duck sauce with fresh herbs from the garden. We then had some excellent cheeses (including a brie that Liz had added walnuts to – yum) followed by chocolate brownies and vanilla ice cream.

Throughout the whole meal our glasses never went empty. We had a glass for both red and white, and we continued to try different wines throughout lunch. Our favourite was their Proprietors Reserve 2005, of which we bought 2 bottles.

Throughout lunch Joe and Liz kept calling their gardener, Michael, over for glasses of wine and to sample all the dishes – this seems absolutely in keeping with their characters, which are welcoming, inclusive, fun and caring. It was just like being with friends and family.

We had such a great time that we’ve booked to come back for their B&B getaway weekend – 2 night with meals and wine. We absolutely can’t wait to return.

Joe and Liz, thank you for such an amazing experience (especially when it was supposed to be your day off!) and pass on our thanks to Michael for making the garden look so lovely and produce all those yummy vegetables and herbs.

Can’t wait to see you again soon! Helen and Aaron xx

Three free bottles of Ryan O’Connell’s “KidCab”

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Who said one can’t have fun at work?

Three fabulous days of the France Show at Earl’s Court. Thanks to the many friends who came to help promote O’Vineyards B&B – Food & Wine Experience, and our UK/US distributor Naked Wines. Without your help we never could have handled the massive number of visitors requesting info about O’Vineyards Food & Wine!

To top off the trip, a private Soirée was held at Michael & Fay Storie’s house in Kent with dinner cooked by Liz. Joe animated the whole gamut of O’Vineyards wines ordered from Naked Wines by Michael & Fay.

 

 

 

 

 

Two years in the row:

Thanks to all our Visitors and their wonderful reviews, O’Vineyards was awarded the 2013 Certificate of Excellence, repeating our last year ‘s performence!
This prestigious award, places us in the top-performing 10% of all businesses worldwide on TripAdvisor.

 

This receipe is for Donna VanAlstine and Chris Rud, our visitors from Toronto Canada.

Use preferably a roll of “pâte sablée” (kind of shortbread dough). Could be replaced by another pastry such as the puff pastry and adding some honey over the goat cheese.
cut the dough in 12 round portions
Lay a slice of goat cheese on each portion of dough
spray on top some dried rosemary mixed with fresh rosemary. add honey if you did not use the “pâte sablée”
Lay another smaller round slice of dough
fold and seal both slices of dough
Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes in 210° oven

Liz’s Salmon Rillettes

At the request of our World Travelers Sabine Bessey and her husband Ebaheart, here is the receipe of Liz’s Salmon Rillettes:

Get from the fish market about 200g of fresh salmon

heat your oven at 200°
Few drop of lemon, salt and pepper, roll your salmon inside of an aluminium sheet
cook in the oven for 10 minutes
Cool the salmon in the refrigerator
smash it with a fork
put in the ginger and garlic sauce
back in the refrigerator until the serving time

prepare the ginger-garlic sauce:
3 table spoon of mustard
about 20g of garlic. 20g of ginger
mix with about 3 table spoon of olive oil
put the sauce to the refrigerator.

Before serving, mix the salmon and the sauce.

 

Burbot in butter sauce

I like the  small fresh burbots! Have to wake up early to get those at the fish market!

Very fast and easy receipe! Saute the fishes in a small amount of butter. add  the garlic and parsley. When the garlic is golden, add some more butter, add the chopped parsley. Cook only one minute. Serve immediately!

 

Memories:

This is for you, our International Visitors who appreciate the Foods served and Wines that accomodate them! Good foods start with very good ingredients! Receipes posting soon!

Photos of Domaine O'Vineyards, Villemoustaussou
This photo of Domaine O’Vineyards is courtesy of TripAdvisor

A Happy Winemaker’s Table

We are lucky that our International visitors seemed to share different months of the year!
Our customers word of mouth is our best advertising. Google search is also very important, keeping us busy… since  Tripadvisor somehow moved us from the Carcassonne area to the whole Department of Aude.

People who have visited us know that O’Vineyards is in the Carcassonne Metropolitan area, only minutes from Carcassonne airport, Carcassonne train station and the Medieval City of Carcassonne!

Here is the lastest Tripadvisor review we got from Cindy and David Phillips who were sharing our Winemaker’s Table with Stan & Polly Jurczak from UK and Katsuhiko & Yuriko Toyoshima, Tsuyoshi & Mariko Kuwahara from Japan.

“All I can say is that I can’t wait to go back again!

Domaine O’Vineyards is a delightful vineyard about 8 km from Carcassonne. Hubby and I had a delightful two night stay with Liz and Joe earlier this week. We were spoiled from the moment we arrived until the moment we left. We enjoyed a fabulous wine tasting with Joe, from tanks, barrels and bottles. By the time we left I think we sampled nearly every wine they produced, and every one was just fantastic. We enjoyed two delicious meals cooked by Liz – I don’t even know how many courses there were, served with a generous amount of wine. Liz even took me into the kitchen to teach me a recipe or two!

Their dog, Muse, took us for a walk through the vineyard, through Merlot, Shiraz and Cabernet vines. The vines were just starting to bud and I can’t wait to return in the summer to see the vines in full leaf and grape.

Would I return? I’m definitely returning! “

Reviewed 10 April 2013
London, England, United Kingdom
Tripadvisor Senior Reviewer

This is an official map of the Carcassone Region

Villemoustaussou included:

The purple colored area designated the Carcassonne Metropolitan area, including Villemoustaussou which is desserved by the Carcassonne public transportation.

O’Vineyards is located in Villemoustaussou, at just 10 minutes from the Carcassone airport, Carcassonne train station and the Carcassonne Medieval Castle.

Carcassonne Metropolitan area

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

  1. 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.
  2. Take the exit towards Pennautier. Continue 500m to a small roundabout and go straight over.
  3. 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.
  4. At the last juction, bear left. the road sign “Ave de la Montagne Noire” (confusing as it seems to show a right turn)
  5. After another 500m you will see our red brick color building in the middle of the vines.
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