Unique O’Vineyards Experience, Rare Personal Service:

We started in 2005 with the intention of creating a wine experience that we often looked for and would like to experience ourselves. Our love for food and wine is something we felt many people love to share.

Located in Carcassonne, O’Vineyards is an easy week-end get away from the UK and many other European locations.

Meeting so many enthusiastic foodies and wine lovers, we now know we had the right idea. We are proud to have received a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence. We strive to offer our customers a memorable experience.

Free O’Vineyards wines :

Make your own personal Gift Package for any occasion. Get £50 O’Vineyards wines free, delivered to your door, when you spend £300 or more.

Unique Gifts:

Offer an O’Vineyards Experience for as little as £22

• Two hour Winery Visit & Wine tasting with hot hors d’oeuvres: £22 per person
• Four hour Visit & Wine tasting with Lunch, wine included: £42 per person
• A day of Winemaking and Cooking workshops with Joe and Liz,  including a five course dinner and lots of wines: £80 per person
• A luxurious double room with large bed and views on the vines, full breakfast for two, all taxes included  £125 per night

Continuing testimonies from our visitors:

Posted  by Anthony and Sarah Nolan on TripAdvisor:

“I’m still smiling and cannot wait to go back!”

It was Wednesday… I think! My wife and I popped by to see if we could have a simple tasting & tour. We were on our honeymoon and are novices when it comes to wine, so as you can imagine a little apprehensive about being judged on what we liked and disliked. Then we met Joe, the winemaker! And as is his manner, he and his wife Liz made us feel so welcomed that we decided to come and stay on the Sunday.
Firstly, the wine… exceptional. The range was extensive enough to meet both the needs of my wife and myself. They’re grown with love and as organically as you can. I’ve fallen for the 2010 Stranger, Stranger and my wife loves the 2005 O’Syrah. Do try the others there’s many a good one.
Secondly, the accomodation was outstanding and better value for money than staying in Carcassonne.
Thirdly, the food. Liz, you are a genius. You ability to cater for vegetarians is exceptional. The best by a country mile. And I loved the duck and foi gras. I also like Joe’s scrambled eggs.
Number 4 on the list – Muse… I miss you. (it’s their dog!)
At number 5, you introduced Sarah & I to great people like Terri and Michelle from the States and Chris and Vicki from Wetherby, UK.
Finally, it’s about the people. Joe, Liz and Muse. They make you feel so welcome and…. they make wine!
Many thanks for making our honeymoon so special and memorable.”-Anthony & Sarah Nolan- Visited May 2012

In the next 30 days, we will post more comments from our 2012 visitors and give detailed explanations  of O’Vineyards different Experiences and Gifts.

Offer an O’Vineyards Gift Certificate to a wine & food enthousiasm in your life.

 

Andrew Rhodes visited O’Vineyards in August:

Pictures from Andrew who posted this review on our TripAdvisor’s page:

” Where to start?

When first reading the reviews here of Domaine O’Vineyards, you could be forgiven for taking the superlatives written here with a modicum of apprehension. How could such a place be so perfect for wine lovers and, for that matter, for non-wine lovers? Well, believe me, it can.
We had booked for a group of six (three couples) for wine tasting and an evening meal on Sunday 15th April – some wine lovers, some not (but these were slowly coming around to our way of thinking due to the time spent in France!). We arrived at around 4 o’clock and were initially met by Joe, who you may think is a little quiet at first meeting. That conception very soon disappears. Within a few minutes we are discussing all things wine, and were soon whisked down to the vines and the house cellar/basement area, where the large fermentation vats and wine barrels were kept. At this point we were also joined by another member of the family – Muse (the dog!). She seemed rather pleased to see us! Lots of discussions ensued, with plenty of banter and laughs, complete with tasting wines from vats and barrels to get a good idea of how the wine evolves as it ferments and matures. If there is one thing Joe is not, it is a wine snob. He has a great knowledge, but doesn’t come across as being a know-it-all, and is always ready to answer any questions. He is obviously a very clever man, having been involved with many large building projects in the past (in America), but presently running the vineyard mostly single handed.

We eventually move upstairs, try more wine (same wine but some from vats, some from American oak and some from French oak barrels) – interesting to compare how this changes the wine so much. We then are also met by Joe’s wife Liz who has been preparing our food. She promptly tells us that she has prepared seven courses for the evening, including vegetarian options for my wife! She looked like she had been resting for the day (she obviously had not!) – very cool and collected!

We begin to eat, having great conversation (and not just about wine). Both Joe and Liz are great conversationalists. Perfect hosts for the evening. Course after course flowed from the kitchen – Liz preparing, serving and eating with us, along with Joe. She is super-human! Each dish was lovely, fresh and very, very tasty. Joe was continually flitting off to his personal wine cellar, bringing out new bottles, regularly filling our glasses with his lovely wines. My favourites – O’Syrah, and the absolutely divine Proprietor’s Reserve. There was one instant when I was tucking into some Roquefort cheese, fresh bread and a glass of the Reserve when I thought that this was the most perfect moment – just heaven, life cannot get any better than this!
We carried on chatting, finishing with coffees around the log fire, and also had a quick tour of the house and guest bedrooms.

Seven hours after our arrival (at 11 o’clock), we finally left, feeling that we had all had a unique and wonderful evening and made new friends. We discussed it in the car on the way back to our lodgings in Felines, we discussed it when we got back to Felines, we discussed it the next day, such was the impact the day had made on us.

Don’t hesitate – just book it! It is a very unique experience that you will rarely find in this modern world. We will undoubtedly be back. Hmmmm, I wonder, could I get a Ryanair flight just for the evening…….? (smiley face thingy).” -Andrew Rhodes-

 

Last minute Holiday Gift idea, no need to look further than a Unique O’Vineyards Experience!  Ideal gift for wine and food lovers!

An experience you can trust.

We are proud to be one of the highest rated attractions in Carcassonne.
We are also proud to have received a TripAdvisor® Certificate of Excellence award.

Visitors comments:  Follow the comments of our 2012 visitors on a daily basis over the next 30 days.

• ” Hi Liz, Thank you and Joe for the wonderful experience. I’m the trip planner and Rob said to me during the lunch “you’ve out done yourself.” But all I did was find O’Vineyards on the internet and read about others experience with you.We’ve visited many wineries in  Canada, the US, all over Italy and on our first trip to France (Bordeaux 3 years ago). Listening to Joe was fascinating—with his perspectives on wine making and the business. Lunch was so totally unexpected. Not only the dishes you prepared, but the company assembled. We felt like welcomed guests!…”-Deb Wheeler Brown-

Unique Gifts:

Or email us at ryan@ovineyards.com and we will work with you to design the Unique Experience Gift you want to offer.

Own a VineShare, craft and blend your own wine. become a winemaker:
The following comments are from the Naked 100, 100 nakedwines.com Angels, VineShare owners with a private O’Vineyards label.

• ” Well worth the long drive from the UK. We stopped overnight to collect our Naked 100 Wine. Outstanding Food, superb Wine, and excellent Accommodation. Muse is a wonderful hostesses, and Joe and Liz are very good company. The wine tour was very interesting and we look forward to addressing this year’s vintage when it becomes available. We will be back.” -Colin Jenkins-

• ” Our visit to Liz and Joe consisted of three generations of one family with an age range of 9 to 83. We were pleased to arrive after a long day in the car, and the warm welcome we received from our hosts was very welcome, as was a glass of fabulous wine as we came in through the door. Our bedrooms were beautiful, spacious, gracefully decorated and with fantastic views over the vineyards. The bathrooms also were very nice indeed, again spacious and very well appointed. Supper was a wonderful fusion of Asian and French, all served by the lovely Ombre, and enjoyed by all, even Grandma. Our super picky daughter at least tried the dishes on offer with Liz’s persuasion. Joe was a generous wine host and we chatted and ate and tried a variety of wines during the evening, perfect! In the morning our daughter ‘helped’ in the kitchen and cooked almond biscuits and chocolate croissants under Lliz’s expert guidance, she felt very proud of herself indeed. We had a day spent exploring Carcassonne, and then shared more wine and appetisers with Liz and Joe on our second night.
  We had a wonderful couple of days, Liz and Joe are knowledgable and great company. Their passion for the vineyard is infectious, and there is really something very special about drinking wine in the place it was grown, harvested and bottled, and going to sleep listening to the wind rustling the vine leaves outside your window! We will return!” -Kate Issacs-

• ” Many thanks for last night’s visit, and you’re generosity with the barrel, already beautifully filling the role of ‘Bar’ in the poolhouse” -Tom Dickson-

Stag Do. Hen Do:

•  “A huge thank you for entertaining us on Saturday evening. The evening and afternoon was thoroughly enjoyed my all, and everyone was talking about it yesterday.  I heard from Peter, that we drank an average of 1.9 bottles per person? Sorry about this but I blame Fays dad who I think had about 3 bottles! As you can see from the photo, all the wine made it made in one piece and now has been added to our collection.  We are going to have the reserve on the top table and then hand out the rest as wedding favours on the day to guests…Thank you again so much, for the wine, the food (inc the potatoes) for hosting us, and for making the stag very happy. Already looking forward to returning with Fay…”-Michael Storie-

Things to Do:

O’Vineyards Gift Cards feature a wide range of Things to do: Special visits, succulent meals… And lots of wine. Unique vineyard experiences. Rare personal attention. Price and Description here.

Winery visits:

• “Hi Joe and Liz!  Just wanted to thank you again for such an AMAZING visit to the vineyard last month.  It was the best part of our vacation.  We have recommended it to EVERYONE! And the wine we took back to Greenfield, MA with us lasted just two days .. everyone LOVED it. Again, thanks so much for such an amazing experience.  It was like spending the day with friends …” -Ben and Alyssa-

Dining : with Winemaker Joe and Chef Liz.

• “I wanted to make sure we sent a big thank you for the lovely day and for the wines, along with the drip stops! It was great to have them waiting for us when we returned from vacances. Amy and Caitlin are both still talking about you and what fun they had.” Wendy Dunn

Lodging :

• “We were so O’verwhelmed with your hospitality that we thought a special thank you was called for….The weather during our stay was O’dious but, O’ well, it didn’t bother us. The outstanding food, wine and hospitality more than made up for it. Those wonderful meals…O’ la la!We were truly O’ver the moon and give O’vineyards a standing O’vation. Brav’O’! And thank you for a most enjoyable stay”. -John and Ros Edwards-

 

The Telegrah emphasized the quality of French Red Wine from different regions of France.  We are very honored that O’Vineyards Trah Lah Lah 2010 is included.

“ Gaillac; Côte-Rôtie; Gevrey-Chambertin; Pauillac: legendary French red wines that ooze style and quality. Check out these and the rest of this fine French red wine selection.

Saint-Michel 2009, Gaillac AOC £6.99, Majestic

 

Friends of O’Vineyards step up:

When an unexpected problem prevented us from attending several scheduled UK tastings, we were bailed out by our very understanding friends.

Michael and Fay Storie organized a successful O’Vineyards party where they introduced a variety of O’ wines to thirty plus of their friends. I had plan to cook a “Liz’s duck casserole” and judging by the pictures, Fay covered for me admirably.

Kevin and Frankie Jacklin replaced Joe at their wine tasting club and presented a four year Vertical Tasting of our O’Syrah!

Rob and Chris Traynor, John and Lucy Clark, both held their dinners featuring O’Vineyards wines including the Proprietor’s Reserve.

Thank you to all! We are very fortunate to have friends like you ! You are our best  Ambassadors!

The newly book featuring Michelin Chefs of the Aude Cathare Region “Sur la route de Gilles Goujon” just released!  Stared Chefs included some of their favorite dishes coupled with regional wines. Jerôme Ryon, Hotel de la Cité, chose the Proprietor’s Reserve 2006, for his “Escalope de Foie Gras Poêlé”.

The book includes dozens of unique receipes from the French “Crème de la Crème” in the Cathare Culinary World.

O’Vineyards is honored to be recognized in this publication.

Posted by Joe The Winemaker:

“Finnnnnnnnnnished! The 2102 harvest has finished fermentation and the pressing of the skins was completed Saturday 3rd of November!

When you grow grapes and make wine, you sometimes wonder whether the months of September and October exist. You start to clean and prepare for harvest in late August and the next thing you know; you are getting ready for Christmas!
During the harvest season, visitors are always amazed at how much happens on a daily basis.

Anyway we are extremely happy with the quality of our 2012 harvest and look forward to tasting with all our visitors!”

“C’était une très agréable visite pour nous, surtout parce que nous n’étions pas les seuls à nous amuser–eux aussi!”

(It was a very enjoyable visit for us, especially since we were not the only ones having fun, [the O’Connells] too!)

This morning, I had the idea to reread my TripAdvisor review from when I first visited O’Vineyards back in September 2010. I was not surprised to rediscover my first impression of this place–it hadn’t changed one bit. Since day one of my current stay, I have been telling myself the same thing every day: the O’Connells have way too much fun making wine. Their joy and passion is contagious, too.

So we would like to take this opportunity to send out a special thanks to all the guests who have kindly left a review on the “Domaine O’Vineyards” TripAdvisor site. We greatly appreciate your praise, compliments, feedback and striking photos of our vineyard (see below for a few of our guests’ own snapshots). Above all, it helps us keep all the memories alive too!

Whether you stayed at our Bed and Breakfast, dined with us at our Winemaker’s table, or simply popped in for a tasting, we’d love to keep in touch through the TripAdvisor site. Donnez-nous de vos nouvelles…Don’t be a stranger!

 

Cette photo de Domaine O’Vineyards est fournie gracieusement par TripAdvisor

Cette photo de Domaine O’Vineyards est fournie gracieusement par TripAdvisor

Cette photo de Domaine O’Vineyards est fournie gracieusement par TripAdvisor

I’ve always been keen on discovering my new surroundings by foot. Especially since I haven’t owned a car in six years.

So yesterday evening, just as the sun began to make its descent towards the horizon, I set out for a walk to the nearby village center of Villemoustaussou. I quickly came to the realization that there is another plant in competition with grapevines for the Rampant Growth Award in this area: Fennel. If you could make wine from fennel, then O’Vineyards would be all over that. There are both vulgar fennel and Florence fennel varieties on their property…and en masse.

Fennel is a leafy vegetable composed of a bulb, stem and leaves, and is native to the Mediterranean Basin. It can be consumed “without moderation” in any season, although the French variety mainly appears from June to October. Perplexing enough, it has both culinary and medicinal purposes, and is also one of the main ingredients in absinthe. Totally logical.

I never knew that fennel was commonly associated with Italian food until last year when Chef De Franco first had me taste his excellent pasta dish made from tuna, zucchini, fennel, and a white/red sauce liaison served over giant conch shell pasta (see recipe below). In fact, until then, I didn’t even really know what fennel was besides a bunch of dried seeds that smelled like licorice–there’s a first time for everything, even in your mid to late twenties…right?

Many people report (and I confirm) that snacking on raw pieces of the fennel bulb can help settle the stomach after a big meal. So without further ado, here is Chef De Franco’s Tuna-Fennel Pasta Recipe. Feel free to test out fennel’s digestive properties yourself on this delightful dish!

Chef De Franco’s Tuna-Fennel Pasta

Ingredients for the sauce:

·      1/4 cup high quality extra virgin olive oil

·      One 6 oz can of tuna in water

·      One medium sized jar of high quality, non-meat/non-cheese based tomato sauce, for example basil flavored or just plain

·      One small jar of Bechamel sauce

·      Spring onions, finely chopped 

·      1/2 large fennel bulb, diced

·      1 medium zucchini, diced

·      Salt and pepper

Other ingredients needed:

·      If possible, large conch shell shaped pasta (1 package), or any other large shaped pasta that will pick up the sauce easily such as penne or rigatoni.

·      Slices of lemon for garniture just before serving

·      Friends with whom to share the dish 

Instructions:

Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan, add the zucchini, fennel, spring onions, tuna, salt and pepper. Sauté on medium heat until vegetables are soft. Add the tomato sauce. Let simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

During the last 10 minutes of the sauce step, cook the pasta (al dente, bien sûr!). When you add the uncooked pasta to the boiling water, add the Béchamel sauce to the simmering pasta sauce (if you add it any earlier than in the last 10 minutes, the Béchamel can turn).

Drain pasta well and mix the sauce into the pasta in the final serving dish. If desired (and I desire it), squeeze fresh lemon juice on the dish to your taste just before serving.

Personally, I enjoy a medium bodied white wine which is rich and fruity (this does not mean sweet!). I’m no wine expert–yet!!–so the best advice I can give you is very basic and humble: pick one you enjoy which is not too mild so as stand on its own paired with this tasty pasta dish! Enjoy with friends–the key ingredient to any successful dish 🙂

“Quatorze Juillet!!”

A group of around fifty guests, including both friends and bed and breakfast guests (aka new friends!) jovially mingled together at O’Vineyards this past July 14th to view the annual Bastille Day fireworks show over Carcassonne. In the anglophone world, this French national holiday is known as “Bastille Day”. In France, the locals commonly designate the holiday with the slightly less sober “Quatorze Juillet!!! (champagne cork explosion)“.

The amazing display of fireworks was comfortably appreciated from the front deck of O’Vineyards, at a distance of just under 10km from the event site. Guests enjoyed a dinner party “bien arrosée” (doused) with a variety of O’Vineyards wine (slightly less explosive than champagne, but still a real treat!). And what better dishes to cater to a pyromaniac appetite than an arrangement of French saucissons and the pork-based spread known as “rillettes”; pear and Roquefort cheese crumpets; delicious in-season melon slices; and a national Indonesian dish made with vegetables and vermicelli noodles known as “Bami”. In the spirit of the American Independence Day, guests also enjoyed barbeque on this special occasion. To top it off, guests also kindly shared a wide array of other toothsome dishes including appetizers and desserts. 

The fireworks tradition dates back to the end of the 19th century when the city of Carcassonne first celebrated the arrival of the “Cadets de Gascogne”–a group of prominent figures in literature, politics and art–entertaining them with concerts, balls, fireworks, banquet dinners and many other festivities (for more info see the Carcassonne tourism site in French). This year, the event attracted an audience of over 700,000 spectators. The fireworks show begins at 10:30pm and usually lasts around 25 minutes. 

You too can view the fireworks show finale from the comfort of your home and over a glass of wine (video provided via the youtube user Esdalida. Video taken in the city of Carcassonne).

A bientot y’all!