Harvest is right around the corner at O’Vineyards.  I mean that literally.  If you walk past the corners of our property, you’ll be surrounded by harvesters.

We aren’t harvesting yet.  The grapes just aren’t ready here.  In several days, they will be.  But not today.

Why are the nearby neighbors harvesting?  Different philosophies.  Waiting for that last bit of maturity is relatively risky.  A sudden and heavy rain could lead to watery grapes and grey rot.  Additionally, rain could muddy up the vineyard and make it very hard to pass through and machine harvest.  Alternatively, no rain is almost worse for the guys who sell by the kilo.  As the grapes ripen in the next seven days, they are likely to lose water weight and start to shrivel up just a tiny bit.  When you see a single grape shrivel, you can assume that you’ve lost a huge amount of juice.

With these risks, why does O’Vineyards wait?  Well, we don’t mind losing juice if it means that the grapes will have that extra level of ripeness.  You can harvest now and get good grapes.  But if you wait just a tiny bit longer, you’ll get great grapes.

But we get anxious waiting and preparing.  We’re cleaning all the equipment and moving wine around so that there’s enough space to bring in this year’s 100% hand harvest.  There aren’t a lot of cool movies to film.  I’m basically just cleaning stuff.  But here is a picture just to show you even the boring parts of my life have a beautiful vineyard backdrop.

A new facet of this year’s preharvest anticipation is how jealous I am of everybody who is started or done with their harvest (n.b. these people are in microclimates that harvested earlier this year and escape my obvservations regarding the nearby neighbors mentioned above).  My web efforts have brought me much closer to a lot of estates in the Languedoc-Roussillon and around the rest of the world.  And a lot more people are bringing the harvests online.

It’s oddly distressing to have to watch all these harvests progressing just an hour’s drive away from here.  But it’s okay.  We can form a club of late bloomers.  The tardives climates.  The medium to high altitude vineyards.  I was commiserating with Castelmaure high up in the Corbieres who look like they’ll start even later than me.  I think most of the work getting done so far in the Cabardes estates is limited to white grapes (which aren’t actually included in the classification).

A Russian wine lover is running a series of updates from me on his website, WhyWhyWine.  It’s always fun to see yourself translated into a language you can’t read.

It’s even more fun using Google Translator’s limited engine to decipher what’s being said.  There’s an odd sort of poetry in the computer generated translation: “These weeds are not any terrible pest, but if they become too high or grow too thickly, they begin to overshadow the fruit.”

But when you get bored of the Google translation, here is the English version, an update describing the end of August at O’Vineyards.

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It’s a beautiful time of year in the rolling, sun-drenched hills of the Languedoc.  The vines are hard at work, soaking in the Mediterranean sunshine all day.  And at night, the cool breezes of the Atlantic Ocean sweep in from the west and bring freshness to our grapes.  But this poetic and beautiful weather is HARD to work in.  It is perfect for vines, but it is HOT for humans.

That’s why we try to work as much as possible in the morning when the sun is still gentle.  Because the earth is tilted slightly in relationship to the sun, the rising sun in the northern hemisphere is much gentler than the afternoon sun.  The morning is far from cold, but it is cool enough to work in.  The afternoon however is sweltering so we stay in to enjoy big French lunches with fresh local ingredients.  Then we have la sieste, a well-deserved nap.  And around 3 or 4, we can get back to work.  On cooler evenings, we can head back into the vines, or we can decide it’s still too hot and stay in to welcome tourists visiting the winery.

We have just passed veraison, the season when grapes change color from green to dark purple.  The first part of the year, before veraison, the plant devotes almost all of its energy to growing new vegetation. Long stems and vines that reach up toward the sun and form a great canopy to receive the sun’s light. Once the grapes change color, the plant shifts gears and begins to put most of its energy toward maturing the fruit. Putting lots of sugar in those delicious grapes and allowing phenolics and acids to present interesting flavors and aromas in the skins and seeds.

This is a time of year when many winemakers take a vacation, but we use this time to do a few extra tasks.  It’s those little jobs that aren’t entirely necessary but make the difference between a good wine and a magnificent wine.

Some weeds have come up in the Syrah, so my dad goes out to remove them manually.  We avoid passing with the tractor because we don’t want to compact the soil and use up lots of gasoline for a job that is feasible by hand.  The weeds aren’t terribly harmful to the vines, but if they grow too tall or too dense, they can begin to cover the grapes.  We would rather have our grapes exposed to a bit of the warm Mediterranean sun which will allow them to ripen over the course of the entire summer.  Sunlight is good!  So we slowly make our way through the vines to pull out the weeds.

Normally, the weeds are not so active this time of year, but 2010 has been a very strange year.  We had an unusually high amount of snow in the south of France last winter and snow fixes nitrogen in the soil.  That nitrogen allows for a lot of growth the next year.  But don’t worry.  It doesn’t just mean weeds; nitrogen also helps the vines grow!  In fact, we have unusually large foliage this year.  Some of the vines stretch more than three meters into the air before curving back down under their own weight.  This means we have lots of leaves to soak in the sunlight and feed the plant to get good, mature grapes.  Perfect for the big wines we make in this region!

Also, the fig trees and blackberries that grow in the brush around the vines are now fruiting.  We can pick the seasonal fruit and enjoy lavish dinners made from local, organic ingredients.

This time of year, we get to sit back at the end of the day and enjoy the new life we’ve chosen.  Being a winemaker can be a lot of hard work, but it’s also a beautiful life full of delicious food and wine.  The vineyard provides for us in many ways as long as we are there to nurture it and take care of it.

When people come to visit the sprawling 45 acres of vines and 15 acres of local wildlife, they are in awe at the work we have done.  The magic of the south of France rubs off on everybody who visits Domaine O’Vineyards.

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.

One of the most interesting parts of the dinner for you all was probably the short discussion we had right before breaking bread.  Instead of saying grace, we talked shop regarding the new CIVL initiative to divide the plethora of Languedoc AOPs into Grands Crus, Grands Vins, and the rest.

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.

Well it’s past midnight so I can start reminiscing about Cabernet Day.  In part, that means sniffing empty bottles and thinking about opening more.  But the part of me that’s still sober is neurotically over-analyzing the event, and maybe I can bring you some fun conclusions about Cabernet Day and the Languedoc.

If you know me, you know I’m a fan of the Languedoc so I was really happy to use Cabernet Day as an opportunity to communicate on some of the wonderful Cabernet made in this region.  A lot of the time, we’re more known for our mass produced lowland Cab, which is a shame, because we have some stellar examples of Super Cabs.

I thought tonight would be a chance to get a few friends together to drink Cab and Internet-users would be able to tune in and see that folks in the Languedoc are drinking Cabernet and loving it.

I was overwhelmed by the support I got.  My neighbors from Chateau Jouclary and Pennautier and Auzias and Rivals and la Cave de Cavanac.  That’s a huge honor because these folks have been making wine longer than me.  A couple of them were even crucial in forming the AOC Cabardes.Anyway, it was really great to see them because it’s tough to get locals motivated sometimes.  People often say “never a prophet in his own land” or something like that. I think it’s a biblical proverb.  Anyway, I feel like sometimes my neighbors don’t want to accept that there is a huge opportunity on the Internet.  Well tonight they proved me wrong by demonstrating an exemplary curiosity that can move this whole region forward.

Also, I think it should be noted somewhat humorously how far I missed the mark on planning this event.  I set up a big TV with a feed of all the tweets about Cabernet Day.  But this didn’t really mean anything to about 80% of the people who came because they had no idea what Twitter was.  So we talked a fair amount about social networks and real time media.  It made for fun conversations.  I was blowing their minds.

But probably the biggest mind blowing experience for me was encountering a journalist who told me he remembered the pre-war owners of this vineyard.  PRE WAR? Which war you ask?  The War of ’39.  He actually called it that.  This VERY interesting man told me all sorts of things about my vineyard.  It warrants its own post on a later date.  I thought the guy was going to interview me because he was a journalist.  But in fact, he knew so much about this property, I ended up interviewing him.  It was really great learning some of the back story on this very interesting piece of land.

Anyway, I’m rambling. Because I’m tired. And drunk. But the point is that there were some great exchanges.  I’m really happy with the wonderful night we had around some glasses of Cabernet.  A big thanks to Rick Bakas for organizing this whole thing.  A big thanks to everybody who came.  And the biggest thanks to all those brave souls out there who honestly make the best Cabernet they can.

Tasting notes and more serious stuff including the video of our live party cam can be found at Love That Languedoc’s Cabernet Day article.

For now, good night, good night, sweet Cabernet!

When I first heard about Cabernet Day, my immediate reaction was to jump on board.  And I kind of assumed that everybody would follow me unquestioningly… but there have been some questions, rightfully posed, as to why exactly I’m hosting a Cab Day event in the Languedoc.  I want to take a moment to explain what Cabernet Day is and why I want lots of people to participate.

Here is the facebook event page for Cabernet Day at O’Vineyards

What the heck is Cab Day?

On September 2nd, a bunch of people around the world will drink Cabernet Sauvignon and talk about it online.  A lot of the talking will happen in real life too at special events organized in wineries around the world.  But a lot MORE of the talking will be happening online.

Some will blog, and even more will casually tweet with the hashtag #Cabernet.  It’s called a tweetup (twitter meetup … I really hate web-related portmanteaus).  And while I personally wanted to have a real-life party, the success of Cab Day will largely be measured by the participation on Twitter and the rest of the online chatter channels.

So that’s basically what Cabernet Day is.  In all transparency it is organized by Rick Bakas, “social media director” for St. Supery in Napa Valley.

Does there need to be a Cab Day?

Cab Day is about celebrating the grape varietal Cabernet Sauvignon, a varietal that is so popular it seems like it doesn’t really need to have a party.  So I guess that’s why some people are asking me “Do we need a Cab Day?” and “Why are we doing Cabernet?”

I’m gonna answer these questions in two parts.  Part 1, since when do we have to attach moral imperatives to wine parties?  Part 2, I need to communicate how awesome Languedoc Cabernet is.

Why people want crazy moral imperatives to party? – A lot of the people who are really into tweetups are also into promoting obscure varietals and communicating on more esoteric themes than Cabernet Sauvignon.   I like talking about rare grape varietals too, which lets you communicate on themes like authenticity, local culture, history, etc.  But I also realize that a mainstream subject can be just as interesting as an obscure one.  And more mainstream topics can bring more people into the fold while very obsucre topics can sometimes alienate people who don’t feel “initiated”.

The interesting mainstream topic – The Languedoc is not known for it’s Cabernet Sauvignon.  We’re a Mediterranean region and you can’t grow Cabernet just anywhere around here.  So the few parts of the Languedoc that do make great Cabernet Sauvignon absolutely must communicate on that.  So I’ll try to round up some Cabs from the Malpere, Cabardes, Aniane and so on.  Cab Day is going to get a lot of people online who are interested in the grape varietal and we’ll be able to talk about how certain parts of the Languedoc make really great Cab.  Sounds like a great opportunity!

And I hope other winemakers and Languedoc fans will take up the banner with me.  Come visit on September 2nd or send your friends.  We’re gonna drink great wine, have a blast, and it should be a lot of fun!

We are very proud to discover that Tamlyn Currin, a writer at JancisRobinson.com, has included us in a review of some of the top winemaking “Estranhièrs” in the Languedoc-Roussillon.

We’re in very good company and this is the kind of content that makes you want to subscribe to Jancis’ purple pages.  It’s a great compilation of winemakers for people who are eager to discover the amazing diversity of the Languedoc Roussillon.

Tamlyn has also written some of my favorite reviews for my wines to date.  The Mojo has “sassy red berry fruit” (Awesome. I’ll be using that a lot.)  The Syrah has “Damson by the bucket load” (That’s a type of plum. One that we actually grow on the vineyard.)

And the Proprietor’s Reserve review goes back and forth between long, narrative sentences and sharp, captivating notes. The review matches the wine.  I’m very proud of my parents and me. 🙂

O’Vineyards, Proprietor’s Reserve 2006 Cabardès 16.5+ Drink 2010-2015

Six barrels of Cabernet Sauvignon, 10 barrels of Syrah and 12 barrels of Merlot. Fermented and aged in new French oak for 18-20 months.

A perfume that made me close my eyes, just to breathe it in. Sweet damson, spiced dried fruit, figs and wet tea leaves. Rich and chocolatey, with plenty of dark plum tang and cinnamon. This tastes much more American than Languedoc – something that is more or less what I have noticed in all their wines. Very long. Velvety. Hedonistic. (TC) 13.5%

Toward the end, I wonder if I’m really making American-styled wines and whether or not making new world wines is mutually exclusive with being true to the Languedoc terroir. But I don’t want to dwell on that right now.  I want to dwell on velvety hedonism.  I really love these reviews and I’m so happy to be featured on Jancis’ site. She wrote a lot of the reference material that got my dad and me into wine in the first place. And Tamlyn is a charm.

The rest of our reviews have been incorporated into the website for each wine: Mediterranean Mojo, O’Syrah, Trah Lah Lah, Les Americains, and Proprietor’s Reserve.

To discover the other estates reviewed in the article “Estranhièrs in Languedoc-Roussillon“, you’ll have to subscribe to the Purple Pages!   You’ll get to read about some of my good friends in the Languedoc and Roussillon.  The estates included in the reviews are Rives Blanques, Domaine Treloar,  Domaine Ste-Croix, Domaine Jones, Chateau D’Angles (which we actually considered buying in 2004!), and Chateau des Estanilles (who has a long overdue Love That Languedoc episode in the pipes).