Jancis just did a write up on varietal days (eg Cabernet Day, Grenache Day, Champagne Day) and I’ll admit that it seems like every day of the year might soon have a varietal celebration associated with it. Like patron saints of wine-drinking. Not just Saint Vincent anymore.
Jancis’ Article on Grape Days
In her article, I pick up on two very different messages. On the one hand, Jancis acknowledges that the celebration of certain varietals seems a little commercially motivated. For example, Cabernet Day was conceived and brought to fruition somewhat autocratically by Rick Bakas, the social media engineer at St Supery, and it’s a day devoted to a varietal that already has a lot of notoriety when it comes from the right side of the tracks (in this case the right side is the Left Bank). People ask “Does Cabernet need a day?” and I kind of get that vibe from bits of Jancis’ writing.
On the other hand, she managed to use this day in a very personal way. She opened a bottle of Figeac and toasted the passing of its winemaker who was so proud of his unique contribution to Cabernet Sauvignon on Bordeaux’s Right Bank. And this is why Cabernet Day was good. We found ways to personalize and celebrate delicious wines.
My Thoughts on Grape Days
And I think this mirrors my experience. I’m going to reiterate how happy I am with the Cabernet Day celebration we had at O’Vineyards and around the world. We didn’t know how the day would turn out, but we ended up surrounded by neighbors and friends and enjoying some really delicious wines that showed off totally different expressions of Cabernet Sauvignon.
And people around the world cheered us on. Americans trapped in the office in the early afternoon could see us sipping as the sun set in the south of France. And as the French started to get sleepy, folks on the west coast of the United States popped corks in their time zone where the party was just starting.
I’m just so happy. I want to say I’m proud, but it’s hard to be proud in the face of such a massive, humbling event. Next to the work of all those winemakers (and don’t forget how much promotional work goes in on the part of Rick Bakas and all the event organizers around the world), what did I really do? I just threw a little party and drank some good wine.
And next to my neighbors who have been working here for generations or names like Thierry Manoncourt who made Jancis’ Figeac, a newly arrived winemaker like me starts to feel pretty small and unimportant.
These days can be important
Anyway, I know it seems like the varietal days are piling up fast, one after the other. And I personally have to question who decided to put them all right before the northern hemisphere’s harvest, a very busy time of year. But I hope that varietal celebrations don’t become trivial. I hope that people go beyond novelty.
Whether you use these days as an excuse to open a special bottle that you really cherish or you use them as an opportunity to explore a varietal you don’t know very well, the important thing is that you’re attaching real emotions to these wines. Drinking wine is fun, but it’s also effortlessly profound.
Next up: Grenache Day
Anyway, enough waxing poetic. Grenache Day is coming up on September 24th. I don’t make any Grenache, but I love to drink it. The Languedoc-Roussillon does a great job with it. I’ve been looking forward to the day ever since it was proposed at the Grenache Symposium held at Chene Bleu. I’ve been told that some other folks in the region are already organizing stellar events.
I personally will strive to swing down to Domaine Gayda and check out their Grenache Day celebration. A workshop with Vinecole followed by a cuve tasting at Gayda with the winemaker. If I can’t go there, I’ll surely be celebrating at dinner with some of my favorite Grenaches. After seeing all the energy and enthusiasm at the Grenache Symposium, I know just how important September 24th is to all the people involved with this grape. From the growers to the winemakers to the writers and the sales people and NEVER FORGET the drinkers… And I hope you all find a way to make the day personal by opening a special bottle of Grenache or by raising your Grenache awareness.
Thanks again to everybody who makes these celebrations possible. Amazing, tireless winemakers, promoters, and wine-lovers.
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!
I’m always out there trying to convince Languedoc Roussillon wine people to blog. But sometimes I feel like my proselytizing is a big waste of time. Because outside of a few very devoted winemakers who are taking up the charge to explore the Internet with me, I see very few results. I hear a lot of excuses. A lot of complaints about time management. I also get a lot of people who sort of stop talking to me and who go out and pay a designer to create a blog for them (something I would have done for free). And then the people in that last group often post once or twice about the weather and then never again.
I just get down in the dumps when I see this lack of enthusiasm.
But there is still hope around every corner!
I recently noticed a change from one of the region’s behemoths. You know how long it takes for big organizations to implement change. So if they’re altering their course, maybe it will inspire the little guys to do it too.
Sud de France used to have one of those embarassing blogs that posted a small bit every six months. And I noticed that they’ve published two posts in August alone. It’s a little early to call it, but I’m guessing that somebody over there is waking up to the huge opportunity they have.
Then again, if you look at the archives, August-October is the only period they actively blogged in 2009 as well. So maybe it’s just an annual flurry of posts (maybe tied into the Festival Sud de France). I hope it’s more than that. Because if they can’t be bothered to highlight all the people talking about their brand, I don’t know how I’ll ever convince poor, resource-starved winemakers to do the job for them.
I also hope that they personalize it a bit more. Put in a photo of whoever is writing the blog. Let that person write it in a personal, human tone. Et cetera.
Jancis just wrote a very cleverly titled article “11 into 33 does go” (you have to subscribe to read the whole thing). This is more than just a simple math question. It’s a reference to French department numbers. 11 is Aude (Languedoc) and 33 is Gironde (Bordeaux). And this article talks about the sad truth that nobody likes to discuss.
While tons of our region’s wine cooperatives flounder and go out of business, there are still some cooperatives and negociants with tankers pumping wine nearly 24/7. It makes you think that there’s a lot of hustle and bustle. But where is the wine going? And at what cost?
Well, a short inspection of the license plates reveals a lot. All the tankers filling up with Languedoc wine have license plates that read 33. Gironde. Bordeaux. It’s nearly impossible to prove what happens once the wine gets into the winery since the French classification system is almost 100% enforced by paper trail alone. But that’s where the wine is going. Or at least, that’s where the trucks came from.
I’m really happy to see a writer of Jancis’ level talking about this issue because it’s a real wine story. Not a lot of that in wine journalism today.
“La qualité des terrains se communique aux végétaux qui y sont placés ; elle forme ce qu’on nomme goût de terroir” [Fourcroy, Conn. chim. t. VIII, p. 276]
Enfin, pourquoi nous cassons nous la tête pour faire du vin représentatif d’un terroir? On peut simplement mettre du terroir dans une bouteille.
J’ai sauté quelques étapes pour sauver du temps et surtout maintenir l’authenticité du terroir. Voilà pour votre plaisir dégustatif, une bouteille remplie de terre argilo-calcaire, récoltée à une température ambiante de 28 degré centigrade, avec une hydrométrie assez sèche.
Toutes ces qualités, qu’on peut attribuer à une topographie intéressante (amphithéâtre en élévation sur les pieds de la Montagne Noire), ressortent merveilleusement de ce vin grâce a un travail de chai qui favorise la non intervention.
On peut aussi envisager une étiquette “Argilo Calcaire 2010, AOC Cabardes”.
Comme toute mes idées ridicules, celle ci peut vous tenter à en acheter pour du vrai ou comme gag pour un ami passionné du vin. Par contre, comme toutes mes idées ridicules, ca coûte assez cher pour l’envoi. Alors 3 euros au chai, mais 13 euros par courrier dans la France.
On peut le faire en bouteilles recyclées, couleur chêne ou ou verte .
I know that you know that I lift wires at this time of year. But you know what else I do? Answer a lot of questions from tourists. It seems like I get at least four or five emails each week about travel plans around Carcassonne and in the Languedoc Roussillon in general.
My emails tend to be very personalized based on what languages you speak, where you’re flying into, whether you have a car or not, etc. It’s fun setting people up with really good trips, but it takes a lot of time. And sometimes, people don’t really need super-personalized advice. If you want a few wine travel ideas around Carcassonne, you might just want to check out Wink Lorch’s Wine Travel Guide – Ideal One-Day Itinerary.
Wink tends to pick places that are equipped to greet you in English. And for these short one or two day trips, the estates often have restaurants or rooms to stay in so you don’t need to spend half of your wine holiday in a car looking for a poorly marked country road.
The One-Day and Two-Day trips around Carcassonne have really good ideas. Like a short run down to Limoux where you can visit small indie estates and then go to Gayda for a nice meal and a place to stay. That trip’s especially nice if you have a spouse or travel partner that only drinks white wine. Or you could do a quick jump north and visit Pennautier who also have a restaurant, rooms, etc. I would naturally add that while you’re already in Pennautier, you should hop over to O’Vineyards . . . OF COURSE. 🙂 I’m just a few kilometers away and I’d really love to see you.
Also, if you’re planning your trip on a Sunday, good luck. You’re best off emailing me. ryan@ovineyards.com
Anyway, I like Wink’s guide and appreciate the work of her head Languedoc researcher Richard James.
And I’m going to steal this idea of an ideal one-day itinerary if you’re looking to spend a day around Carcassonne or if you are flying in with RyanAir and have a day to spare before driving to your next destination.
Ideal One-Day Itinerary
MORNING
Leave Carcassonne, going northwest on the N113 that sort of follows the Canal du Midi. Check out O’Vineyards in Villemoustaussou. 33 (0)6 30 18 99 10
Winery visits include young wine tasting from tanks as well as barrel tastings. Call ahead and we can do a table d’hote where you eat with the winemaker and family. It’s a lot of fun.
AFTERNOON
Then you have two options. You either lounge around the vineyard all day drinking delicious wine and soaking in the countryside vistas, or you can get back in the car and head to another destination.
Possible destinations include:
- Chateau Pennautier – Big, fancy winemakers in Pennautier
- Chateau Brau – Organic winemakers in Villemoustaussou (call ahead)
- La Cité de Carcassonne – visit ramparts, have a coffee, just chill out. Whatever you choose to do, you’re doing it in a medieval castle!! How cool is that?
“It’s like a kid in a candy shop when it comes to Languedoc-Roussillon – so much to choose from!”
Cork’d, an offbeat social network devoted to sharing stories about wine, has just published a nice interview with yours truly.
So they shared the O’Vineyards story with their 35,000+ mailing list. That’s cool.
But more importantly, they’ve been sharing EVERYBODY in the Languedoc-Roussillon’s stories!
I just want to say that I am super excited to see another website putting so much time into the Languedoc and Roussillon. Remember, we’re one of the biggest wine producing region in the world, and we get relatively little ink in the USA publications. So thanks, Cork”d.
This was probably published around ViniSud, but it only just popped onto my radar! Sud de France Export keeps a database of all the products that use the Sud de France brand and participate in its events, and they added some very flattering editorial to our entry.
“Ils sont fiers d’être considérés parmi les meilleurs artisans du vin du Languedoc. Leur programme bilingue languedocjetaime.com met en valeur notre belle région.”
–Sud de France Export
So needless to say, I’m flattered and honored. It’s nice to know that one of the biggest powerhouses in promoting the Languedoc-Roussillon thinks that little old Ryan is doing a good job with Languedoc, je t’aime. It’s like the crazy parallel universe where David and Goliath are buddies and work together for the good of the kingdom. ;-D
And they acknowledge that we’re amidst the best artisanal winemakers in the Languedoc! Thanks!
A little last minute, but I decided to have a party on Monday in the middle of the day. I’m not expecting hundreds of people, but if you can tear yourself away from work (or your relaxing vacation), come to O’Vineyards and join me for Sud de France’s SYNCHRONIZED GLOBAL TASTING in commemoration of their 4th birthday.
They sent kits of wine to 50 different people around the world. And they’ll be running tastings with all sorts of journalists and wine lovers at the Maisons du Languedoc in New York City, Shanghai, London, Milan, etc. And we’ll all be tweeting and blogging and video conferencing and all sorts of nonsense. So tune in on June 21st. Wine is going to be tasted.
And when we run out of the preselected wines Sud de France sent me, we will drink other wines from the Sud de France.
If you cannot come, please do your best to go out and find a bottle from the Languedoc Roussillon and open it on June 21st! With good friends, if they’re around!
The tasting starts at 11 AM but you can come before or after. If you know my mom, you realize that there will be food.
Here is an events page for the tasting (but it is not an events page for my party. It is the GLOBAL events page).
All tweets should use #WorldTastingSync and/or #SudDeFrance
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).
J’ai sauté quelques étapes pour sauver du temps et surtout maintenir l’authenticité du terroir. Voilà pour votre plaisir dégustatif, une bouteille remplie de terre argilo-calcaire, récoltée à une température ambiante de 28 degré centigrade, avec une hydrométrie assez sèche.
They sent kits of wine to 50 different people around the world. And they’ll be running tastings with all sorts of journalists and wine lovers at the Maisons du Languedoc in New York City, Shanghai, London, Milan, etc. And we’ll all be tweeting and blogging and video conferencing and all sorts of nonsense. So tune in on June 21st. Wine is going to be tasted.