Like all the great music and art festivals, Vinisud draws a lot of talent to the area where it’s held (Montpellier). So every day, after the fair ends, the party is just beginning for other people.
The French refer to afterhours parties and tastings as “OFF’ events. This is a run down of all the OFF events I’ve heard about so far. Feel free to add your own in the comments section or email me if I’m missing some.
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Events that require a reservation or paid entry are marked as such. Note that virtually all of these events are meant for wine buffs. Especially the ones that are invitation only. You should probably only attend if you’re in the trade or press, or if you can demonstrate a pretty professional enthusiasm for wine. The dinner events are probably more open to amateur visitors. Don’t get mad at me! You know I don’t make the rules. 🙂
Sunday OFF Events
Le Vin de Mes Amis – 14h-19h – Domaine de Verchant 34170 Castelnau le Lez
RSVP to charlotte.senat@gmail.com
Cost 10€
Vin de Mes Amis blog
PDF of invitation vdm 2012 pdf
A huge list of very good wines. A lot of the usual suspects from Changer l’Aude en Vin, but tons more to boot. See page 2 of the Vin de Mes Amis PDF for details. I heard that this might be at Trinque Fougasse O’Nord but the invitation says Domaine de Verchant. Look into it if you’re interested!
Haut les Vins! – 10h-20h – Chateau de Flaugergues (in Montpellier)
official website
list of participants
A large group of winemakers from all around France, and a couple from Portugal, Spain and even Serbia. This gang will be doing their tasting at a Domaine that is actually located within Montpellier’s city limits. My buddy Benoit will be pouring his zero dosage Champagne and lots of other good winemakers are in attendance. It’s open all Sunday so if you get to Montpellier early, this is a great way to ease into ViniSud. But don’t party too hard as you have three days of salon ahead of you!
ViniFilles – 18h30 – Jam 100 rue Ferdinand de Lesseps 34000Montpellier
invitation required
contact presse@vinifilles.fr
This group of Languedoc Roussillon winemaking women are having a rock show and tasting at the Jam. There’s a buffet and ample wine. The bands playing are Les Gazelles de Bruxelles and La Mal Coiffée. But there is a guestlist so you have to contact them if you want to get in.
Chateauneuf du Pape, Tavel & Rasteau – 19h – Chateau de la Banquiere Vauguieres le Haut 34130 Maugio
dinner & music
invitation only
contact: soiree.crus@hotmail.fr
The AOCs Chateauneuf du Pape, Tavel & Rasteau are organizing a nice dinner with music and winemakers from the three appellations presenting their wines around a buffet dinner.
Monday OFF Events
G-Night, Occupy Grenache – 19h-2h – location not yet announced (underground ;D)
PDF of invitation G-Night Invite Vinisud 2012
Facebook event page
A night devoted to Grenache. Run by the same people who organized the Grenache Symposium at La Verriere. Should be fun. The location is still a surprise so I expect they’ve got something fun in store to reveal it closer to the date.
Le Vin de Mes Amis – 10h-19h – Domaine de Verchant 34170 Castelnau le Lez
RSVP to charlotte.senat@gmail.com
Cost 10€
Vin de Mes Amis blog
PDF of invitation vdm 2012 pdf
Les amis this time around are Jean Yves Bordier with butter and cheeses from Saint-Malo, Irene et Julienne Daniaux with glass art, and Antony Cointre a roving chef. And a huge list of very good wines. A lot of the usual suspects from Changer l’Aude en Vin, but tons more to boot. See page 2 of the Vin de Mes Amis PDF for details.
Haut les Vins! – 10h-18h – Chateau de Flaugergues, Montpellier
official website
list of participants
If you’re not in town on Sunday, they’re doing it all over on Monday.
Contains Sulfites…Mais Pas Trop! – 18h – Le Ban des Gourmands, Place Carnot, Montpellier
Official blog
RSVP required on the official blog
This hilariously named group of reasoned winemakers are doing an event on Monday night at a restaurant. It might be a sit down dinner… the invitation just bills it as an Intergalactic journey. 😀 Reservations should be made before the 10th so hurry up!
Mas de l’Ecriture – 18h-20h30 – Chez Boris (brasserie)
invitation only, for wine trade and press
contact: louisehurren@wanadoo.fr
A 12 year vertical of Mas de l’Ecriture. Pretty stunning opportunity, but very limited space in the venue.
Tuesday OFF Events
Mardi Gras des Gaillardises – 11h-20h – Aeroport Hotel Maugio/Montpellier
blog post about the event
facebook page
25 winemakers will present their wines at the Aeroport Hotel which is easy to get to by using the regular airport shuttles from the Parc des Expositions. There are some really top notch producers from all over France. And of particular interest to my blog readers, there are a couple of Internet superstars including my mom from O’Vineyards, Iris Rutz-Rudel from Domaine Lisson, Isabelle Perraud from Cotes de la Moliere, Amy Lillard from La Gramiere, and Lilian Bauchet from Les Bachelards. So if you’ve been reading our blogs and wondering if the wine is as good as the words, here is your chance. Full list of vignerons available in the link above; you’ll see there are some heavy hitters.
Mas de l’Ecriture – 18h-20h30 – Chez Boris (bistrot)
invitation only, for wine trade and press
contact: louisehurren@wanadoo.fr
A 12 year vertical of Mas de l’Ecriture. Note the venue changes from the similarly named Chez Boris Brasserie to Chez Boris Bistrot. But still limited space.
So OFF that they’re ON
There are a few events that are structured like OFFs or have the spirit of an OFF, but they’re actually going to take place within the walls of ViniSud.
The Outsiders will be teaching you new ways to communicate about wines.
on Monday afternoon at 16h @ the Pavilion 2.0
and
on Tuesday morning at 10h @ the Pavilion 2.0
The 2012 edition of Vinisud includes a space devoted to the web called Pavilion 2.0
I’ll be spending a lot of time there. Additionally, I’ll be doing a presentation with some of my buddies from the Outsiders
on Monday afternoon at 16h
and
on Tuesday morning at 10h.
Each presentation will consist of a 10 minute talk about new opportunities in wine communication afforded by the Internet, followed by a tasting workshop where we’ll encourage people to talk about our wine with images instead of words.
Facebook event page
Invitation to the event
It should be a lot of fun. It’s a focused, high-energy event. Each producer is bringing just one wine to be tasted so it’s a small sampler platter of the Outsiders that will hopefully inspire you to visit the stand of your favorite producers. And we might revolutionize the way you think about wine writing while we’re at it. 🙂
I’m a member of a group of winemakers known as The Outsiders, our forces marshaled by Louise Hurren. And in anticipation for our London tasting on November 10th, this article is an exploration of what being an outsider even means.
What the heck is an outsider?
There are people in this world who just always end up in weird situations. Outsiders will regularly surprise you. Not with contrived novelty. Not by jumping from behind a corner and shouting “Boo!” But by being genuinely and irrepressibly strange.
Am I an outsider?
Being a winemaker at a highly technical web conference gave me several glimpses of that priceless moment of surprise. Somebody says, “I’m a front end UX designer.” Somebody else says, “I’m a coder working on the W3C”. I say, “I’m a winemaker.” [small double take] In that moment, the true definition of outsider emerges. Somebody who is so unusual in the milieu, that they can contribute real insight. It might not always be great insight, but it’ll be original.
But if being a winemaker makes me an outsider to the tech world, doesn’t that mean I’m an insider in the wine world. Well, honestly, if you know anything about me, you know that’s not true. I’m a first generation winemaker with no training, certifications, or degrees. I was born and raised in a part of the US where award winning wine production is dominated by fermented fruit concentrate with flavors added (no joke, definitely a link worth clicking). I just love wine and I’m pretty good at making it.
People ask why
People also ask how. But all these questions are very hard to answer. I don’t have a rule book or manifesto that guides my decision making. I guess that’s also part of being a natural-born outsider. Who knows why we do the crazy things we do? But when you look at our amazing lives, our beautiful countrysides, our delicious wines, et cetera. . . don’t your questions fade away?
Sharing the Outsider Experience
I hope the Outsiders Tasting in London this November 10th will give a lot of people a glimpse of true weirdness. Not that the wines will be over the top, heavy-handed efforts to surprise you. They’ll just be effortlessly surprising. Because we’re all genuinely strange people. And we can’t help but make interesting wines.
Who exactly are the Outsiders?
At the London tasting, we will be many. In no particular order:
OUTSIDERS TASTING – Documentation for the wines and bios for the winemakers attending the Outsiders Tasting. The bios in this pack explains the outside angle for each of the winemakers.