Julie Taylor wanted to give her partner Rob Houghton a Birthday Treat at O’Vineyards!

And little did she know, we would all get to go out and play…after dinner!

Gauthier Hille, the young caterer was inducted into the Prosper Montagné Gastronomic Club that evening… and we were all invited to the festivities. Julie and Rob had fun!

–This is part of an ongoing series about the European Wine Bloggers’ Conference—

I don’t know why I spent so much time talking about wine, keynote speakers and workshops.  What we all want to see is evidence of wildly debaucherous EWBC parties (drinking wine in moderation all the while) and video montages of Michael Cox getting his boogey on.

Well, without further ado:

And some photo albums from the attendees of the EWBC conference:

• Vinology
• VinoCamp Frenchies
• Viini TV
• Wine Trekker TV and part 2
• Julia Sevenich

Feel free to add your photo albums in the comments or by mailing them to me.

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!

I’m throwing a Flickr party on December 19th at my vineyard. There will be free wine, good company and lots of photo opportunities. Please consider attending! Almost all the invitations are going out through Flickr so it’s a big group of strangers with a common interest in documenting the Languedoc with their photography.

On a lot of the flyers, it says there’s a 5€ entry fee but that entry fee is waived for anybody who sets up a free Flickr account or already has one.

You are welcome to the vineyard all day and you’ll have the opportunity to visit the winery and enjoy the peaceful vineyard atmosphere before the party gets started. The main festivities will be from 16:00 – 21:00, with small trips to la Cité de Carcassonne scheduled throughout the day for people who want to visit the castle.

I’m already getting positive RSVPs from as far away as Barcelona. If you live in the area, and want to have some camera fun, flash mob at Domaine O’Vineyards.

Domaine O’Vineyards
885 Avenue de la Montagne Noire
11620 Villemoustaussou
Saturday December 19th
16:00h – 21:00h

Ryan O’Connell
Tel 33 630189910 / 33 963063172