Love That Catalunya - Wine is not a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos

I’m very excited about my upcoming trip to Catalunya and the Alimentaria conference in Barcelona.  The Catalan govnernment and Catavino have teamed up to organize a really exciting trip around an already exciting conference.

And a few people are casting a curious eye at Love That Languedoc because my readers are very perceptive and they realize that Catalunya is distinctly not in the Languedoc Roussillon.  But the Roussillon and Catalunya share a lot in common.  For example, certain communities in the Roussillon consider me to be more of a gabatch (outsider) than their neighbors to the south.

And I want to take a moment to remind everybody that wine’s not a zero sum game.  I love that Languedoc.  But there’s a little secret: I love other places too sometimes.

And when we have the opportunity to travel to new places and experience new things, we also have an opportunity to exchange cultures.  And I am all about that.  A little mixing and matching to make something altogether new.  And I can try some new wines while I’m down there.   And you better believe I’m bringing some of my wine for others to taste.  And by the end of the week, we’ll all be fans of things we didn’t know much about before.

photo by CarbonNYC via Flickr

It’s important not to think of wine marketing as a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos.  Where there are only 20 marbles on the playing field and getting one more marble is the same as taking it out of your starving starving opponent’s mouth.  There are tons of people who have little to no knowledge of our regions and blogging or otherwise communicating about our cultural exchange can pique a stranger’s interest!  Somebody who loves Catalan wines and knows nothing about Languedoc might discover me next week.  Or the reverse!?

In case you’re curious, I prefer to think of life as a game of Crossfire.  Every shot you take at your “opponent” only gives them more ammunition to shoot right back at you.  It is only when we realize that the game is not nearly as cool as the commercial and that we abandon the notion of competition entirely that we have truly won.  Or if you shoot the little pucks into your opponent’s tray.  One of those two things is the win scenario.

How to find us

Domaine O’Vineyards, located in the North Arrondissement of Carcassonne, is just minutes from the Carcassonne train station, the Medieval City, and the Carcassonne Airport.
GPS coordinates: 43.259622, 2.340387

O’Vineyards
Wine, Dine, Relax at our Boutique Vineyard
Unique thing to do in Carcassonne
Wine Cellar. Winery Visits. Wine Tasting.
Wine & Food Pairing

North Arrondissement of Carcassonne
885 Avenue de la Montagne Noire
11620 Villemoustaussou, France
Tel: +33(0) 630 189 910

  1. Best by GPS.
    Follow the signs to Mazamet/ Villemoustaussou using the D118. At the end of the last straight part of D118, you will come to a roundabout with the Dyneff gas station.
  2. Take the exit towards Pennautier. Continue 500m to a small roundabout and go straight over.
  3. Look out for the second road on your right, Avenue des Cévennes which curves up hill (about 1km) to Avenue de la Montagne Noire on the left.
  4. At the last juction, bear left. the road sign “Ave de la Montagne Noire” (confusing as it seems to show a right turn)
  5. After another 500m you will see our red brick color building in the middle of the vines.
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