Live Party Cam

The live party cam is now turned off, but you can view the recording of it for posterity. I hope we didn’t say too many naughty things about Bordeaux Cabs. ;D

Part 1: Starts slow as we wind up to Cab Day with friends and family. We actually talk about a lot of stuff that has nothing to do with Cabernet. Such is life!

Part 2:

There’s actually a big dead spot in the middle when we ALL go down to visit the winery and taste my 2009 Cabernet brut de cuve. Oh well. The pitfalls of drinking and streaming.

We had a good turnout of winemakers, wine educators, wine journalists and all-around wine lovers. I met a man who remembered the people who owned my vineyard before the War of 39!!! How awesome is that?

Tonight was a huge opportunity for the Languedoc to show that we are capable of some epic Cabernets. I’m so happy that Rick Bakas was receptive to our being the only open-invitation French satellite for Cabernet Day. I also want to give props to Benajmin at the BIVB, Vicky Wine in Paris, and Kenny over in the Loire for throwing some sweet French Cab Day shindigs.

Languedoc Cabernet

I think that I make wine in a very unique region, the Atlantic Corridor of the Languedoc Roussillon where we can make some pretty stellar Cabernet and Merlot. Like Bordeaux or Napa but with EVEN MORE sunshine. Cabernet Day is a great opportunity to show that off.

Another great thing about this day is that it allows us to invite wine lovers into our every day lives.  I literally just emailed a bunch of people about an open house at the vineyard.  It was an effortless wine tasting.  People brought wines they were proud of.  Other people just came to discover some good Cabs.  But we all got to join together and drink some good wine.  It’s a far cry from the sort of wine foires we’re used to where you have to stand behind a table for ten hours and mindlessly pour for people.  Instead, we get to just enjoy some good wine in good company and hope that some of you enjoy tuning in.

The Internet allows for some wild new ways to communicate on wine and a region as diverse and varied as the Languedoc has everything to gain.

Alright, I’m gonna sign off because I’m rambling.

Tasting notes:

Figure Libre – Domaine Gayda, dark and brooding in the group.  Mostly Cab Franc and I think it shows that off.  Is cab franc cheating?  I think it’s fair game.   Sniffing the empty bottle: I get some real ripe pruney smells.  I miss the time that this bottle was full.

Cabernet Sauvignon Prestige 1999 – Domaine de Combelle, A real delight. Surprisingly bright for a wine that’s been cellared so long.  One of Benjamin Darnault’s old projects.  Made to last. Sniffing the empty bottle: smells a bit older with some sousbois and forest floor beside that wonderful dark fruit.

Juliet – Chateau Le Bouis, Juliet goes with Romeo and they come in an adorable cigar box packaging and the bottle label kind of looks like a cigar wrapper.  Juliet is Cabernet Sauvignon and a beauty.  I tweeted to the effect that she is not a shy Claire Daines Juliet.  She is a bold, daring Juliet.  A far cry from the child usually portrayed in the play but capturing some of the whimsy of that legendary star crossed lover.  Sniffing the empty bottle: Much more delicate nose on the empty bottle.

Trah Lah Lah – O’Vineyards You know the policy. I don’t talk about my own wines here.

Proprietor’s Reserve – O’Vineyards

Proprietor’s Cab – O’Vineyards

O’Cabernet 2009 – O’Vineyards

LB – Domaine Baillat, I really like this big bold Cab that’s on dark fruit and berry and really shows some of the freshness that the region can show off.  Sniffing the empty bottle: I get more liquorice on the nose and almost a candied quality.

A – Auzias, I didn’t get to taste this one but it got opened and I love the label. Can’t find the empty either. I’ll get a second chance at this later!  Sorry for being a dope on the first go around.  I promise to taste it soon.

Good wines all around.  Thanks everybody for participating.

You see, the way cooperatives historically value grapes encourages grape growers toward bulk production.  The viticulteur is paid by the kilo or per hectolitre.  There are certain quality benchmarks, and growers can often sign up for a more demanding “cahier de charge” so that they will be paid MORE by the kilo or hectoliter.  But the goal is still to hit certain quantitative benchmarks because you’re being paid for volume.  A lot of the best parcels are actually devalued by this system because they produce less fruit.  Quality often plays second fiddle to quantity.

But out of this tragedy comes great hope.  Benjamin Darnault looks for the parcels that are undervalued by the co-op.  He says that these parcels create a quality of grape that would be much more valuable if separated and vinified as a small-production wine.  Cooperatives are good at volume, but (save for a few exceptions) they don’t necessarily know what to do with their best parcels.  These parcels can make several thousands of bottles of great wine if kept separate, but some Co-ops can’t even fill the pipes with that small an amount.

So Ben creates value by keeping these wines separate.  And he’s been successful, finding a large amount of support from the community at Naked Wines who actually financed this first release (a story worth an entire post). It’s all very interesting and I hope you enjoy the video.

I don’t want to pretend that this is revolutionary. Co-ops very commonly try to do an “haut de gamme”. A lot of growers try to make a bit of wine on their own while selling the bulk of their production to the cooperatif. But at the same time, something feels very unique about this story. Maybe it’s the way Ben is interacting with his UK importer Naked. The wine is sold all the way to final customers before he’s ever bottled it. That’s impressive! It gives you a lot of hope for some of the wine communities around here that are having trouble making ends meet. Maybe they can all adopt this sort of model one day.

Here’s the video introduction on Naked’s site:

Wines:
Benjamin Darnault 2009, Benjamin Darnault, AOC Minervois
Benjamin Darnault Vielle Reserve 2008, Benjamin Darnault, AOC Minervois la Liviniere

Episodes referenced:
John Hegarty’s MW Symposium Keynote – Referring to wine buyers as an audience.

Watching this, you can understand how the Cabardès earned a spot in the Grands Vins du Languedoc.  Although I don’t know if the climate here is quite as lush as the Pennautier lawn makes us out to be, provoking Lar to compare our soil to the green glens of Ireland.   But either way, the sentiment is good and you can tell that the terroir has really inspired him on his visit.

Here’s the video of Hegarty’s enlightening presentation in which he shares a lot of great views on the forces that shape modern economics and the wine world specifically.  He’s also got a very catchy bit of advice: lose the mystery, keep the magic.  If you have an hour, watch the video because it’s quality.

Otherwise, it’s tough to summarize.  I can just pick out a few of my favorite points:

• Consider your customers like an audience that wants to be entertained
• Don’t make labeling and marketing decisions out of some misplaced sense of tradition/mystery
• Do things for your audience’s sake and they will appreciate that devotion
• Wine should not only be marketed as a companion to food

But re-reading this list, I feel that it really cheapens the wealth of information in the speech.  Hegarty manages to deliver succinct and entertaining explanations of complicated changes in marketing, globalization, technology, and more… and you should really just watch the video.

MW Symposium – 26 June 2010 – Session 3 – The wine business viewed from outside from Masters of Wine on Vimeo.

This “viewed from outside”-perspective will be further investigated when I visit Domaine Hegarty Chamans later this year.  And my UK readers will be able to catch John’s wines (and I think he’ll be there too) at the Languedoc Outsider Tasting this November.

And because I’m an advertisement-nerd, here is my favorite commercial that I didn’t realize was done by Hegarty’s firm until earlier today. Yes that’s the guy from Train Spotting (Robert Carlyle).  I think what’s impressive is that I don’t really love the story of Johnny Walker.  I think it’s sort of a story about globalization and industrialization of drink… but the ad is so powerful that I enjoy the journey anyway.  And I think of Robert Carlyle throwing things off camera whenever I see Johnny Walker in a store.

This one too for Axe, which is …uh… different in mood.

Also, adding the blog to EmpireAvenue. EAVB_HYXGMMJZQB

Donc on va trouver sur ce salon, des vins d’appellation, tout comme des vins de pays de zone. On trouvera facilement du Cabernet Sauvignon, rendu fameux par certaines grandes cuvées comme Daumas Gassac, Capion, et Grange des Pères (ce dernier n’était pas présent, mais ce n’est pas surprenant). Je crois que plusieurs de ces producteurs présenteront leurs vins le 2 Septembre pour la journée mondiale du Cabernet Sauvignon.

J’ai aussi revu plusieurs vieux amis vignerons: Claude et Isabel Fonquerle qui étaient là pour visiter et déguster,  Virgile Joly qui présentait son premier rosé en collaboration avec un associé …( A-ha! Christopher Johnson Gilbert. Je retrouve son nom sur le blog de Rosemary George).  Et apparemment j’ai raté de quelques minutes Marc Roisin de VinoGusto et Paige de LocalFoodandWine.  Il y avait du monde!

Je ne suis pas seulement allé pour boire du Cabernet et revoir mes vieux amis…  mais aussi pour vous ramener les actualités et découvertes. J’ai rencontré un des producteurs-exposant du salon, Jean-Yves Chaperon, propriétaire exploitant sur Les Chemins de Carabote. Voyons ensemble ce qu’il pense de cette rencontre à Aniane:

Si vous voulez découvrir des vins intéressants autour d’Aniane,  St Saturnin, Jonquieres, les Terrasses du Larzac, et les alentours, je vous conseille de visiter le prochain salon d’Aniane. C’était super.

Liste des participants en 2010.

Je suis passé par Chateau Le Bouïs à Gruissan et j’ai découvert un projet superbement réussi : Un domaine avec une vue sur la Méditerranée, des belles chambres dans une bâtisse classée, un restaurant avec un chef qui s’applique à sa cuisine comme les vignerons s’appliquent sur leur vins. Château Le Bouis, c’est comme un petit village autour du vin, la mer, et la gastronomie.

Je vous présente Chef Tijani, un homme HYPER actif qui n’a jamais arrêté de bouger quand j’étais au domaine. Il n’a jamais utilisé la phrase “slow food”, mais il est bien dans l’école slow qui veut utiliser des ingrédients de la région, issus d’une agriculture ou un élevage artisanal. Il précise le nom de son étang favori pour une variété de crustacés en particulier. C’est un esprit comme cela qu’on veut trouver dans la cuisine.  Avec l’énergie d’un Roberto Benigni, il nous montre que le slow food peut en fait aller très très vite.  Il nous faut ce modèle d’ énergie que celui du Château Le Bouïs pour monter des projets touristiques dans la région!

Je parlerai des vins du domaine (qui sont également bien réussis) un autre jour.  Mais pour l’instant, vous pouvez retrouver la technicienne qui travaille les vins du Château et ses commentaires  sur les vins de la dégustation synchronisée de Sud de France Export.  Et je vous encourage à visiter vous-même cette jolie propriété à Gruissan juste à côté de Narbonne.

So this list is much much longer.  And it’s actually pretty hard to find people. . . so I’m going to publish it in multiple parts.  Here is the first part.

I included wineries, vineyards, negociants, grape growers, etc.  Anybody who presents themselves as a producer and could presumably prove it with tax receipts or something.

Please feel free (Obliged even) to email me to add more to this list or leave a comment at the bottom of this page with a link to the facebook page you’d like to add.  And while you’re doing me favors, somebody needs to tell Georges Frêche that he can’t abandon his facebook page just because he was re-elected.  Obama is still emailing me like DAILY.

;D

Wineries and Vineyards with Facebook pages:

• La Peira –
• Chateau d’Anglès –
• Treloar -
• Hegarty Chamans -
• Domaine des Deux Ruisseaux -
• O’Vineyards – me
• Mas de l’Ecriture -
• Domaine Lisson
• Chateau des Estanilles -
• Domaine Revelh -
• Domaine de Lavagnac -
• Domaine Les Yeuses -
• Domaine de la Reynardiere -
• Domaine de Bannières -
• Domaine de Cambis -
• Domaine Padié Jouquet -
• Clos Pacalis -
• Chateau Prieure Borde Rouge -
• Domaine Pech-Tort -
• Domaine Les Mille Vignes -
• Domaine Jolly Ferriol -
• Domaine de la Dourbie -
• Domaine de Lavagnac -
• Chateau Haut Lignieres -
• Arrogant Frog Wines (Paul Mas) -
• Skalli Family Wines -
• Mas des Tourelles – borderline rhone.
• Vella Frontera

Wine producers who have profiles or groups but no pages:

• J’adore les vins de Jean Baptiste Sénat -
• Domaine Virgile Joly Saint Saturnin de Lucian 34 -
• Mas de Daumas Gassac
• Domaine Guizard -
• Domaine Henry -
• Karantes -
• Mas de Madame -
• Domaine Jones -

The region is pretty well-represented on Twitter, but it could be a lot better. I’m working on that by training winemakers to start increasing their web presence, but not all of them are ready to maintain an active Twitter account.

Interestingly, I noticed a lot more twitter accounts being held by a group of winemakers, an organization that represents them or a marketing representative that tweets for them. They are listed separately when I am capable of telling them apart.

This list also shows a lot winemakers with virtually no followers. Take the time to check them out and maybe a few will be to your liking. Or you can follow the entire list of Languedoc-Roussillon Winemaking Tweeters.

• Domaine O’Vineyards - that’s me
• Domaine Lisson
• La Peira
• Domaine Treloar
• Domaine Jones
• Domaine Revelh
• Rives Blanques
• Domaine Gayda
• Cres Ricards – inactive, but I think they just got bought by Paul Mas. Watch this space.
• Philippe Cambie – an excellent winemaker who works with several Languedoc producers, I put him on this list despite the fact that his bread and butter is Chateauneuf du Pape
• Clos Pacalis
• Domaine du Cers – Only a few tweets.
• Vella Frontera

Group Accounts

• Cevennes Wines – not strictly Languedoc, but they have a lot of vines in the Gard
• Vins Roussillon
• Boutenac Corbieres
• Vignerons du Pic (de Saint Loup)

Marketing Representative Accounts

• Virgile Joly
• Louise Hurren – Even though Louise doesn’t pretend to be a winemaker, she tweets on their behalf a vast majority of the time
• Skalli Wines – Not only south of France but Skalli was a big influence in the Languedoc
• ??? I have no idea who this is, but they are appear to be representing a winery near Limoux

If you know any other Languedoc Roussillon Domaines on Twitter, feel free to correct this list by emailing me or by commenting below.   I know a lot of folks but I don’t know everybody!  And sometimes I’m just forgetful.

People often ask me if there are any other winemakers in our region “who get it”. Are there winemakers who are on the web interacting with their consumers and even interacting with people who might not be able to buy their wine.

Well I’ve got good news. The Languedoc-Roussillon might actually be the avant garde of the online wine world.

We’ve got a large number of winemakers with active online presences, blogs, twitters, etc. This can probably be attributed to two different traits of the Languedoc-Roussillon. First of all, there are a ton of winemakers. The last number I saw in the ViniSud press release was 6,000+ wineries. And then tens of thousands of grape growers. Secondly, we have a lot of newly installed winemakers and passion projects (like mine). And I think a lot of these passion projects are founded by “outsider” winemakers who come from another milieu, one where it is almost intuitive that you have to blog or tweet or do anything else you can to market your brand online.  (It’s probably no coincidence that a lot of these bloggers will be at the Outsider Tasting in London this November.)

Without further ado, let’s get into the nitty gritty. A list of winemaker blogs, vineyard blogs, producer blogs, etc. in the Languedoc-Roussillon. These are very loosely ranked based on my totally subjective notion of who is the most active, has the most original content, etc.

Name, Location – Type and Language – Description

Clos des Fées, Roussillon – Winemaker blog in French – Hervé Bizeul is a great writer. He’s got a poetic quality, but it never gets hard to read. He’s totally unpretentious in his writing style. And he’s 100% honest. A lot of winemakers hide the mishaps or odd situations that are part of every day life. Bizeul is not compelled to do that. Hail destroyed part of his crop? Expect pictures of burned and damaged grapes. Somebody said something mean? Don’t expect him to hide it.

Domaine Lisson, Olargues – Winemaker blogs in French, English and Deutsch – I think this is one of the oldest winemaker blogs around, with consistent posts dating back to mid-2005.  I know that doesn’t seem like a long time, but if you put it in Internet terms, she’s been blogging since before you knew about YouTube.  And like any blogger who lasts that long, Lisson understands that it’s fun to talk about other people. She regularly shares her discoveries of other marvels in the Languedoc and surrounding regions.

O’Vineyards, Carcassonne – Winemaker blog in English- Haha, you hopefully know about this one already. It’s my winemaker blog.

Mas de l’Ecriture, Terrasses du Larzac – Winemaker blog in French – Pascal Fulla keeps us up to date on his very active winemaker blog which has a lot of fun promotional bits alongside a lot of multimedia, including some truly gorgeous vineyard photography. I love how much photo, video, and audio he uses (despite the winery’s name? ).

Domaine Jones, Fitou – Winemaker blog in English – Katie Jones is a recently installed vigneronne who blogs extensively and regularly. I haven’t met Katie yet but her videos definitely give me the impression that she is heavily involved in the winemaking process. Lots of regular updates. I like how casual this blog is about the technical stuff that happens on a vineyard. It’s like everything is new to her and she is unshy about sharing that novelty and freshness with her readers.

La Peira, Terrasses du Larzac – Winery blog in English – Rob Dougan is all over the web. He’s another example of a passion project from another milieu and it’s just obvious to him that he should be online. A lot of his posts are clever ways of reminding you of all the good press his wines get. But he also gives a great deal of insight into those reviews and what he sees as a propos in the region.

Chateau de Gourgazaud, Minervois la Livinière – Winemaker blog in French – I only found this one more recently but it seems like a well-run vineyard update blog.

Domaine Revelh, Roussillon – Winemaker blog in French – Recently installed biodynamic microvineyard in the Roussillon. Lots of promise in the blog side of things. They make such a small quantity of wine, I feel like it’s admirable that they spend so much time talking about it online.

Domaine Treloar, Trouillas Roussillon – Winemaker blog in English – Really cool winemaking couple in Trouillas. Very down to earth people with heavenly wines. I wish the blog was an actual blog and not just a frequently updated news page, but I love that they are online and communicating. And I actually follow the facebook account way more. I should probably devote a whole other post to Languedoc Domaines with good Facebook pages.

Carignans.com, St Jean de Minervois – varietal news in English – Okay, this isn’t really a blog (a chronologically displayed web log). But it’s so in the spirit of one that it’s worth mentioning. John Bojanowski of Clos du Gravillas got really fed up with how journalists were hating on his favorite varietal, Carignan. So he started a website and united lots of producers who like Carignan. Now, there’s a safe community where growers can come out of the Carignan closet and admit to the world and to themselves that it is a great grape when grown right. Contact him if you make a pure Carignan that’s up to snuff.

Vigneron Blog – Winemaker blog in French – I actually have no idea who this guy is or where he makes wine. His ambitiously titled Vigneron Blog does assert that he is a winemaker (and I think he’s in the Roussillon).  And he seems to be one of the most active winemaker bloggers in the region.  But I’m still looking for information about this mysterious blogger. Let me know if you run into him.

Vella Frontera, Maury – Corin and Jayne Fairchild blog about their recent(?) vineyard purchase in the Roussillon.

Clot de l’Oum, Belesta – Vineyard blog in French – Lots of very dramatic photos. A lot of them vine-related.

Domaine de Borde Rouge, Lagrasse – Winery blog in French and sometimes English – I have no idea how this stayed off my radar for so long. It’s a nice blog that ocassionally lets you see the vines or winemaking.  Most of it is devoted to talking about reviews received or trips abroad to Prowein, Hong Kong, and so on.

Clos Pacalis, Boutenac – Vineyard blog in French – I tragically seem to have caught this one too late as it is on an indefinite hiatus.   Hope they come back soon.  Good lookin’ Blogger blog.

Chateau Pech-Céleyran, Saint Exupery – Vineyard blog in French – A collection of updates on sales, art openings, weddings, etc.  The aesthetics of the blog are a bit underworked, but that gives it a sort of authenticity. The pictures are honest, the comments brief.  And every now and then you get a pearl like this photo of a baby drinking wine, and you know it isn’t staged.

Les échalas de Langlade, Langlade – Borderline in the Gard which is technically Languedoc but makes a lot of wines with Rhone on the label.  This blog’s occasional updates include vineyard updates, local events, and other assorted stuff.  The most interesting this is that it’s a joint effort between three independent winemakers in the same commune (Langlade).  Intriguing!

Domaine Belles Courbes, St Chinian – Winery blog in French – Monthly updates on press and local events.

Domaine Virgile Joly, St Saturnin – Winery blog in French – Some photos and videos. Infrequent updates, but from a very charismatic producer with a lot of information to share.

Couvent Wine, Roujan – Winery blog in English – The Couvent Roujan, a successful B&B attached to a vineyard and olive plantation has recently started a full fledged winemaking blog attached to their wine production which has recently become a little more official. Until recently, they’d done some casual wine blogging at chateaumalaudos.com but I think they’re really buckled in for the long haul now. This blog might be moving up the list very quickly, so keep an eye on it.

Clos des Augustins, Pic Saint Loup – Winemaker blog in French – Occasional updates on press and the weather.

Some other Languedoc-Roussillon Domaines with blogs or occasional updates:

• Domaine Guizard
• Le Clos du Serres
• Monte Lauro Vineyards
• Clos Romain – olives and vines, wish they would fix the front page navigation.
• Domaine du Camp del Roc
• Vignerons de Maury
• Bondillon de Gressac
• Combe de la Belle

Please let me know if you run a winery blog, vineyard blog, winemaker blog, or similar site in the Languedoc Roussillon. I’m also compiling lists of top-notch

• regional blogs
• Languedoc-Roussillon facebook pages
• Languedoc-Roussillon twitter accounts

Feel free to email suggestions. Self-promotion encouraged. If I left you out, don’t feel bad. My memory is swiss cheese (full of holes). Just nudge me with a reminder via email.

The list of inactive blogs continues “below the fold”.

Inactive blogs… for now… :

• Domaine de Cazaban
• Domaine de Sigalière
• Canet Valette
• Domaine de la Perdrix
• Singla
• Château La Liquière
• Cres Ricards
• La Grange
• Mas Val Grieux
• Chateau Rayssac

These inactive blogs are a reminder to us all that it is not enough to blog today. We must blog in perpetuity!  And also, it’s never too late to pick the blog back up.

We can also learn that if you post a silly picture on your blog and then abandon your website, it will live forever and a future blogger will try to immortalize that photo. Perhaps to the detriment of the photo’s subject.

Also, we learn that I’m hiring the wrong harvesters.