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Howard W. Hewitt

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Howard W. Hewitt

Tag Archives: Domaine Joly

Floridians Boost Languedoc Tourism

16 Sunday Jun 2013

Posted by Howard in Food & Travel, France

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Chateau Le Bouis, Domaine Joly, Gerard Bertrand, Joe O'Connell, O'Vineyards, Virgile Joly

MONTPELLIER, France – Visiting French wine country is getting easier by the day but it’s still no Napa. Some French winemakers are starting to talk about tourism but few have embraced it.

Grape Sense LogoIt took an American family, and specifically their young son, to kick start tourism through social media in Southern France’s Languedoc wine region. The Languedoc is the largest wine producing region in the world but has never been a tourism destination.

Joe O'Connell

Joe O’Connell

Joe, Liz, and Ryan O’Connell packed up and moved from Louisiana to a small village just outside Carcassonne in the heart of Southern France. While Joe, a former house builder, worked on building his home and winery, Ryan started blogging, tweeting, and doing videos about Languedoc wine. At the time, no one else was doing it.

So far only a few others have joined in. “It’s fortunate for us, but I’d bet most other wineries are five to ten years away,” Joe O’Connell, O’Vineyards, said. “We go to meetings and try to help them and they look at us and say “pfffff!

“I don’t know how to help them any more.”

O’Connell said it has paid off in a big way. Popular travel sites like TripAdvisor have helped. O’Vineyards is the No. 1 rated attraction on TripAdvisor in the Languedoc-Rousillon region.

“You go to Montpellier and Google winery visits, we’re the first ones to come up,” O’Connell said. “You go to Toulouse and Google winery visits, we’re the first ones to come up.”

Joly, Virgile hi-resAnd despite the continual parade of tour buses to O’Connell’s home and winery, others are still slow to buy in. O’Connell tells other winemakers , “anything is interesting to people who want to drink wine.”

Languedoc wines were long the boxed wines, bulk wines, or plonk – as the French would say. In the last 15-20 years the region has emerged as a leader in producing high-quality value wines.

It doesn’t take a Twitter account and Facebook though to achieve success, but it doesn’t hurt. Virgile Joly has emerged in recent years as the face of the organic wine movement and Languedoc wines. He does a personalized visit for those who find his small village of Saint Saturnin de Lucian. His white Grenache Blanc has received critical raves.

Joly is a man of rare passion who has a growing business, fan base, and interest in luring tourists. He uses social media extensively and adds a personal touch with his charm.

Chateau  Le Bouis and Chateau Carasses near Narbonne get it. The seven Gerard Bertrand properties across the Languedoc  all have elaborate tasting rooms and know how to welcome visitors. Bertrand’s Chateau L’Hospitalet, also near Narbonne, has a restaurant and artisan shops for visitors.

Montpellier makes for a great home base to visit Southern France and its wineries. Wine tourism is still taking root but there are plenty of wineries ready to welcome tourists. The experience is often more personalized at the smaller operations. Visitors are much more likely to talk with the winemaker or a spouse than any stop on the U.S. west coast. Most are charging tasting feels now which range 10-15 Euro but that usually includes some bread and cheese or other light appetizers. Montpellier is far less expensive than many other French cities. And Languedoc wines offer tremendous value.

Howard W. Hewitt, Crawfordsville, IN., writes about value wine every other week for 22 Midwestern newspapers.

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Languedoc’s Virgile Joly Gaining Notice

23 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by Howard in France

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Domaine Joly, Joly Blanc, Terre Vins, Virgile Joly

The first time I met Virgile Joly in France at Montpellier, I thought ‘this guy has something that would sell wine’ in the back of my mind.

I’ve always believed a great story or interesting personalty sells wine and keeps people coming back for more.

iPhone shot I took at Millesime Bio

Joly was the focus of a book, Virgile’s Vineyard, that first brought his name and winery, Domaine Virgile Joly,  to prominence. Virgile’s English is pretty good and he makes great wine. He just recently contracted with Paul Chartrand, Chartrand Imports, Maine, to bring his wines to the U.S.

Joly’s name popped up in my email inbox three times this morning.

First, through a serious of communications, Chartrand  expects to have Joly wines for U.S. distributors by early summer.

Second, Terre de Vins magazine just published its list of the top 20 organic wines from a Languedoc tasting and the top wine was the Virgile – IGP Herault, Domaine Virgile Joly 2005. (100 percent Grenache Blanc)

I really found that interesting because for the story I wrote for Palate Press about organic wine, I called the same wine the best white I tasted at the Millesime Bio. Unfortunately, that section of the story was edited but I did post it to this blog.

Third, I get a number of emails daily about wine news and business. One of those featured this link to Ken Payton’s great Reign of Terroir blog and a feature on Joly.

It’s nice to know others are taking notice!

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com

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Why Organic Wine is a Smart Buy/Pick

19 Monday Mar 2012

Posted by Howard in France, Newspaper Column 2012, Organic

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Domaine Joly, Langeudoc, Millesime Bio, organic wine, Theirry Julien

Telling a kid to eat something because it’s good for them is usually a good way to make sure it never passes their lips.

At the same time, if you suggest trying something that is good for an adult and/or the environment many will assume it must be tasteless or an inferior product.

A January trip to Southern France to the Millesime Bio organic wine trade show proved nothing could be further from the truth. Organic wine is a growing movement stifled by regulation, misunderstanding, and greed.

The story begins in the 1980s when wine labeling laws were enacted in 1987 requiring “sulfites added” be printed on wine labels. The organic wine movement started largely in the early 1980s. The two have been linked ever since. Simply put, there is no relationship.

Sulfites are used in wine to fight bacteria or fungi which can occur in the winery or winemaking process. There are all sorts of old housewife tales and stories about the ills of sulfites in food. But the facts are there are hundreds of packaged foods in your kitchen right now which probably contain sulfites. Wineries have to put a label on the bottle that proclaims sulfites, most products do not.

The profiteering and greed started in the U.S. when some wineries, which had previously worked toward organic standards in the late 1980s and early 90s, realized there was a profit to be made if they insisted organic wine contain no added sulfites. The argument goes that would keep big wineries out of the business.

Wines without added sulfties have a very short shelf life and are often very thin wines. European standards allow mimimum sulfites which makes for better wine that can be aged. By comparison, the U.S. law allows no more than 10 parts per million in sulfites. EU regulations permit 100 ppm. Wines that aren’t organically produce may have up to 350 ppm. So European Union wines must be labeled “made from organic grapes” to be sold in the U.S.

AIVB President Thierry Julien chatting about organic wines

French winemakers claim opponents of changing the U.S. standards are merely protecting market. Most aren’t afraid to name specific wineries and individuals. But they have become frustrated and even dismissive in recent years while suggesting consumers should focus on the benefits of wines made organically. Essentially, the definition of organic wines should be wines that have no chemicals added – no pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides, or other chemicals in the winemaking process.

Such practices are better for the farmer, consumers, and for Mother Earth. The concept enjoys more widespread acceptance in Europe than the U.S.

Theirry Julien, president of Southern France’s organic wine growing association, outlines a progression that happens with organic products.

“You start with baby food then you do bread and pasta,” Julien suggested. “The wine comes toward the end. I’m not at all waging war against other wine growers who produce wine traditionally. The truth is organic wine growers have had trouble supplying organic wine to meet demand.”

He also makes an interesting comparison. European consumers think about what is good for their health while U.S. consumers seem more motivated by what’s good for the environment.

The Millesime Bio featured 587 wineries from 13 different countries. I probably tasted close to 300 wines in a five-day period. I don’t think any average consumer would know they were tasting “organic wines.” While there were a few sub-par bottles, I’d say more than 90 percent of the wines were good to outstanding.

Southern France’s Languedoc-Roussillon region is France’s biggest organic region. The red wines are most often blends of Syrah, Grenache, and Carignan. They are tremendous table wines and great values at prices usually at $10-$20 a bottle.

I wrote a more detailed story for Palate Press – The National Online Wine Magazine on organic wines and the fight over the details. Go to palatepress.com and search organic wine or my name to find that story.

Howard’s Picks: Labels to look for include Italy’s Perlage, Domaine Joly (which will soon be available) or check out The Organic Wine Company online for a wide selection of organic wines.

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com

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