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Howard W. Hewitt

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Howard W. Hewitt

Tag Archives: O’Vineyards

Languedoc Continues to Impress

04 Thursday Jul 2013

Posted by Howard in Food & Travel, France

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Chateau Le Bouis, Chateau Le Carcarasse, La Hospitalet, O'Vineyards, Virgile Joly

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Two weeks removed from a France trip and still no dedicated blog post! That’s bad! It’s a long one – but hopefully a good summary of a great experience!

I spent eight days in France in early June helping lead an alumni travel trip for the College where I work. The group of 13 spent four days in the Languedoc, headquartered in Montpellier, and had a really great wine experience.

The idea was to expose regular wine drinkers to a variety of wineries and a personalized touch that would help them understand Southern France winemaking.

VirgileDomaine Virgile Joly – Virgile was one of the big, big hits of the trip. We traveled on a rainy Sunday to Saint Saturnin de Lucian and met Virgile in the center of town. He led us to his small cave-like tasting room where he educated, entertained, and charmed the group.

As he warmed up his smile, the French accent, and the detailed knowledge of winemaking, the stop was the perfect start to our journey. Virgile’s Joly Blanc is still one of the great white wines of Southern France. The wine is mostly Grenache Blanc. It has been honored in numerous competitions and is delightfully refreshing.

I first met Joly at the 2012 Millesime Bio in Montpellier. He was clearly a rock star then for France’s organic wine movement and his reputation only grows. His production is still relatively small but he is not shy in sharing his dream is to build his own winery.

Virgile really captivated the group.

Virgile really captivated the group.

Two of the highlights of his wine,  beyond the entry level red and white which make it to the U.S., was his top red Saturne (in photo at top) and his great little dessert Rose’.

After four days in the Languedoc we traveled hi-speed rail to Paris and spent five days there. Our lunch in tiny Saint Saturnin de Lucian at La Pressoir was one of the best meals of the trip. We had a delightfully fresh salad with salmon and duck, beef grilled before us over an open fire, and one of the best chocolate grenache-filled chocolate soufflés one can imagine.

But the lingering memory of our first stop was Virgile’s incredible enthusiasm and charm. Our group held up Virgile as the gold standard for wine stops for the rest of the trip.

le-bouisChateau le Bouis – After a quick morning stop in Narbonne to visit its famous market, we drove toward the Mediterreanean coast. This stop was set up for its views of the sea and a very light lunch.

Our hostess was charming, the crusty French bread was the best of the trip, food was great, and the wines were surprisingly consistent and lovely. The white and Rose’ were particularly good wines.

The large patio and vine covered patio where we tasted is well suited for visitors. It’s picturesque, charming, great food and wine, with delightful views.

Incredible vineyard views of the Sea at Chateau la Hospitalet

Incredible vineyard views of the Sea at Chateau la Hospitalet

Gerard Bertrand’s Chateau La Hospitalet – This stop was one of the most anticipated for me having tasted many of Bertrand’s wines and their wide availability in the states.

It didn’t disappoint but was unlike most stops in the French countryside. That’s best explained by noting it was more like a stop in Napa or Sonoma. To Bertrand’s credit they have the wine tourism thing all figured out. The tasting room looked like any major tasting area at a successful or prominent Napa winery.

Bertrand's modern tasting room.

Bertrand’s modern tasting room.

The wines were consistently good and you won’t have much trouble finding them. The highlight was a walk in the vineyard before tasting. A charming young Brit led us up a small hill to the very windy crest where we had a stunning view of the Medeterreian.  (in photo above). Between the base of that hill and the sea were three small plots of vineyard.

The top wine from the Hospitalet location comes from that spot. It was big rich and age-worthy wine. I bought a bottle of the L’Hospitalitas for 41E or about $55 to bring home and age. (that’s the wine in the top photo, center).

Gerard has seven locations in Southern France and its definitely worth the stop to taste wines you CAN get back home and as a contrast to the many smaller wineries. This stop couldn’t be more different than all the others. Bertrand produces more than 6 million cases of wine at his combined seven locations.

"Ozzy" was a very amiable host!

“Ozzy” was a very amiable host!

Chateau Le Carcarasse – This stop was a bit of a comedy of errors. Our bus driver was given an early itinerary that included this stop. But he was later given updates that noted we were going elsewhere. Since none of us were familiar with Southern France – we ended up here. I scrambled, as group leader, and explained the embarrassing predicament and the staff scrambled.

They put together a delightful tasting and bites of food in about 15 minutes. Our group was a tad confused, our liaison who made arrangements for our other stop was confounded, our bus driver distressed – but it all worked out.

The food was incredible and the wines were darn good. The Chateau is stunning. They do seem to be much more in the condo business than wine business, producing just 1,000 cases, but the wines were solid.

Joe O'Connell talking about his Merlot vineyard.

Joe O’Connell talking about his Merlot vineyard.

O’Vineyards – This place is such a great story of a family packing up and moving from Louisana to Southern France. Their college-age son will someday be viewed as a pioneer in social media in the Southern France wine business.

I met Ryan at the 2012 wine fair and kept in touch. Liz O’Connell is known as quite a cook – a reputation she backed up during our visit. Joe O’Connell the former homebuilder and winemaker walked out group through all the steps of winemaking. That was an experience the group had not had yet since we were fighting downpours during the Joly visit.

The travel group loved it. They got to taste wines from the stainless steel vats and barrel taste Cabernet which was in its 18 month in the oak.

Liz and Joe O'Connell are great hosts!

Liz and Joe O’Connell are great hosts!

Joe’s wines were some of the best we tasted during the trip. We left with quite a few bottles. I carried home a 2010 Merlot which I thought was one of the best 100 percent Merlots I’ve ever tasted. It’s going to get a  little more time in the bottle before I pop it open.

The O’Connells have worked the tourism angle like few others in southern France. If you Google winery visit in Southern France, chances are O’Vineyards will come up even before something like powerhouse Bertrand.

O’Vineyard wines will have a bottling available from California-based Naked Wines very soon.

They are located in a small village near the touristy, walled city of Carcassonne.

Summary – Languedoc wines continue to impress. Much has been written how this area was marred as plonk and boxed wine for years. The reputation was true. But in the last 15 years or so producers have realized their wines can be placed beside many of the great bottles of France.

Talking wine with one of our group members at Chateau le Bouis.

Talking wine with one of our group members at Chateau le Bouis.

I love the earthy and rich quality of the reds and freshness of the area’s whites. They make Rose’ which challenges – almost – Provence.

But the people are so welcoming and genuine. It remains true that you are likely to interact with the winemaker or winemaker/owner if you pre-arrange a trip to the Languedoc.

We had a great trip. If you like Cotes du Rhone wines, Languedoc is a logical progression. Carignan is a funky grape which will be new to many wine drinkers, but it’s prominent in the Languedoc. I’ve grown to love it. It gives the wines a real earthiness many of the Rhone wines lack.

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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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Enthusiastic Floridian Rocking Languedoc

23 Friday Mar 2012

Posted by Howard in France, Videos

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Languedoc, O'Vineyards, Ryan O'Connell

In a long line of unlikely stories, Ryan O’Connell might be near the top of any list. The gregarious 20-something has made waves in Southern France with social media, talk of tourism, and  unabashed enthusiasm.
I met Ryan while attending the 2012 Millesime Bio organic wine fair in Montpellier, France, in January. I met him after discovering his blog and making contact with marketing guru Louise Hurren. Hurren promotes a group of young winemakers called The Outsiders.
A young man in perpetual motion, Ryan O’Connell

O’Connell and his parents are certainly outsiders. O’Connell was a student at Tulane about the time his father was closing down his home construction business.  “I have this crazy dad who after a bottle of wine at dinner says, “one of these days we’re going to sell everything and buy a vineyard.’ I think whatever! Oh, Archie!”

But the senior O’Connell was more serious than his always-smiling son ever imagined. The O’Connell’s, and note the Mrs. Is of French descent, packed up and moved to the Languedoc region in Southern France. The result was O’Vineyards winery.
They were indeed outsiders. “We’ve definitely had our moments,” O’Connell said of being newcomers. “We’re the weird ones in the room. Then we have moments that prove we have been accepted by certain communities here. Some people were awesome early on. Then there are other times you definitely know others aren’t a fan.
“Even if you come from Toulouse, you can feel like you’re from really far away.”
Ryan has worked in exporting and with distributors and restaurants and found it all frustrating. He does work in the vineyard and winery with his father. They do use a consultant in winemaking but continue to take on more of the effort each year.
“Dad does tons of field work and construction on the winery,” O’Connell explained. “Mom does tons of administrative work and feeds us and whatever guests maybe are coming through. I do tons of computer work, traveling, and tasting wines.”
O’Connell sees his biggest challenges as growing social media usage and tourism in the region. “We’re a region with thousands of wineries,” he said. “It’s beautiful here. It’s easy to have a good time visiting two or three wineries. I’m trying to develop as many like-minded people.”
O’Vineyards welcomes tourists and even offers a Bed and Breakfast. Ryan shocked some neighbors when he decided to charge 25 Euro per person for a tour and tasting. But he explains the tour includes two hours with the winemaker and barrel tastings. Traditionally, wineries in the area never charge for a tasting and most wineries require an appointment.

Whether others follow suit remains to be seen but its cause O’Connell intends to pursue. He’s also made real inroads with social media and it all started with his popular blog, “Love That Languedoc.”

Ryan O’Connell gets noticed. And sometimes the notice comes from halfway around the world. He’s currently in California’s Napa Valley learning about the wine business there and Napa’s marketing machine. As one would expect, he’s blogging about the experience as “kid napa.”
Many of the things I’ve written about wine in recent years are about the people. O’Connell makes O’Vineyards a people business, not just wine. He’s bustling bundle of enthusiasm I’d never bet against.

Watch the video below: O’Connell talking about social media and Southern France.

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com

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