We have picked 25 for the competition final, and there will eventually be two winners. One will be chosen by the Gourmet Odyssey team for the most original photo, and the other winner will be the photo that receives the most likes on our Facebook page. So it’s now up to you to vote for your preferred photo!

Take a look at the finalists and vote for your favourite photo on the Gourmet Odyssey Facebook page before 12:00 (French time) on the 10th December. Be careful to like the individual photo and not the whole album!

 The two winners will receive a magnum of wine from the winery where they have their Wine Experience.

Come back on the 10th December to see the winning pictures!


The Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience days are hands-on wine courses at our partner wineries, where you learn all about the hard work that goes into making a bottle of organic wine. Depending on the type of day, you can get involved in working in the vineyard to prune the vines, participate in the harvest, or learn about the work in the cellar to ferment, age, blend and bottle the wines. Follow this link for more information about our wine courses.

Add a comment

Once again this year, it wasn’t easy to select the winners from all of the great photos that made it through to the final!

Each winner will receive a magnum of wine from the winery where their adopted vines are located.

We’ll be back in February 2018 for a new competition which starts with the first Vinification and Discovery Experience Days! In the meantime we hope that you enjoy the end of year festivities!

Add a comment

09:30 For this first Harvest Experience Day at Domaine la Cabotte, the day was forecast to be cloudy, but thankfully there shouldn't be any rain before tomorrow. Ideal conditions for harvesting without getting too hot. Everybody looked motivated, we'd find out once we're in the vineyard !

Marie-Pierre, the owner of the winery along with her husband Eric, introduced us to the region and the history of Domaine la Cabotte, and explained why the harvest this year is 2-3 weeks later than in a normal year.

10:00 We started the day in the plot where the adopted vines are located to see and take a few pictures of our vines. Eric explained that the grapes are not as abundant as usual, and that they are not quite mature enough to be picked, so we headed off to another plot of white Grenache grapes lower down in the vineyard.

10:30 The buckets and secateurs were awaiting us, and after Eric explained how to harvest the bunches, we spread out amongst the rows in pairs to get down to work! In the middle of the first row, the sun came out and it started to heat up. Would we get to the end?! Marie-Pierre kept our spirits up by making us think of the wine tasting and meal to come! After the first row and a quick refreshment stop, we set off to harvest a second row each - uphill this time! We must have started to get the hang of it, because we were getting much quicker, or was it in anticipation of the wine tasting?!

13:00 Mission accomplished in filling the two trailers with grapes. We followed them back to the chai where we emptied our harvest into the press and set it going for 2 hours of pressing. Eric reckoned that it would give about 1000 litres of juice. Whilst waiting for the press to do its thing, we quenched our thirst by tasting some of the estate's wines. We started with the Colline Ctes du Rhne white wine, made from the same plot that we had just harvested, but last year in 2012. We then tasted the Colline red and the Gabriel 2011.

13:30 Under the shade of the trees, we continued the tasting with the Garance 2011, accompanied by the delicious home-made meal prepared by Marie-Pierre. We ended the meal with cheese and desert accompanied by the Sauvageonne 2012 white wine.
15h00 After the coffee and the meal, it was difficult to get going again, but the hard work was now behind us. As the press finished the last part of its cycle, Eric explained the differences between working with the harvest for white and red wines, and talked us through the first stages of fermentation. We then finished the day by tasting the juice from the grapes that we had harvested and that from another lot which had been picked a few days earlier. Having finished being pressed, the juice from our harvest was then put into a refrigerated vat. The discarded stems, skin and pips will then be taken to the distillery. Finally we had harvested enough to produce some 1500 litres of juice! 

Add a comment

Last weekend we finished the series of Wine Experience Days for the 2011 vintage at Domaine Jean-Marc Brocard in Chablis.   The weekend was dedicated to the Vinification Experience Day, where we learn about wine making by following the wine's progress since the harvest back in September.

The day started in the fermentation hall, where Pierre explained how the grape juice is transformed into wine.  We saw the two vats that are currently ageing our vintage of the Boissonneuse!

Back in the main building, we participated in a couple of workshops to hone our tasting skills.  One of the most difficult things when tasting wines is often to find the words to describe them.  Why do we like or not like them?

The first workshop was dedicated to the nose.  With the help of some small jars, we had to find the aromas most often found in white wines.  Not so easy, especially to correctly identify aromas from the same family of smells apart.  We learnt how to differentiate aromas that come from the fruit from those that are a result of the way in which the wine has been aged.

The next exercise had us working our mouths with a blind tasting of 4 different solutions; bitter, sweet, salty and acidic.  Each taste plays on a different area of the tongue, which helped us to identify each solution.

But enough of the exercises, the time had come to talk about real wines!  We tasted a number of different series of wines to differentiate between grape varietals, terroir, vintages and the methods used to make each wine.

After the meal, we headed out amongst the vines to get some fresh air and to enjoy the warm sunshine.  We stopped in the vineyard where the adopted vines are located so that we could each take a photo in front of our vines!

A final tasting session awaited us at the end of the day, that of our special vintage of Chablis 2011.

We tasted the two vats of the Boissonneuse separately, and then we made a blend to give us a better idea of how the 2011 will eventually reveal itself.  It still needs more time to round out, but we could already see that it has good potential!

Add a comment

We finished the year, nose in glass, during the Vinification Experience Days at Château Beau Rivage in the Bordeaux region.  It's the most technical of the Gourmet Odyssey Experience Days, with the objective of understanding more about the ageing and blending of wine.

To awaken our senses of taste and smell, we started the morning outside in the vineyard for a breath of fresh winter air!  Christine showed us how they will prune the vines over the coming months, and we set to work pulling the cut branches from the training wires.  The creepers from the branches had wrapped themselves tightly around the wires and posts, so it was a job that helped warm us up!

We went to the far end of the vineyard where the plot of Gourmet Odyssey adopted vines is located, so that we could each see our mini plot!

It was then time to head back inside to the warmth to start putting our senses to work!  We passed around some small bottles, the first set containing the aromas to be found in red wine, the second those which characterize wine that has been aged in oak barrels.  We had to guess the smell of each, which is an exercise more difficult than you would imagine, particularly as often you know you know the smell, but you just can't put a name to it!

We then started the tastings to unravel the principal tastes and aromas that each grape varietal and ageing in different types of oak brings to the wine.

For the first tasting, we took the same merlot wine, but which had been aged in three different ways.  We had to guess which had been aged in old French oak, which in new French oak and which had been aged in new American oak. It's always incredible to smell and taste the huge differences that different wood makes to the wine.
During lunch, we continued the wine tasting of the winery's finished wines so that we could learn how different blends and quantities of grape varieties change a wine's structure.

At Château Beau Rivage, each grape varietal is aged separately, and the blending takes place at the end of the ageing process.  We therefore were able to taste each grape varietal of the 2011 harvest one by one to learn the characteristics of each.  We learnt, for example, that merlot is a more fruity variety, the cabernet sauvignon has a longer finish, and the petit verdot is sharper.

In Bordeaux, it's the blending of the different grape varieties that is the art form.  In small teams, we saw for ourselves by concocting our own blends using the measuring cylinders. We also learnt that even if there is a grape variety that we don't much care for on its own, once blended with others can really bring out the best in the overall blend. 

At the end of the day, each team presented its preferred blend to the rest of the group before tasting two blends that Christine had prepared.  The day had taught us that there is much skill needed for the ageing and blending of wine, and so fortunately our wine is in the safe hands of Christine!

Add a comment

We've just got back from a very hot and sunny Gourmet Odyssey Wine Discovery Experience weekend at Château Beau Rivage in Macau-en-Médoc, Bordeaux.

After the initial introductions, we headed straight out into the vineyard, accompanied by Christine Nadalié, the owner and winemaker. 

Christine explained the differences between the 5 grape varieties that are grown in the vineyard; cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, malbec and petit verdot, and talked us through each of the key stages in cultivating the grapes from pruning through to harvest.

The grapes are already well developed on the vines, and like elsewhere in France, are a couple of weeks ahead of where they would normally be.  This is a direct result of the very warm spring that we have experienced.

As is the custom with a Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience Day, we learn by doing, so there is always some work to do!  Christine had three tasks that she had been saving up for us; épamprage, effeuillage and relevage.

Firstly, épamprage is the removing of the unwanted shoots that sometimes grow from the foot of the vines.  These shoots can grow as tall as the whole plant and don't produce any grapes, so if not managed, they take away nutrients and energy from the fruit bearing branches.  The smaller shoots can easily be pulled off by hand, but some of the thicker and more established shoots need the help of a small knife or pair of secateurs.

The next job that Christine explained was effeuillage, which involves removing some of the leaves that cover the grapes.  There are two primary reasons for this.  One is to increase the amount of sun that the grapes receive to help them mature, and the other is to increase the flow of air around the grapes.  This is particularly important to combat mildew that can damage the grapes following a wet period.  The leaves are removed from the side facing the rising sun only.  This is because the morning sun is weaker, and in the afternoon the sun is stronger, so the shade from the leaves is welcome to protect the grapes.

And finally we learnt about relevage.  As the vines grow taller, so the training wires for each row need to be raised to continue supporting the vines.  The wires on each side of the row are raised to the next peg up on the posts, and the wires then clipped together using a small clip.  All of the branches are placed between the wires to tidy the row up, and make sure that the vines aren't damaged when the tractor passes.

We each dispersed among the rows to put into action what Christine had taught us.  Cultivating vines if often a more manual process than you might think!

A small name board was to be found in front of the adopted vines for each client, so having perfected the tasks of the day, we each had the opportunity to introduce ourselves to the vines, take some pictures and ensure that everything was in order concerning the effeuillage, épamprage and relevage!

By now it was getting seriously hot in the vineyard, so back to the château it was to find some shade and start the wine tasting session! Fittingly, the first wine to be tasted was the rosé 2010, which had been chilling in the fridge!

During the meal of locally prepared charcuterie, we tasted a large range of wine from Château Beau Rivage including the 2007 and 2006 vintages of the wine selected for the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience,  Raphaël 2007, Clementine 2004, le Phare 2001 and Christine's Haut-Médoc wine, Clos la Bohème 2007 and 2006.

The cool of the chai was welcome after lunch.  Christine showed us the fermentation tanks used to ferment the wine, and explained how the sugar in the grapes is transformed into alcohol.

We finished the day in the cellar, where we saw the impressive collection of oak barrels that are used to mature the wines.  This part of the day, gave us an insight into one of Christine's other passions, the art of barrel making, which she has grown up with, coming from a family of coopers.

Many thanks to Christine, Guillaume and Aurélie for letting us get behind the scenes to discover a small part of the fascinating world of wine making.

Add a comment

Last weekend saw us travel to Santenay in Burgundy for the Vinification Experience Days at Domaine Chapelle.  During each day, we participated in an in-depth wine tasting course, alongside the winemakers, to discover the key stages of fermentation and ageing of the wine, and to better understand the notion of terroir.

The Vinification Experience Day is the most technical oenology course of the wine experience days offered by Gourmet Odyssey, and most of the time is dedicated to wine tasting.  We therefore headed straight to the cuverie (fermentation hall), and after a brief explanation of how the grapes are received and put into the tanks at harvest time, we learnt more about the fermentation process.

To prepare us for the wine tasting to follow, Yannick, the Technical Director at the wine estate, had prepared a little test: four numbered cups, each containing a sugary, acidic, salty or bitter solution.  The game was to guess which was which.  Not the most appetising drinks, but as Jean-François Chapelle, the owner of the winery, told us, wine tasting is a work tool!  He also explained the importance of the five senses when tasting wines; smell, sight, taste, touch and hearing.

In the cellar, we began the tasting of the 2010 vintages, using a pipette to draw the wine directly from the barrels.  The côte de Beaune region of Burgundy uses just one grape varietal in the makeup of its wines, pinot noir for the reds and chardonnay for the whites.  The wines we tasted were chosen to highlight the difference in terroirs and the impact that the choice of oak used in the barrels has on the wines.   The first comparison was between wine from the same vines, from the same vineyard plot, and of the same age, but aged in different barrels.  The second comparison showed us the difference in terroir, comparing two Premier Crus, Santenay "La Comme" and Santenay "Beaurepaire", which hail from two different vineyards with differing geology and relief.

Climbing back up from the cellar, we stopped at the bottling machine before arriving at the final test.  This time we were presented with three wines, each coming from different plots in the same vineyard, the Clos des Cornières, where the adopted vines of the Gourmet Odyssey clients are located.  As well as their situation, the vines also varied in age, so we could also compare the impact on the wine.  One of the wines was more advanced in the ageing process than the others, one more fruity, and the last had a longer finish.  Using measuring cylinders, we played with different proportions of these three wines to make our own blends.  We tasted some great blends, but unfortunately the doses were not always remembered!

We passed the labeling machine as we headed back to the reception hall for the aperitif of Santenay white wine and gougères, a local specialty.  During the meal we tasted other regional fare such as beouf boruguignonne, and Epoisses cheese, and continued the comparisons of the estate?s wines with a Clos de Cornières 2009 and 2006, an Aloxe Corton 2007, and a Chassgane Montrachet Premier Cru 2007, before ending with an old marc de Bourgogne with the coffee.

After all that, we needed to take in some fresh air! Off we headed into the vineyard to inspect the work, and to give each person the chance to (re)introduce themselves to their adopted vines!

Thank you to all for two enriching and enlightening Vinification Experience Days.

Link to video (video available in french language only) 

Add a comment