What’s included in the Wine Experience Christmas gift box?

Choose from the different options available and order your adopt-a-vine Christmas gift on our website. You can choose the region, the winery (all organically certified), the number of vines to adopt, and how many wine experience days at the vineyard to include.  We’ll send the welcome gift pack to you, or directly to the recipient to open on Christmas day, containing a personalised vine adoption certificate, some wine accessories, and an access code to the private customer portal to get the adventure started straightaway.

The recipient will then receive news, photos, and updates from the wine-maker as the vines grow, the grapes are harvested, and the juice made into wine in the cellar. At the end of the wine-making year, his or her organic wine, made from the grapes in the vineyard where his or her adopted vines are located, will be bottled, complete with personalised wine labels denoting the name of the wine that your lucky recipient chooses!

It’s also possible to go to the winery, meet the wine-makers, and participate in wine experience days to learn about the key stages involved in the making of your wine. The Wine Experience Days can be included in the Christmas gift pack, or added later.

The Wine Experience Days take place on the weekends from 09:30 to 16:00, with wine tasting and lunch included for two people. There are three different choices. The Discovery Experience Days concentrate on the work in the vineyard before the harvest, the Harvest Experience Days get you involved in picking the grapes and teach you about the first stages of fermentation, and the Vinification Experience Days are made up of practical workshops to hone wine-tasting skills, and to learn about ageing, blending and bottling wines. You also learn how the wine-makers work organically, and what’s at stake in doing so. They are fun, informative, and moments rich in sharing that make you think a little differently when you open your next bottle of wine.

What makes the Wine Experience an extra-special Christmas gift?

Not only is it an original Christmas gift for a wine lover, it’s a present that supports independent organic wine-makers and small business, something that’s appreciated even more during these challenging times!

We’ve chosen to only work with organically or biodynamically certified wine-makers, all of whom have had their wines selected and awarded by the leading wine guides and press. We picked them for their friendliness, and enthusiasm for sharing their knowledge and love of their profession, essential factors needed to ensure an exceptional and unforgettable experience.

But don’t just take our word for it, read the customer feedback. For over 10 years now, we have developed and delivered a quality service, creating strong bonds and friendships with our partner winemakers and customers alike.

And it’s a no risk Christmas gift, because if you’re not sure which Wine Experience to choose, the recipient can always change the winery, type of day, or vintage by contacting us. The Wine Experience Days can also be carried over to the following year if needed.

Order your Adopt-a-Vine Christmas Gift in a few clicks

No need to go to the shops! Order your Wine Experience Christmas gift online, and we’ll take care of the rest:

• The welcome gift pack will be sent out within 24 hours, Monday to Friday
• The vine adoption certificate and activation code will be sent by email to the buyer
• Gift wrapping and personalised message option available
• Option to pay in 3 instalments
• Flexible. The recipient can change the options or carry days over if needed

The Christmas Wine Experience welcome pack will be sent to the address of your choosing, containing a few wine accessory gifts; a DropStop, re-usable glass wine stopper, wine cooling bag, vine adoption certificate, and a personalised guide to get the present started!

Find out more about the Wine Experience Christmas present

Visit our website for more information about the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience or to place an order.

Any questions? We’re available from 09:00 to 18:00, Monday to Friday by phone on 01 46 27 05 92 within France, or on +33 1 46 27 05 92 from outside France, or through our contact page.

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The diversity of wine glasses

When looking around a wine accessory or wine glass shop, the first observation is usually that the choice is very or even too vast!  The glassmakers produce different styles of glass that are each best suited to a different style of wine, whether it be from France or another wine-producing country.

Some have ranges that cover different grape varietals, because a pinot gris from Alsace, for example, doesn’t have the same aromatic characteristics as a marsanne from the Côtes du Rhône.  But these glasses don’t cover the depth of the different wines, notably those that are blended as is the case in Bordeaux, the Côtes du Rhône or the Languedoc-Roussillon.

To bridge this gap you can find glasses that are best suited to a particular region such as Burgundy or the Médoc. But you can imagine the number of different shaped glasses that exist, just for the different wine growing regions in France, let alone the rest of the world!

You can then even find glasses that claim to be better for Premier or Grand Cru wines, or for differing ages of wines.  So perhaps the perfect glass does exist for a particular wine, but you’d have to have a very wide collection if you like different styles of wine.

And what if you don’t have the space in your wine glass cupboard?

So how to choose the glass that is best adapted to the majority of wine that you will serve?  The glass plays an essential role when tasting wines in diffusing the aromas.  Aromas are made up of molecules that are more or less volatile, that are released into the air, travelling from the glass to the nose.  The more that the glass allows the aromas to evaporate, the more you will smell them, that is unless they are diffused too widely before reaching the nose.

You therefore need to have a glass where the diameter of the base is wide enough to allow evaporation to take place, but with an opening that is a little smaller than the base.  This will help channel the aromas in the direction of your nose. Tulip shaped glasses are good for this.

Of course, not all aromas have the same volatility, so depending on the type of wine being served, you might want to help some aromas become more volatile by oxygenating the wine and using a glass with a wide base and large opening.  For others that are more delicate of already fairly volatile, you might want to have a narrower base and an even smaller opening, or else you risk not detecting any aromas at all with the nose.  By testing different ratios between the diameter of the base and the opening, you should be able to find an acceptable compromise for most of the wines that you serve.

By concentrating on the two or three styles of wine that you serve the most frequently, you can define the types of aroma that they most often contain: heavy aromas such as wood and spices, or lighter aromas such as fruit and flowers, and the need for oxygenating the wine, and so the shape of the glass best suited.

Then you just need to choose the maker and the price range before opening the next bottle, and savouring the taste... in moderation of course!

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Most French wine bottles have two labels. The main label that is on the front of the bottle and a back label. Usually the front label is used for the name of the wine, the branding and the obligatory information. The back label is often used to give more information, notably about its taste, the winery or pairing suggestions. 

It is not set in stone however on which label much of the required information should appear, and so sometimes as little information as possible will appear on the front label, to keep it as uncluttered as possible, leaving more space for the name of the wine and graphics.

The legally required information

Some of the information has to appear on a label. In France there are 8 required mentions for still wines, and for sparkling wines a ninth is added to state the level of sugar.

First of all the name of the appellation (AOC / AOP) or the protected geographical indications (PGI), both of which serve to guarantee where a wine was made and the methods used in working in the vineyard and cellar.

Then comes the volume of wine. A classic French wine bottle holds 0.75 l of wine, 1.5 l for a magnum, 3 l for a jeroboam etc. There are however some special cases such as 0.62 l for bottles of “vin jaune” that are put into a distinctive bottle, called a “Clavelin”. (0.62 l represents the amount of wine that is left of 1 l of wine at the end of the 6 year ageing period. The rest is lost to the angels share!).

The alcoholic degree gives an indication to the maturity of the grapes when they were harvested. A ripe grape has more sugar in it, giving a wine with a higher alcoholic degree.

The country where the wine comes from, the name and legal entity of the bottler. The bottler is not necessarily the winemaker, and can be a wine merchant.

A batch number is also attributed to the wine to identify where exactly it came from and how the wine was made. Sometimes this number is printed directly onto the bottle instead of the label.

For health warnings, in addition to the pregnant woman graphic which has been required since 2005, the label is also obliged to say if the wine contains sulphites, and since 2012 if it contains any allergens such as egg or dairy based products which can sometimes be used to clarify or filter the wines. If you’re worried about sulphites, please note that a wine that is completely free of sulphites does not exist. It’s naturally present in the grape, and is indeed needed to help stabilise and keep the wine a minimum amount of time.  Natural wines are wines that have no added sulphites, but there is no certification and hence logo to look out for. Natural wines tend not to travel or keep as long as wines that have had some sulphites added, so it’s good to take into consideration when and where you will likely drink the wine if you see a mention like “sans sulphites ajoutés”, “no added sulphites”, “vin nature”, “natural wine”.

In addition to these legal mentions for all wines, some AOP regions impose other requirements for the labels. For example in Burgundy, the name of the wine should not be larger than the name of the appellation. The name of the appellation has to be the tallest and widest in font size of all of the information printed on the labels.

Other information: optional, but regulated

Even if the majority of the remaining information is mainly commercial, the winemaker still has rules to follow. On most bottles, the name of the wine will appear along with the type of wine and obligatory information as decided by the appellation. The winemaker may also include the name of the village or the vineyard where the grapes were picked. In a wide spread and well-known wine growing region such as Bordeaux and Burgundy, this helps to identify different styles of wine.

Pay attention to some specific words such as “Clos”, “Château” and “Cru”, which are reserved for use by AOP or PGI wines that have been made exclusively from grapes coming from the named winery or vineyard.

The vintage, which is always the year that the grapes were harvested, is an important piece of information, because some years are better than others, some wines are better drunk sooner rather than later, and some have a better potential for storing than others. To use the vintage, at least 85 % of the grapes have to have been picked from the mentioned year.

The winemaker may also choose to mention that the wine was estate bottled or “mis en bouteille au domaine / château”. This is reassuring to some customers that the wine was made by the winemaker, and the grapes or wine weren’t bought and made by a wine merchant.

In France, the grape varietal used in making the wine is not always mentioned, and is done so much less frequently than New World wines. This requires some basic knowledge on the part of the customer, for example to know that a Burgundy red wine is made from pinot noir grapes and a Burgundy white wine from Chardonnay. It can be very useful to state the grape varietal to help consumers with little wine knowledge, or to help people when it comes to blended wines. For example if you know that you prefer fruitier wines when choosing a Bordeaux wine, it would be helpful to look for a wine that has a high percentage of Merlot over Cabernet Sauvignon, and vice versa if you prefer a wine that is more robust and has a longer finish.

You will sometime see a phrase similar to “elevé en fût de chêne” or “aged in oak barrels”. This is an optional mention, but is regulated. At least 50% of the wine has had to have spent at least 6 months in an oak barrel. Ageing in oak changes the structure, taste and aromatic characteristics of a wine, so this mention can help you depending on the style of wine that you are looking for.

Other information: optional, but unregulated

This where you have to be a little more careful not to be led astray. Although some of the information may be very helpful in helping you to choose a wine and learn a little more how it tastes, sometimes the information can be a little subjective.

For example, our partner winemaker in Alsace, the Domaine Stentz-Buecher, puts a scale on the back label to show how dry or sweet their different wines are. This is very helpful to the consumer as the different grape varietals of Alsace wines can vary greatly in how dry or sweet they are, and even the same grape varietals from different winemakers or vineyards can vary.

An example of a mention that is much more subjective and can be misleading is “Vielles vignes” or old vines. As vines get older, their roots dig deeper, and they produce better quality grapes. So “vielles vigne” should be a term that indicates a higher quality wine. The problem is at what age does a vine become old? There is no regulation as to the age, and so it is up to the winemaker. For one winemaker a plot of 30 year old vines might be considered vielles vignes, however another winemaker who has 80 year old vines might consider them to be still relatively youthful. It can be helpful when choosing among different wines from the same producer, but should be taken with more caution when comparing wines from different winemakers.

Regarding the graphics of the label, there are no rules, and so the winemaker has more freedom to be creative, which can sometimes lead to some very surprising results! When choosing the design, the winemaker is trying to create an identity for the wine, and to make it visually attractive to the target consumer. But the winemaker has to be careful because what might attract one person, might not be to the taste of someone else, and sometimes the visual identity can make finding and reading the rest of the information more difficult.

And organic wine labels?

Until 2012, the organic certification for wines only concerned itself with the grapes were grown, and not how the wine was made once the grapes had been picked. French wine labels stated “wine made from organically grown grapes” or “vin issu de raisins de l’agriculture biologique”.

Since then, the winemakers work in the cellar to age and bottle the wine is also controlled to meet organic standards. For example organic wine has to have a level of sulphites less than 100 mg/l for red wines, and 15 mg/l for white wines. Wine can now be called “organic wine”, and this mention now appears of the labels.

There are two logos used in France to identify that a wine is organically certified. Firstly there is the AB logo (Agriculture biologique) and secondly the green leaf European organic logo. On older bottles prior to 2010, you’ll most likely see just the AB logo, but since then, you’ll either see the AB logo together with the European logo, or just the European logo.

Biodynamically certified wines can be identified by either the Demeter or Biodyvin logos. Read our article on organic, biodynamic and natural wines for more information.

  

Don’t judge a book by its cover

It’s therefore worth spending a bit of time reading the wine labels when choosing a bottle. But as with reading, it’s best to look inside, and so the surest way to judge the quality of a wine is to open the bottle and taste it!

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February 2018

Domaine de la Guicharde, Côtes du Rhône Massif d’Uchaux winery located in Mondragon, will be at the Sous les Pavés la Vigne wine fair on the 10th & 11th February, in Bordeaux, Hangar 14. It’s a natural wine fair.

They will also be at the Vinisud professional wine buyers trade fair in Montpellier from the 18th to 20th February 2018, and at the 19th Salon des Vins de Producteurs Kiwanis Club in Saint-Etienne.

Domaine Chapelle from Santenay in Burgundy will be at the Salon des Vins de Neuville sur Saône wine fair, salle Jean Dousset (86) on the 10th and 11th February 2018.

Château Beau Rivage will share their Bordeaux wines with you at the Salon des Vignerons Indépendants wine fair, in Strasbourg, stand D104, from the 16th to 19th February 2018.

March 2018

Château Beau Rivage from Macau en Médoc, will also be present at the Salon des Vignerons Indépendants wine fair, at Bordeaux Lac, stand D32 from the 2nd to 4th  March 2018.

Domaine Chapelle are once again attending the Salon des vins de Paray Le Monial (71).  Come and taste their wines on the 17th and 18th March 2018, and at the Vivre Autrement organic living fair in Paris at the Parc Floral de Vincenne (75) from the 17th to 19th March 2018.

Domaine Allegria will be at the Salon des Vignerons wine fair in Olne, Belgium on the 24th  and 25th March 2018.

May 2018

Domaine Chapelle, will be presenting their organic Burgundy wines at the 29èmes Journées Gourmandes du Grand Morvan gastronomy fair in Saulieu (Hall des Expositions) from the 10th to 13th May.

Domaine Chapelle will also be at Foire Gastronomique de Mailly in Champgane (51) from the 19th to the 21st 2018.

More information about our partner wineries and the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience.

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Serving the wine at the right temperature

Ideally it’s best to put the unopened bottle of wine that you are going to serve for a couple of hours in a room or wine fridge that is already at the desired temperature. But with our heated homes in winter, it’s sometimes difficult to keep the wine cool, particularly for white wines that are generally best served between 10 and 12 °C. If you don’t want to put the wine in the fridge, which can reduce the aromatic appreciation of the wine, you can slip on a wine cooling jacket 15 minutes before serving. The jacket which has been cooled in the freezer, keeps the wine at the optimal temperature for around 30-40 minutes.

For wines that you want to serve a little colder, such as sparkling wine, you can use a wine cooling bag or an ice bucket, both of which are very efficient. A little tip is to salt the water in the ice bucket which will lower the temperature of the bottle more quickly!

Open the bottle without damaging the wine (or the hands)

The good news is that there are models adapted for all situations! For corkscrew beginners or for those of us who open lots of bottles, the lever corkscrew such as the “Screwpull” is the easiest to use. There is also the “Charles de Gaulle” corkscrew (Look closely when the two levers on the side are opened…), that takes up less space and are more affordable.

For those that are a little more experienced, the waiter’s corkscrew or sommelier’s corkscrew are very good. The sommelier’s corkscrew has the little curved knife included that is good for cutting the foil that protects the cork. To make it a little easier, opt for a double-lever corkscrew. The lever has two positions, allowing the cork to be removed halfway, before using the second position to completely eject the cork. That avoids having to screw the cork twice and reduces the risk of damaging the cork and ending up with bits of cork in your wine.

And if you’re thinking about opening some fairly old wines where the cork is likely to be more fragile, try the double-bladed corkscrew, where you have two thin blades that slide between the cork and the neck of the wine bottle without damaging the cork. It demands a little bit of practice though!

Bring out the full wine aromas

Some wines, more often for reds, benefit from being placed in a carafe, either to decant the wine and separate it from the solid matter that has settles in the side of the bottle during storage, or to accelerate the airing of the wine to best reveal its aromas. Sometimes it’s best to avoid disturbing the wine too much, and simply open the bottle a few hours ahead if you think that it needs to breathe. But be careful.  Carafing a wine can sometimes diminish it, it depends on its age and maturity. Conversely to what many people believe, carafing a wine to air it is often more beneficial for young tannic wines, than old wines, which might be too delicate to withstand any brusque handling. Trust your senses when you open the bottle as to the best way to handle it.

To air the wine, you could also use a wine aerator. Very useful for when you’ve forgotten to open the wine in advance, you have to open another bottle because your guests are getting through the wine quicker than you thought, or the wine is really having trouble opening up.  Again, it’s usually best to let the wine breath as naturally as possible though to best enjoy the first nose!

Pouring the wine in your glass (and not on the table cloth)

The moment for tasting the wine is almost there. All you have to do is pour it into the glasses. To help you, there are Drop Stops, really practical discs that roll up and slide into the neck of the bottle and stop any drips.

The Drop Stops can be washed by hand, but don’t get on very well with washing machines. There are also larger drip catchers that are more resistant to being put in the dishwasher.

For those that are confirmed wine waiters, nothing beats the sharp twist of the wrist to turn the bottle once you have finished pouring and avoiding any drips from running down the side of the bottle. Done correctly, it’s bound to impress your guests!

So you’re now ready for the perfect wine tasting. Most of these wine accessories can be found at reasonable prices in wine merchants or on the internet. Some can even be found in the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience welcome pack!

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