No chance of me sitting in a chair, twiddling my thumbs for my retirement. That’s what I told my former colleagues, and they held me to my word. With the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience gift they gave me, I became an apprentice winemaker and had to roll up my sleeves to help make my personalised bottles of wine!

When they gave me the retirement gift, they told me that I would follow the making of my wine from the year that I retired at Château de la Bonnelière in France’s Loire Valley, from the work in the vineyard through to the bottling, which of course they hope to share with me! What they didn’t say straight away is that I would get to go to the winery and spend a day working alongside the winemaker in the vineyard.

I participated in the Discovery Experience Day last year in the spring, where I met Marc Plouzeau, the owner and winemaker. He showed us the vineyard where my adopted vines grow and produce the grapes used in the making of my wine, and also put us to work to de-bud the vines and lower the training wires. We also had a very nice lunch and of course got to taste the different wines that the winery produces.

It was a great day and very hands-on, so when I got the chance to come back, this time to learn more about the work in the cellar, I signed up straight away. I’ll participate in this day this winter, and I’m looking forward to seeing, and most of all tasting how my wine is coming along!

Many thanks to my colleagues for this great idea for a retirement present. It’s been almost a year since our paths separated, but I’m not missing them too much! We’ve agreed to meet up once I’ve collected by wine so that we can share a glass or two!

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The Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience is a great Mother’s Day gift idea that will let her in behind the scenes to learn all about the art of winemaking.  She’ll receive an adopt-a-vine welcome gift pack to have something to open straight away, and then thanks to the newsletters and photos from the winemaker, she’ll follow all the key stages in the vineyard and cellar, and will be able to personalise the labels for her bottles of wine.

And if you think she’ll enjoy a short break in France to explore one of France’s wine growing regions, and actually get involved in helping to make her wine, you can include, or she can add at a later date, a Discovery, Harvest or Vinification Experience Day at her chosen winery.  Each Experience Day is valid for two people, with a winemaker’s lunch of regional delicacies and wine tasting included.

All of our partner wineries are organically certified, and are selected for the quality of their wine and the enthusiasm of the winemakers to share their passion for wine and how it is made.  One thing is for sure.  At the end of her Wine Experience gift, your Mum will appreciate wine in a whole new light, once she has learnt about all of the hard work, skill, love and effort that has gone into making her personalised bottles of wine.

Our welcome gift packs are delivered within two working days in France and 2-5 days for the rest of Europe depending on the country and delivery option selected.  For those last minute Mother’s Day gifts, a personalised adopt-a-vine certificate can be emailed.

So go on, and spoil your Mum this year with her own mini plot of vines in France.  It’s sure to be a Mother’s Day gift that she won’t be expecting!

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It’ an imaginative gift for Valentine’s Day for any wine affecionado. You can choose to adopt some vines in one of our 7 organic partner wineries, and for a wine-making year, you’ll follow their evolution via newsletters, blog articles and photos. At the end of the experience you’ll get to personalise the wine labels and you’ll have a great time whilst you taste your own wine!

If your better half loves wine, then this personalised gift pack is sure to please. The welcome pack includes a sommelier’s apron, a Drop Stop, personalised certificate and further details of the chosen wine experience.

And to make the gift even more hands-on, you can add a wine experience day at the winery. You can choose a Discovery Experience Day to learn about the work in the vineyard to produce the best possible grapes, or you could go for a Harvest Experience Day and get involved in picking the grapes and following their journey into the fermentation tanks. And then there is also the Vinification Experience Day to learn about the work in the cellar to transform the grape juice into wine. Each lasts a full day from 9:30 to 16:00, and gives you the unique opportunity to follow and help the winemaker in his work, to share a meal, and to taste the wines from the winery.

All of our partner winemakers are organically certified, and are passionate about their work. They’ll welcome you with open arms, and you’ll get to share a unique and authentic moment in a French vineyard. It’s also the perfect excuse to get away for a romantic break in France!

More information on the Wine Experience.

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The perfect Christmas gift for wine lovers, you can adopt some vines in one of our 7 organic partner wineries. For a wine-making year, your recipient will follow the making of their wine in the vineyard and cellar, and will personalise their bottles of wine at the end of the experience.

And you can also add a day at the winery, valid for two people. The Discovery Experience Day will get you involved and teach you all about the work in the vineyard necessary to bring the grapes to optimum maturity. The Harvest Experience Day will see you pick the grapes and follow their journey into the fermentation vats, and the Vinification Experience Day covers the work in the cellar to ferment, blend and age the wine. Each lasts a full day from 9:30 to 16:00, and enables you to work alongside the winemaker, share a meal, and taste the different wines from the estate.

All of our partner wineries are organically certified, and the winemakers are chosen for their passion of their profession. They’ll open up the fascinating world of winemaking to you and will welcome you with open arms.

With this unique and authentic approach to wine, your recipients are sure to appreciate their personalised Christmas gift. To have something to open from under the Christmas tree, the welcome pack includes a sommelier’s apron, a DropStop, personalised certificate and details of the chosen Wine Experience.

More information on delivery times for Christmas 2015.

More information about the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience.

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Practical wine accessory gifts for tasting wine anywhere

For wine fans that love to root out that rare wine or for those that don't miss any occasion to taste a wine, here are a few practical gift ideas for opening a bottle in any circumstances, and we really mean any!

- Take your wine everywhere with you

 

- Taste a wine for any occasion

The bath wine holder seen on Fancy

The wine glass plate seen on Fancy

The portable wine glass seen on Firebox

 

Geek corner where wine meets technology

The wine gifts for those wine enthusiasts that appreciate a helping hand from technology to taste wines, or for those that still have a childish streak inside.

The electric corkscrew from CDiscount

The must-have wine tasting accessories

The wine accessories that make great Christmas gifts for wine connoisseurs, and those that would welcome a practical gift to best serve and taste wine.

The classic wine gifts revisited by the designers

For the more design conscious wine lovers, here are a few designer wine gifts.

- Wine carafes

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Our Wine Experiences make very original Christmas gift ideas. You can adopt some organic vines and give a personalised gift box containing the adoption certificate and access to the Client Portal to follow the progress of the making of your wine from the vine to the bottle.

Choose one of our organic partner winemakers from one of the seven major wine growing areas in France, decide how many vines you would like to adopt in your gift box, and set in motion a unique experience to discover the world of winemaking. Your recipient will follow the work of the winemaker in the vineyard and the cellar through the newsletters, photos and blog articles related to his wine and life at the selected winery. In no time at all, your recipient will be transformed into an environmentally friendly web wine-maker!

You can also make the Christmas gift more interactive by adding one or more of the three Wine Experience days at the winery during the wine-making year. It could be in the vineyard during the Discovery Experience Day to get involved in pruning, de-budding or training the vines, or picking the grapes during the Harvest Experience Day. Or else during the Vinification Experience Day, your recipient will learn about the work in the cellar and taste the wines during the ageing process to understand the choices the winemaker must take after the harvest period is over.

All of the visits to the winery last at least 6 hours, the time necessary to go into enough detail to start to understand what it's really like to be a winemaker. The Wine Experience Days are participative, so we'll ask you to roll up your sleeves and get stuck in. Each day includes wine tasting and lunch, and puts you in direct contact with the passionate winemakers.

At the end of the experience, the winery will bottle your recipient's organic wine, complete with personalised wine labels. Something to savour for a long time to come, and remember your original Christmas gift by sharing a glass of wine among friends or family.

The gift package you choose is flexible in terms of the vintage, number of vines, the selected winery, and whether you want to include one or more of the Wine Experience Days. The welcome gift pack can be delivered within a couple of days, and easily fits in a suitcase, or else can be delivered directly to your recipient, or even to an alternative address. The Christmas gift box includes a brochure explaining how to activate the Wine Experience online, a sommelier's apron and a DropStop so that your recipient has something to open straight away.

So how's that for the perfect Christmas gift idea? And if you are the one offering the present, maybe you'll get to enjoy some of the organic wine or get away on a weekend break to a French vineyard next year too!

Other articles relating to our partner winemakers

Meet our partner winemakers at the end of year wine fairs and wine tastings.

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Our host, Marc Plouzeau, introduced us to the winery and explained his long family connection to the estate. The winery's vineyards stretch across the left bank of the Vienne river, and include different terroir of gravel, clay and flint soils.

Having presented how the work is approached in the different vineyards, Marc gave us a sneak preview of his new range of labels which graphically represent this philosophy.

We then headed out into the Clos de la Bonnelière vineyard to meet our adopted vines for the first time!

After a few photos for the "My Vine" photo competition, it was time to get down to some more serious work!

To warm us up, we started by pulling away some of the pruned branches. The vineyard had been pruned by Marc's team, but he had left us the task of stripping away the old wood to leave a clean space around the branches left to produce this year's harvest.

Marc also taught us how to prune using the "Guyot Simple" technique which is anything but simple!

Each vine is unique, so each needs a moment of reflection before the secateurs start snipping. We started by removing the branch that had produced last year's grapes. Then we needed to choose the new branch for this year, which is usually on the other side of the vine from last year's. We then cleaned up the branch to leave just 8 eyes, so as to reduce the number of grapes, and increase their sugar levels. To finish we left a shorter branch or  "spur", which will then become next years fruit bearing branch.

To end the morning's activities, Marc explained the next stages of working the vines until they are ready to be harvested, from de-budding, trimming and green harvesting. Each of these steps will help to control the future yield and produce better quality grapes.

We were then rewarded with a tasting of the wines from the château and a meal in the barn. We tasted a Touraine Sauvignon 2014 white wine with the fish terrine, a Chinon Rive Gauche 2014 and a Clos de la Bonnelière 2012 with the blanquette de veau. To finish in style we enjoyed a Chapelle 2012 with some local goat?s cheese, and the little treasure of the winery, the "Ante Phylloxéra" wine, which is made from a micro plot of vines that haven?t been grafted, and can be traced back for more than 200 years!

Despite some requests for a siesta after lunch, we continued the day by visiting the tool shed and learning about the machines and equipment which help Marc and his team work the vines organically.

As the day drew to a close, we visited the fermentation hall, where Marc answered some of the last questions from our apprentice winemakers.

Many thanks to Marc and to all of the participants for a great day!

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Our Wine Experience will immerse your partner in the life of a French organic vineyard. Through the newsletters and photos, your other half will discover the work carried out by the winemaker from the vine to the bottle, and follow the key stages in making their own personalised bottles of wine.

And if your beloved is the type of person who likes to get involved in the heart of the action, you can include a Discovery, Harvest or Vinification Experience Day, so they can visit their vines and participate in the work. Depending on the type of day chosen and the time of the year, they'll prune, de-bud or harvest the vines, or discover the fermentation, ageing, and blending processes.

The winemaker is present at each day to explain his or her work, to share their passion, and to present their wines for tasting during a winemaker's meal of local produce. Each wine experience day is valid for two people, giving a great excuse for a romantic weekend break in France.

All of our partner wineries are organically certified, and are selected for the quality of their wines and the enthusiasm of our winemakers in talking about their profession. It all makes for an unforgettable experience for any couple to get away, open a few nice bottles of wine, and to be able to explain how the wine was made.

A lasting and original Saint Valentine's gift for any gourmet or wine enthusiast who is curious to learn what it takes to make a simple bottle of wine. A wine experience that you'll remember for a long time to come!

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Adopt some vines this Christmas for someone close in one of our 7 organic partner vineyards in France. For a winemaking year, they'll follow the evolution of their wine and will end up with their own personalised bottles of wine.

To complete this gift idea, you can also include one or more of the 3 Wine Experience Days at the winery. Participate in the work in the vineyard to help produce the best quality grapes during a Discovery Experience Day, or join the Harvest Experience Day to pick the grapes and follow their journey into the vat. The third option is the Vinification Experience Day to learn about the work in the cellar to ferment, age and blend the wines. Each day allows you to get involved in the work of the winemaker, to share a meal and taste wines from the winery.

All of our partner winemakers are organically certified and are passionate about their profession. They'll welcome you with pleasure and will let you in behind the scenes to learn more about the fascinating world of wine.

This unique and authentic approach to wine makes a great personalised Christmas gift. To have something to put underneath the Christmas tree and open on Christmas day, the welcome pack contains a sommelier's apron, a DropStop, personalised certificate and more information about the chosen experience.

 

More information on Christmas delivery times

More information on the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience

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Rather than hesitating over which bottle of wine to choose, turn them into an apprentice winemaker. They'll follow the progress of their adopted vines and all of the work in the cellar until their wine is made and bottled, together with their own personalised wine labels.

 

And if they are the type that like to roll their sleeves up and get stuck in, why not send them to one of our partner wineries for one or more Wine Experience Days, where they will be able to meet the winemaker, see their adopted vines, and share a winemaker's meal with a tasting of the vineyard's wines?

 

All of the days are accessible to novices as well as those with a more in depth wine knowledge. Through hands on participation, the days are focused to give an insight into what it's actually like to be a winemaker, and to gain a better understanding of all the work and decisions necessary to make a quality wine. There are three types of Experience Days; the Discovery Experience Day to learn more about the work in the vineyard to produce the best quality grapes possible, the Harvest Experience Day to pick the grapes and follow their journey into the fermentation tanks, and the Vinification Experience Day to track the work in the cellar to ferment, age, blend and bottle the wine.

 

All of our partner winemakers are organically or biodynamically certified, and are passionate about sharing the love of their profession. They will welcome you with pleasure and will talk about their daily life, the methods they have chosen to adopt to make their wine, and their commitment to making their wine as environmentally friendly as possible.

To find out more about our unique and authentic approach to discovering the world of winemaking, take a look at our personalised Christmas wine experience gifts. Your recipient will be sure to remember this original and participative gift for a long time to come. And this year, it won't just be Father Christmas who'll need to get his boots on!

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We started the day in the courtyard of the winery where Céline, the owner with her brother Stéphane, introduced us to the Alsace wine region and the 2014 harvest, as well as her journey in becoming a winemaker.

We then got booted up and headed off into the vineyard to join the team of harvesters that will work at the winery for the whole harvest period. Under the guidance of Stéphane and the more experienced harvesters, we set about picking, and filled a couple of trailers with nice ripe grapes. The harvest was helped this year by the good quality of the grapes, with very little unripe or damaged fruit. There was also a good yield on each vine.

On the way back to the winery, we stopped at the vineyard plot where the Gourmet Odyssey vines are located. Here, we inspected the health and quality of our Pinot Gris vines, which are not yet quite ripe for harvesting. After a few photos and some words of encouragement for the vines, we returned to the winery to watch our harvest be put into the press.

Stéphane explained why it was important to press the grapes quickly after been picked, and how to regulate the pressure to obtain the best possible press. He also answered numerous questions on how to measure the maturity of the grapes and how to decide when to harvest.

 

Whilst the grapes were slowly being pressed, we tasted some of the wines from the winery, accompanied by a savoury Kouglof, before sitting down to an alfresco lunch in the courtyard.

After lunch we went down into the cellar to see how our pressed juice was coming along. Stéphane explained the next steps to settle the wine and how the fermentation will transform the sugar into alcohol. He told us about all of the work to be done in the cellar during the harvest period, and showed us the barrel room, fermentation hall, and wine store.

Another rich and informative day, and as always in good cheer thanks to our involved and curious participants!

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After the coffee and croissants, we headed out into the vineyard to join up with the team of harvesters. Micheline, the team leader, distributed the secateurs and buckets to each of us, so we were equipped with the material necessary to harvest. She explained which grapes to pick and which to leave behind. We then spread out among the rows to get down to work.

 

 

In tandem with the pickers, the other important role in the vineyard during harvest time is that of the porters. We took it in turns to carry a basket on our back, and when the harvesters had filled their buckets, they then emptied them into the basket. The basket can hold more grapes than you would think, and quickly becomes rather heavy! To empty it, the porter carries his load to a waiting trailer, climbs a ladder, and then lets the grapes fall over his shoulder.

 

 

With such a great harvest, the buckets and baskets filled up quickly, and the morning passed by in a flash. Back at the winery, we had earned our aperitif. We tasted a Petit Chablis « Les Plantes » 2012, a Chablis « La Boissonneuse » 2011 and a Chablis 1er Cru « Les Vaudevey » 2011 before sitting down to lunch, where we continued the wine tasting.

 

 

After lunch, we made our way to the fermentation hall to see where the harvested grapes are weighed and put into the press. Here, Pierre and Julien explained how the grapes are pressed, put into the vats and how the juice is separated from the sediment.

 

 

We then walked to the Boissonneuse vineyard where the adopted vines are located and to take a few pictures.

 

 

The day finished with a tasting of two different grape juices, to compare the juice before and after settling. The juice will soon start to ferment to turn the sugar into alcohol, but we'll have to wait until next year for one of the Vinification Experience Days before we next get the chance to taste the wine!

Many thanks to Pierre, Micheline and Julien for welcoming us, and to all the participants for the work during the harvest and their good humour throughout the day.

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Once Eric and his wife Marie-Pierre, the owners of the winery, had explained to us how to pick the grapes, we spread out among the vine rows in pairs. This year, the harvest was made easier due to the excellent condition of the grapes, with practically nothing to sort or leave behind.

 

 

The buckets filled up quickly, and by the end of the morning we had filled two trailers. We followed our harvest to the chai to assist with the de-stemming, before the grapes were put into the vat. The berries are separated from the stalks and then, once in the vat, will start to slowly ferment. It was then time to refresh ourselves with a tasting of some of the estate's wines.

 

 

After lunch, which was prepared by Marie-Pierre, we headed back out into the vineyard. We learnt how to taste the grapes to decide whether they are ready for picking or if they need more time to mature. It's all a matter of the colour of the skin, the taste in the mouth, and what the pips look like. It all seems very easy to Eric, but for the rest of us, the nuances are often very subtle!

 

 

Whilst tasting the grapes, we took sample bunches from a number of different vine plots of Mourvèdre, Grenache and Syrah. We then mixed these together in the cellar to estimate the sugar levels and hence the potential volume of alcohol of the wine, if it were blended with these three grape varietals. It's quite a simple technique, but one that has to be repeated often and for each plot during the harvest time, to ensure the quality of the juice and of the wine that it will produce.

 

 

We finished the day by tasting the grape juice produced from the Viognier vine plot, which had started its fermentation two days beforehand. It was still very sweet, but had already started to fizz a little. After a few words on how the estate is managed organically and biodynamically, we had spent a very full and informative day.

 

 

Many thanks to all the participants for their questions and enthusiasm, and of course for the snip of their secateurs!

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If your Dad is interested in wine but has never had the opportunity to get involved in making wine with a winemaker, the Gourmet Oydssey Wine Experience will enable him to learn first-hand about all of the work in the vineyard and cellar. He'll be the adoptive owner of his vines for a winemaking year and, thanks to the newsletters and photos, he'll follow all of the steps in making his personalised wine.

He can also get stuck in and learn by participating in working at the winery for one of the Discovery, Harvest or Vinification Experience Days. He'll visit one of our seven partner vineyards and spend the day with the winemaker.

All of our partner wineries are organically certified, and are chosen for the quality of their wine, and the enthusiasm of the winemakers in sharing their passion for their profession. It's an unforgettable experience that will enable your father to open his bottles of wine in good company and explain how they were made.

Our welcome gift packs contain a sommelier's apron, a DropStop, adoption certificate and a brochure that explains the experience. They are delivered within 2 to 5 days depending on the delivery country, and for any last minute gifts, we'll send a copy of the certificate by email ahead of the welcome pack.

And the little added bonus, is that the Experience Days are valid for two people to share the fun!

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One of the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience gifts will enable the newlyweds to understand all of the work that the winemaker undertakes in the vineyard and the cellar when making their personalised bottles of wine. They will follow all of the key stages via newsletters and photos as their vintage unfolds.

 

The newlyweds can roll up their sleeves and get involved themselves if you include in their Wine Experience one of the Discovery, Harvest or Vinification Experience Days. They'll get to visit one of our seven partner vineyards to participate in the pruning, de-budding, harvesting or discovering the art of ageing and blending wines in the cellar. The winemakers will be there to explain their work, share their passion, and of course to let you taste their wines during the winemakers meal.

All of our partner wineries are organically certified, and are chosen for the quality of their wines, and the enthusiasm of the winemakers in explaining the intricacies of their profession. This means that the newlyweds will embark on an unforgettable experience to follow the making of their wine, from the same year as their wedding.

 

The welcome gift packs are delivered in 2 to 4 working days depending on the country of delivery, and for any last minute gifts, we can email the adoption certificate ahead of the welcome pack.

The Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience is an original idea for a wedding present for wine lovers and those curious to learn the secrets behind making a quality wine. An original wine gift that will last long in the memory.

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The Gourmet Odyssey Discovery Experience days teach you about all the work carried out in the vineyard from pruning right up until the grapes are ripe enough to be harvested.  Following the introductions from the winemakers, Céline and Stéphane, we headed off to the "Rosenberg" vineyard, where we paid a visit to our adopted vines.

 

 

 

Jean-Jacques, Céline and Stéphane's Dad, explained in detail all of the various stages in working the vines.

 

 

He particularly showed us how to de-bud the vines, which involves removing the double buds and excess shoots that grow on the trunks of the vines.  If left, these take away some of the plants energy which can be better used to produce nice ripe grapes.

 

 

With extra care as it is the plot of vines which will be used to make our wine, we got stuck into the de-budding!

 

 

We then walked through the vineyard a little to admire the fantastic views of the Alsace landscape and we could even see as far as the Alps.  Back at the winery, we tasted some of the wineries wines over lunch.

 

 

In the afternoon, Stéphane explained his philosophy of making wines, and took us on a tour of the fermentation halls to introduce us to the principal stages of vinification.

 

 

A full day, and very instructive thanks to the many questions and enthusiasm of our participants, and not forgetting our passionate winemakers of course!   

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