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

Adopt some organic vines

Adopt some vines and follow their progress as they produce the grapes that will make the wine for your personalised vintage, a Christmas gift that is sure to please all wine lovers. Via the customer portal, you can accompany the vines up to the harvest, and then you’ll learn about how the wine ferments and ages in the cellar. Each stage of the wine making process is explained in the newsletter, and you can also include wine experience days at the winery to spend the day with the winemaker and participate in helping to make your wine.
We have chosen to only work with winemakers who produce organically or biodynamically certified wines, who have been recognised for the quality of their wines in the most prestigious wine competitions, guides and reviews, and that have been selected for their enthusiasm and desire to share their passion for their profession. This all makes for an exceptional experience!

How to choose the right Christmas Wine Experience gift?

There are many different options for this unique wine-making present. First select if you want to give a red or white wine experience for your Christmas gift, then pick the wine-making region and winery. You can then choose the number of adopted vines and personalised bottles of wine that you wish to include. One vine gives one bottle of personalised wine.
You can also include up to three wine experience days at the winery with the winemaker and our oenologist. Each wine course lasts from 09:30 to 16:00, includes lunch and wine tasting, and is valid for two people. There are three types of day to choose from. The Discovery Experience Day focuses on the work in the vineyard to prepare the vines for harvest and includes hands-on participation in work such as pruning, de-budding, or training the vines. The Harvest Experience Day gets you involved in picking the grapes and learning about the work in the chai at harvest time to receive the grapes and start the fermentation process. The third option is the Vinification Experience Day which sees you participate in different workshops to discover the art of tasting, ageing, blending and bottling wine.

An unforgettable Christmas gift

It’s not just us who think so :-)! Take a look at the customer feedback we have received from our clients, press articles, or the wine reviews of our partner winemakers. We have been developing and delivering our Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience since 2009, forging strong links with our partner winemakers and our team of passionate oenologists to create the best possible experience for our customers.

Together we organise unforgettable, fun, and interactive days at the winery to learn all of the hard work and skill that goes into making a quality wine.

Order with confidence

Ordering is easy in just a few clicks, and then we do the rest:

- The welcome packs are sent out with 24 hours on working days
- There is a gift wrapping option with a personalised message possible
- For last minute gifts, we can send you the vine adoption certificate by email
- You can pay for your order in three instalments
The personalised welcome pack that we will send to your preferred address, contains some gifts to be enjoyed straight away: a DropStop, re-usable glass wine stopper, wine cooling bag, adoption certificate and personalised guide to explain the wine adventure that awaits!

Learn more about the Adopt-a-Vine Christmas gift

Visit our web site to learn more about the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience, to place an order, or to consult our Christmas delivery deadlines .

Further questions? We are available from 09:00 to 18:00 Paris time, Monday to Friday on +33 (0)1 46 27 05 92 or contact us on our web site.

Add a comment

 

 

The ViniBio wineries all have the official Agriculture Biologique organic certification and Demeter certification for those that are also biodynamic. Gourmet Odyssey partners exclusively with organic or biodynamic wineries, and so the ViniBio wine fair is the ideal event to discover our original, informative, and fun adopt-a-vine gift, the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience.

The wine fair has also partnered with the Noel en Bio organic Christmas gift fair this year, so it’s the perfect place to stock up on your environmentally friendly organic Christmas presents!

Presentations and wine tastings at the 2018 wine fair

During the 3 days of the wine fair, ViniBio will put on a series of presentations and tastings animated by wine experts, sommeliers and journalists. You can discover the programme of the wine fair on this page (French only).

Château Coutet, our partner winery in the Bordeaux region producing Saint-Emilion Grand Cru wines will also be attending the wine fair to present their range of delicious organic wines, and Château Coutet’s charismatic and passionate winemaker, Adrien David Beaulieu, will be speaking in one of the conferences about the unique biodiversity at the winery that has been preserved throughout the centuries thanks to no chemical products having ever been used at the winery.   

Come and visit us on our stand. We’d love to see you, and we’ll have a few surprises up our sleeves for the event!

Practical Information
Salon ViniBio
14 - 16 December 2018
Porte de Versailles, Hall 5.1
Open from 10:30 to 19:00 each day
Download your free invitation here

Add a comment

An early harvest

In almost all of France’s wine growing regions, 2018 was a very early year due to the glorious sunny and warm summer that we enjoyed.  In the east of the country, such as in Burgundy or Alsace, they were as much as one month early for the start of the grape harvest.  At Domaine Stentz-Buecher in Wettolsheim, we harvested the pinot noir grapes on the 8th September, where normally we would do so in October.

In some regions, such as for Château de la Bonnelière, near Chinon in the Loire Valley, the summer was so dry and hot, that the maturity of the grapes slowed down at the end of summer, putting back the harvest slightly compared to the forecasts at the start of the summer.

An exceptional quality

All of our partner winemakers agree in saying that the 2018 vintage is an exceptional one in terms of quality, with lovely healthy grapes that had ripened evenly.  The sugar levels needed to produce the alcohol were good with a nice concentration due to the summer heat.

Of course there still remains lots of work to do in the cellar, but all the early signs point to a great year.

A small yield

If the quality is high, the same cannot be said for the yields, the quantity being less than usual in some of the regions.  Alsace had a bumper crop of a great quality, Burgundy and the Loire better yields than the previous few years, but the south and west of France suffered.

The drought during the summer and beginning of autumn caused some of the grapes to dry out.  If it happens just a little, it’s not a big problem, and can even bring some added structure to the wine, but where the grapes dry out too much, they become as hard a pepper corns and have to be removed when harvesting, thus reducing the quantity.

Another problem was caused by the very wet spring which led to mildew attacking many of the wine growing regions, in some places having a significant impact on the yield, such as at Château Coutet in Saint-Emilion, where some of the merlot plots lost as much as 95% of the grapes.

Mildew reduces the yield

This year the fight against mildew was one of the principal preoccupations of our organic partner winemakers.  With such a rainy autumn, it was often impossible to treat the vines, or when they were able to be treated, the next rain shower would fall quickly afterwards and wash the protection away, as organic treatments remain on the surface of the leaves and don’t penetrate inside the plant.

For example, in Saint-Emilion, more than 30mm of rain fell continuously for 10 consecutive days.  The mildew set in on the leaves, and then developed on the grapes during the summer, causing them to become dry and hard.  In the Côtes du Rhône region, Domaine de la Guicharde, was also affected in their Grenache plots, and Domaine Allegria noted the same for their Carignan vines.

But a smaller yield generally means that the remaining grapes are of a higher quality.  Now the role of the winemaker in the cellar to vinify, age and blend the wines will come into effect, and will play a crucial role in developing and defining the quality of the 2018 vintage.  We look forward to tasting the wines in the cellar as they evolve during our Vinification Experience Days next year.


Interested in learning more and getting involved in harvesting the grapes in an award-winning French organic winery?  You can do so with a Harvest Experience Day with the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience.

Add a comment

Here are all the dates for the rest of the year:

  

Salon des Vignerons Indépendants – Lyon, Halle Tony Garnier – 25-29 October 2018

The Salon des Vignerons Indépendants wine fairs promote independent wineries that directly manage the whole process from working in the vineyard, through harvesting the grapes, working in the cellar, bottling the wines and selling their wines themselves. Domaine de la Guicharde, from the Côtes du Rhône region, will be on the stand B62.

Download your invitation here.

Salon Ô l’Amour - Mulhouse, DMC – 27- & 28 October 2018

This is a fair held in Alsace that is dedicated to weddings. You’ll perhaps find your happiness among the wines of Domaine Stentz-Buecher to accompany your wedding banquet.

Salon Sous Les Paves La Vigne – Lyon, place de la Bourse – 3-4 November 2018

This natural wine fair in Lyon unites 60 winemakers from all over France and a few from countries further afield. Domaine de la Guicharde, from the Rhone Valley, will be among the wineries present.

Salon des vins et des produits de terroir – Annecy, Sévrier  - 9-11 November 2018

Organised by the Annecy Lac Lions Club each year since 1998, this year’s wine fair includes 98 winemakers and gourmet artisan producers from France and abroad, who will present their best wines. Our Burgundy partner, Domaine Chapelle, will be there.

 

Salon des Vignerons Indépendants – Lille, Grand Palais – 16-19 November 2018

The Lille version of the Independent Winemakers Fair will welcome Domaine de la Guicharde on stand B71.

Download your invitation here.

 

Salon des Barricades – Bordeaux, Espace Darwin – 17-18 November 2018

This organic wine fair presents sees 60 winemakers serve their wines with local gourmet produce. Château Coutet, our partner winemaker in Saint-Emilion, is among the participating wineries.

Private Tasting with Domaine Chapelle – Paris, Hôtel Napoléon – 21-23 November 2018

As usual at this time of year, Domaine Chapelle will present their organic Burgundy wines in the Hôtel Napoléon, just next to Paris’ Champs-Elysées. The Domaine Remorquiet and Domaine Coste Caumartin will also be present.
Entrance by invitation only. Contact us.

 

Salon des Vignerons Indépendants - Paris, Porte de Versailles – 29 November -  December 2018

The Independent Winemakers Fair makes its stop in Paris at the end of November. Among the participating wineries, you’ll find our partners, Domaine Stentz-Buecher on stand M 4, and Château de la Bonnelière from the Loire Valley on stand F 14.

Download your invitation here.

Alsace Christmas Market -  Paris - Parvis de la Gare de l’Est - 1-16 December 2018.

To get into the Alsace Christmas spirit without leaving Paris, just go the Gare de l’Est. Authentic Alsace winemakers and producers provide all of the Alsace Christmas gourmet food and wine treats that this great culinary region has to offer. Domaine Stentz-Buecher awaits your visit!

 

Salon Capvin – Belgium, Mouscron – 7-9 December

Domaine de la Guicharde, from the Cotes du Rhone region will present their biodynamic wine at the wine fair in Belgium that also helps to raise funds for Cap48.

 

Salon Vinibio - Paris, Portes de Versailles – 14-16 December 2018  

This excellent organic wine fair has partnered with the « Noël en bio » organic Christmas gift wine fair in Paris. Our Bordeaux partner winery from Saint-Emilion, Château Coutet, will present their wines, and Gourmet Odyssey will also have a stand to present our original Christmas gift ideas for wine lovers.

Download a free invitation here.

Gourmet Odyssey and our partner winemakers look forward to welcoming your to our stands!

Add a comment

After the introductions, we headed up the grassy track onto the limestone plateau where Saint-Emilion’s finest vineyard plots are located.  This is where the Gourmet Odyssey adopted vines are to be found, in the Peycocut vineyard.  We took a few minutes to find our micro-plot of adopted merlot vines, to take a few pictures.

We then headed to a neighbouring cabernet franc vineyard plot, and equipped ourselves with a pair of secateurs and crate to put the harvested grapes in.  We listened intently to the instructions to learn which grapes to pick, and which to leave.  The mildew that had set in in the spring had meant that we had to be particularly attentive in sorting out the grapes that had dried up to become as hard as peppercorns.  To the chagrin of the winemaker, in a year that the harvest is much smaller than usual, it also takes much more time to pick the grapes as you have to be that much more selective.

As we picked the grapes we chatted away and asked the winemakers lots of questions covering a wide range of subjects such as the work in the vineyard, the surrounding Saint-Emilion vineyards, being organic, and the David-Beaulieu’s long history with the winery stretching back over 15 generations.

Once we had filled our crates, we took them to the trailer to be stacked carefully so as to not crush the grapes.  Our reward?  Another crate to keep us busy!  Once the bell from one of the nearby clock towers had chimed, we downed tools, and followed our precious harvest back down the hill to the winery.

A welcome glass of wine, the 2015 vintage of the winery’s second wine, Château Belle-Cimes, was waiting for us, which we enjoyed in the park between the château and the vineyard.  During the tasting, we learnt about the incredible story of Cuvée Eméri, a bottle of wine found in the family cellar that dates back to 1750, and that is still full thanks to the glass stopper used to seal the bottle.  The family has recreated the wine and bottle as closely as possible to how it would have been originally made, and the grapes that we had picked in the morning were destined to help make the 2018 vintage of the Cuvée Emeri.

We then sat down to a delicious lunch prepared on-site by the excellent local caterer, where we tasted some of the other wines.   To start, we had a winemaker’s salad with smoked bacon and soft poached egg, served with the round and elegant 2014 Château Coutet Saint-Emilion Grand Cru red wine.  Then for the main course we enjoyed guinea fowl with a foie-gras and wild mushroom sauce and a medley of seasonal vegetables, served with the more structured 2015 vintage of the same wine.  With the cheese and chocolate desert, we were privileged to taste the 2014 vintage of the Cuvée Demoiselle, which is the same wine that goes into the Cuvée Emeri, the only difference being the glass bottle itself.  Not your average harvester’s lunch!

Harvest time at the winery isn’t just about picking grapes as we were about to find out.  Underneath the awning that had been erected outside the chai, the grapes that we had picked were awaiting for us.  Several stations had been set up and we gathered around to listen to the instructions.  As the grapes were destined for the Cuvée Emeri, they were to be dealt with in a special manner.  Instead of using the sorting table and de-stemming machine, our grapes were to be sorted by hand, berry by berry.  By hand picking only the very best of the grapes, and removing any that weren’t ripe enough or had been affected by the mildew, the winemaker can significantly improve the quality of the resulting wine, particularly in a difficult year such as this one.

Hand sorting the grapes is however a very time consuming way of doing things, and therefore costly.  We therefore saw how the same job can be done by machine before heading into the chai.  Here we learnt how the grapes are put into the different vats, and the juice turned into wine during the fermentation period, and the work done to extract the colour and tannins from the skins during maceration.

We ended the day in the barrel room for a quick introduction to the work that will be covered in more detail during the Vinification Experience Days to age, blend, and prepare the wines to be ready for bottling.  There is still lots that needs to be done before we have our personalised bottles of wine in our hands!

Interested in participating in the harvesting the grapes in Saint-Emilion or giving an adopt-a-vine gift?  More information on the Wine Experience.

Add a comment

After a brief introduction to the day and the winery, we made our way up the track to the Miocène vineyard, admiring the views across to Mont Ventoux and the Dentelles de Montmirail along the way.  When we arrived we noticed that name plates had been put in front of some of the vines, marking where each of our adopted vines were to be found.  We took a few minutes to visit our vines, admire the grapes that they had produced, and to take a few photos.

Arnaud then explained how to harvest the grapes using the secateurs and bucket that we had each been given.  Fully equipped and briefed, we spread out between the vine rows and started to cut the grape bunches, being careful to avoid our fingers in the process!
We were picking Grenache Noir grapes.  A quick taste of the sweet grapes revealed that they had a good sugar level, and by looking at the pips, their brown colour confirmed that they were ripe.  The quality was good, but the quantity was less than in a usual year due to the mildew that had attacked the vineyard earlier in the year during the wet spring weather.   Domaine de la Guicharde had been relatively lucky though in comparison to some of the neighbouring vineyards.

The buckets soon filled up, and once there was no more room, we passed them underneath the rows where they were emptied into one of the trailers.  As we gained in confidence, the speed picked up, and we had soon filled the first trailer.

Once we reached the end of the row, we stopped for a welcome glass of water before starting the next row. Before we knew it, we had reached the end of the morning, and so we made our way back to the winery, following behind the tractor and our precious harvest.  We watched the grapes make their way through the de-stemming machine to separate the berries from the stems, and into the vat where they will begin the process to turn the grape juice into wine.

In the shady courtyard of the winery, Isabelle had prepared a well-earned chiled glass of rosé, followed by a glass of the Pur Rouge 2016 wine.  We continued the tasting of the winery’s biodynamic wines over lunch which had been prepared by the excellent local restaurant “Le Temps de Vivre”.  To accompany the millefeuille of aubergine, fresh goat’s cheese, sun dried tomatoes, and courgette coulis, we savoured the Genest 2016 red wine.  We then compared it to the 2014 Genest wine in a magnum with the main course of veal and mushroom risotto.  With the cheese platter, we enjoyed the Autour de la Chapelle 2016 white wine, and to accompany the home-made chocolate mousse, we finished with the 2015 Terroir du Miocène, the Massif d’Ucahux Côtes du Rhône Villages wine chosen for the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience.

We returned to the chai in the afternoon to learn about the work carried out there during harvest time.  It’s not just about picking grapes.  Arnaud explained how the grapes start to ferment, and the work done to keep the juice in contact with the skin during the maceration process.  We learnt about the differences between making red, white and rosé wines.

The day ended with a discussion about biodynamic wine-making.  The winery is certified by Demeter, and Arnaud explained how the work at the winery is organised around the lunar calendar, both in the vineyard and in the cellar.  It’s a fascinating approach, and a subject about which Arnaud speaks with passion.

Many thanks to Isabelle and Arnaud for their warm welcome, and to all of the participants for their work and good spirits.  We look forward to returning next year to see how the wines are progressing during the Vinification Experience Days.

Interested in participating in the harvest in France or giving an original gift to a wine lover?  More information on the Wine Experience.

Add a comment

 

After a quick introduction to the winery and some pain au chocolat, we were all set to head out into the vineyard and get stuck into harvesting the grapes.

The Clos Neuf vineyard is located on the left bank of the River Vienne, as are all of Château de la Bonnelière’s plots. The soil of this plot is made up of sand and gravel, a terroir that favours the lighter red or rosé wines of those that the winery produces. This year the grapes from the Clos Neuf vineyard will be used to make rosé.

At the start of the summer, the harvest looked as though it would be very early, but the dry and hot weather had slowed down the vines.  The grapes were however in great shape, and packed full of the sugar needed to make a good wine!

The grapes are picked and then put into crates, so that the grapes remain as intact as possible before being put into the press. After a few instructions of which grapes to pick, and which to leave, as well as a few safety tips, the team was ready. In pairs we spread out amongst the rows to start the harvest. Our crates quickly filled with the picked bunches.

We stopped mid-morning for a harvester’s snack of rillettes and a glass of Chinon to keep the spirits high for the last few snips of the secateurs!  We managed to pick the whole plot over the weekend, and with no cuts whatsoever!  

We then returned to the winery for a spot of lunch and a tasting of the different wines produced by the château, including the 2016 vintage of the Clos de la Bonnelière. This gave us an idea of the wine to come, as it is the one chosen for the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience.

After lunch, we visited the adopted vines, to encourage them in the last stretch before being ready to harvest. The lack of water had slowed down the maturing process of the grapes, and we will have to wait almost two weeks before they are fully ripe. We’ll see next year when we taste the wine, whether our sweet words had any effect!

To end our harvest day, we followed the grapes that we had picked in the morning to the press. To make the rosé wine, Marc had decided to press the grapes slowly to extract a nice pink colour from the skins.

We also learnt about the start of the fermentation cycle for making the rosé, white and red wines, and finished by tasting some of the white grape juice that had already started the fermentation process, as well as cleaning the material, ready for the next day’s harvest.

We can’t wait to come back next year for the Vinification Experience Days to learn about the next stage of ageing the wines and getting them ready for bottling.

Interested in picking the grapes in the Loire Valley during the harvest or giving an adopt-a-vine gift to someone special?  More information on the Wine Experience.

Add a comment

The harvest is always a busy time for the winemakers and their teams, but Jean-François Chapelle had set aside three days to explain the work at harvest time, to recount his family’s history with the winery, and to share his organic work philosophy.

After a welcome coffee in the harvesters’ refectory, we were introduced to the day ahead in the garden of the château. Jean-François also told us a little about the history of the Burgundy wine-growing region.

We then made our way to the Clos des Cornières vineyard to catch up with our adopted vines. As usual, the cameras clicked away, as the participants tried to capture the most original photo for the annual My Vine photo competition. Don’t forget to send in your entries!

It was now time to get down to the serious business of the day. Equipped with a pair of secateurs each, Jean-François briefed us in how to be the perfect harvester. We learnt that the grapes to pick are only to be found between the first two training wires, and only those bunches which are of a uniform blue colour. Anything that isn’t ripe is left on the vine.

As the year had been particularly hot and dry, the grapes on some of the bunches had become a little withered. These we kept, as they help to give character to the wine. However, the berries that had completely dried out were removed from the bunch before being put into the tray.

And so we started to harvest in perfect conditions. About an hour and a few plasters later (being an apprentice harvester isn’t as easy as all that!), the trays were full and the vine rows perfectly harvested.

The harvest this year is of an exceptional quality. Beautiful, healthy grapes, uniformly ripe, and a yield that is plentiful compared to the last few years!

We then followed the grapes back to the winery where they were emptied on to the sorting table for the second check of the quality before being put into the vats. Here any grapes that aren’t of a good enough quality and any leaves are removed. The remaining grapes then fall into the de-stemming machine for the berries to be separated from the stems. The grapes then make their way by trolley to a conveyor belt that carries them up into the fermentation vats.

By this time it was now time for the aperitif. We tasted a Santenay 1er Cru Gravières white wine, accompanied by some traditional Burgundy gougères.

Lunch was served in the harvesters’ refectory. A Burgundy tourte for starter, followed by veal medallions and mushroom crumble, a local cheese platter, and raspberry desert. These delicious dishes were accompanied by three of the red wines produced by Domaine Chapelle, a 2016 Burgundy red, a 2015 Santenay “Clos des Cornières”, and a 2013 Chassagne Montrachet “Morgeot” Premier Cru.

After lunch we returned to the fermentation hall to put the grapes into the vats, and to learn about the fermentation process that will turn the grape juice into wine, and how the vats are worked during the maceration period to extract the colour and tannins from the skins

It was a fun and informative day. We had all worked hard, and progressed from our status of apprentice harvester. We now have to wait a while before tasting this very promising 2018 vintage that will surely be one of the great vintages. We’ll be able to check when we come back for the Vinification Experience Days at the beginning of 2019.

Add a comment

Firstly be careful when choosing your wine because not all wines are at their best when the mercury starts to rise.  Of course, the wine should be chosen to match the dish being served, but you also need to take a few points into consideration.  For red wines, favour lighter wines because the heat makes the tannins more pronounced, and serve them between 15 and 18°C.  For the whites, choose dry and mineral wines over complex and sweet wines.  They are usually best served between 9 and 11°C, when the aromas are best released.  The same is true for champagnes and rosé wines, the latter being better suited if they are light and fruity.

These serving temperatures feel much less compared to the 30+°C often encountered during the summer months.  The most important thing is to try and avoid any thermal shocks.  For example with red wines, rather than letting the bottle breathe in the warm air and then cooling it down afterwards, if you’re lucky enough to have a cellar, it’s better to open the bottle and let it breathe in the cellar, and then bring it out at the last minute.  Not such an easy thing to do with a wine fridge though!

Alternatively, if you have a little time ahead of you, before opening the bottle, wrap it up in a damp tea towel and put it in the fridge for an hour at most, but no longer. The wet tea towel will help lower the temperature a little more quickly.

If you prefer to use an ice bucket or ice bag, which can also be used to stop the wine from warming up whilst on the table, mix some cold water with the ice cubes, as still wines don’t like to be frozen, and add some coarse salt which helps the temperature fall more quickly.

Chilling sleeves that you place in the fridge or freezer before wrapping them around the bottle don’t really chill a wine, but they are useful in maintaining the same temperature without causing any thermal shocks.

When using a carafe to serve your wine, they also exist with removable tubes that you can fill with water and freeze so that the ice can be used without diluting the wine.  Of course ice cubes and wine are not a good idea if you want to preserve the aromas and concentration of the wine.  If you really want to put something frozen directly in your wine, an alternative is to freeze some grapes, berry by berry, and then add them when needed.  They’ll cool the wine down without diluting it as ice cubes do, and at least its more eye catching!

Another tip is to chill the wine glasses using ice cubes just before serving the wine, which will stop the wine from warming up so quickly in the glass.  To chill the glass, put a few ice cubes in, and swirl them around until the glass starts to frost up.

By following these few tips, you should be able to continue enjoying a few nice bottles this summer. Enjoy your holiday!

Related articles

Add a comment

After the introductions, we made our way through the vineyards and up the hill.  On the way, we learnt about the different grape varietals of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Malbec that are grown on the estate, and we marvelled at the trees and hedgerows that help to make up the special ecosystem of the winery. Around 20% of the winery’s surface area is voluntarily set aside from growing vines to preserve and encourage the biodiversity, which in turn helps maintain a natural equilibrium.

From the top of the hill, we had a good vantage point over the plain below, stretching past Libourne to Fronsac, and across the Dordogne River into the Entre Deux Mers wine-growing region.  Here we learnt the role that the landscape plays in influencing the weather in Saint-Emilion, and could see how the soil changes from the sandy loam flood plain, to the clay limestone on the side of the hill, to the limestone plateau at the top.  The vines at Château Coutet grow on these three distinct terroir.

Up on the plateau, we made our way to the Peycocut vineyard, one of the 12 reference vineyards in Saint-Emilion, traditionally used by the Jura to determine the date for the harvest.  This is where the Gourmet Odyssey adopted vines are located, and we took a few minutes to visit our vines, admire the views of the rolling vineyards, and take a few pictures.

The work in the vineyard began during the cold winter months with pruning.  We learnt how this is done, and were brought up to speed on the other work accomplished so far this year to de-bud the vines, raise the training wires, and work the soil.

The past few months have been warm and wet.  This has meant that the vines have grown rampantly, but it is also been the ideal conditions for mildew to flourish.  Whilst walking in the vineyards we could see some of the tell-tale yellow spots on the vine leaves.  With the heavy downpours of rain, it hasn’t always been possible to get the tractor into the vineyard to treat the vines when needed.   As the vineyard is organic and the bouillie bordelaise used to protect the vines from mildew is a contact product, it gets washed away and needs to be reapplied after each 20mm of rain.

Another way to help reduce the spread and impact of mildew is to remove some of the leaves around the grapes, which improves the air flow and speeds up the drying time after any rain.  This was the job that had been set aside for us, and we were shown how to do so.  The first factor to take into consideration is the alignment of the vines.  In the Bordeaux region the summer months can get very hot with strong sunshine.  The leaves are therefore only removed on the east facing side which receives the gentler morning sun.  The leaves are kept on the other side to protect the grapes from the more powerful afternoon sun.  The leaves to be removed are those directly in front of the grapes and any which touch the grapes and could transport moisture to the grapes from the rest of the plant.

After watching the winemakers do this expertly, we spread out in pairs to have a go ourselves.  It’s not the most intellectually demanding task, but we soon learnt that it’s more physically demanding that you might think, and that there is a real technique needed to go fast.

We then headed back to the winery, and enjoyed a well earned glass of chilled Clairet rosé wine in the shade of the magnificent trees in the chateau’s garden.

Lunch was delicious as usual, prepared on site by the excellent caterers.  We had foie-gras with fig chutney and savoury breads for starter, followed by magret de canard with a 4 spice sauce, mashed potato with truffle oil, and garden vegetables.  To accompany these dishes, we tasted the Château’s second wine, Belles-Cîmes 2015, and compared the 2014 and 2015 vintages of the Château Coutet.  We then tasted the Cuvée Demoiselle 2014 with the cheese and dessert.

After lunch, we talked some more about how the winery is managed organically, and has always been so since time began.  We also learnt about the work left to do in the vineyard before the harvest, and how the winemakers will tell when the grapes are ripe enough to be picked.

The day ended with a quick visit of the chai, family cellar, and barrel room.  The family cellar is full of old vintage wines going back over the past 50 years or so, and everyone tried to find the bottles from their birth years.

We’ll be spending more time in the chai during the Vinification Experience Day next year.  For now we have to wait patiently as the grapes ripen before returning in September to help pick the grapes during the Harvest Experience Day.

Add a comment

  

After the introductions we ventured out into the Clos de la Bonnelière vineyard to meet our adopted vines and to see the grape bunches that have already started to form! 

Marc talked about the work that has been so far to get the vines to this stage. The flowering period had gone well despite the wet spring, and we can start to hope for a good harvest, as long as the weather doesn’t have other plans between now and the moment when the grapes are picked.

The task for the day was de-leafing, which involves removing the leaves from in front of the vines. The principal reason is to allow the grapes to dry more quickly after any rain, thus limiting the spread of diseases such as mildew. A simple, but important task, expertly carried out by our adoptive vine parents!

Mission accomplished, and after a question and answer session on organic wine-making, the daily life at the winery, and the work left to do in the vineyard, we sat down to enjoy the lunch which had been prepared by Mme Plouzeau. Her great specialty, the strawberry Chantilly proved to be a big hit once again. And of course, we enjoyed a selection of wines from Château de la Bonnelière.

After lunch, we visited some of the other vineyards to get a better idea as to the different terroir that make up the winery. We talked about how the work varies in the different plots, and discussed the organic practices used, many of which can also be used in the garden back home!

We’ll next be back for the harvest, and so have to wait patiently to see the fruit of our labour. In the meantime, we wish Marc and the vines a great summer!

Add a comment

The flowering period is one of the growth stages of the vine life cycle and marks the start of the formation of the grapes.  After the winter rest period, the vines start to come back to life as the soil starts to warm again in March, and the sap starts to flow again in the vines.  In April the buds start to appear on the branches and then burst to make way for the leaves to start unfurling.

The leaves and branches continue to develop into May, and you can start to see the structure of the future bunches to form.  Small tight green clusters that look like buttons appear on the tips of the young shoots.  Each of the flower buttons has a cap of petals known as the calyptra to protect the reproductive organs inside.

The caps are shed to reveal the reproductive organs.  Vines used in wine-making are generally hermaphroditic, containing both male and female reproductive organs, and so are capable of pollenating themselves.  The conditions have to be right however for this to occur.

And that is where the difficulty lies.  As a general rule of thumb, flowering happens eight weeks after bud burst and lasts between 8 and 15 days.  If the weather is mixed it can take longer than if it is hot and sunny.  It normally happens around June, when the weather can be variable, and so the results can be mixed.

If it rains a lot or the temperatures are cool, the floral caps aren’t able to detach themselves properly, and the fecundation can’t take place, which means no fruit to harvest in the autumn.  That is known as coulure, and the flower dries up without having been pollinated.

Flowering can be more or less marked depending on the region, and the grape varietal.  You can tell that the vine has been well fecundated when the grapes that form a few days later are all of the same size.

Traditionally you count 100 days from the flowering period to the start of the harvest.  We should shortly have a good indication of when the 2018 harvest will be!

Add a comment

 

 

The sun was shining brightly, and so we made ourselves at home in the winery’s garden, overlooking the Clos des Cornières vineyard where our adopted pinot noir vines are located. 

Jean-François, the winemaker and owner at Domaine Chapelle introduced us to the winery and gave us a recap of the 2017 vintage. He also pointed out the different terroir found in the surrounding vineyards to get a better understanding of the geology and its impact on the hierarchy of the Burgundy AOC system. The surrounding area is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

We then split into two groups, one of which went first with Jean-François for a visit of the cellar and to taste the 2017 vintage directly from the barrel, and the other group stayed with Yvette, Jean-François’ wife, to develop their senses that would be put to the test during the wine tasting to come. The groups then swapped over.

Jean-François explained how the sugar in the grapes is transformed into alcohol during the first fermentation phase after the harvest.  We also had the honour of tasting some of the 2017 wines that are currently still in the ageing process, drawing them by pipette directly from the barrel.

Yvette helped us discover and identify the aromas that can be found in Burgundy wines, and explained where they come from, whether it’s from the grape and quality of the grape, or from the vinification and ageing process. 

We then put our new found knowledge to the test as we tasted different wines from Domaine Chapelle, starting with a glass of the chardonnay AOC Santenay Saint Jean white wine.

During lunch we enjoyed some local dishes of jambon persillé, Gaston Gérard chicken, local cheeses and a chocolate and blackcurrant entremets desert, accompanied by three red wines from Domaine Chapelle, the 2014 Santenay Clos des Cornières, the 2011 Santenay La Comme Premier Cru and the 2013 Chassagne Montrachet Morgeot Premier Cru.

After lunch we headed out into the vineyard to meet our adopted vines, and see how they are preparing for the 2018 vintage. We encouraged them to continue their good work, and passed the baton to the adoptive owners of the 2018 vintage!

Jean-François explained the three different ages of vines that are used in making the Clos des Cornières wine. The 2017 vintage will be the last for a while to use the three different aged vines because the oldest plot of vines was uprooted earlier in the year.  It will be replanted with young vines, but it will take a few more years before any grapes will be produced.

Back at the winery, we tasted the wines that are currently ageing from these three different aged vines, and so could see for ourselves the difference in quality. Each of the three plots is picked, vinified, and aged separately before being blended when it comes time to bottle the wine.  We noted that the tannins were much softer for the oldest vines, whilst they were still marked for the youngest plot. The winemaker can balance these different styles when blending the final wine.

We had spent a very enjoyable day in Santenay at Domaine Chapelle and can’t wait to taste the 2017 Clos des Cornières wine when it is finished!

Add a comment

By adopting some vines, your Dad will follow the progress of his vines and the making of his own French organic wine for a wine-making year at one of our acclaimed organic wineries in France. Through our newsletters and photos, your Dad will learn about all of the key stages in making a great organic wine, from the work in the vineyard to the choices the winemaker takes in the cellar to ferment, age and prepare the wine before it is ready to be bottled.

At the end of the wine-making year, your Dad can choose the name of his wine, and will receive one personalised bottle of wine for each adopted vine.

To make the experience even more interactive, you can add one or more Wine Experience Days at the winery so your father can visit his adopted vines, meet the winemaker and get involved in working alongside him in the vineyard to nurture the vines or pick the grapes, or to learn about the work in the cellar.

Each Wine Experience Day lasts a full day from 9:30 to 16:00 and includes a wine tasting and full lunch at the winery. These fun days are valid for two people, and are an eye-opening immersion into the real life of a wine-maker!

All of our partner wineries are organically or biodynamically certified and produce wines that are often awarded medals or selected by the main wine guides. They take pride and pleasure in sharing the ins and outs of their profession with you.

Our Wine Experience Father’s Day gift begins with the reception of a welcome gift box containing a wine cooler bag, a re-usable glass wine-stopper, a Drop Stop and a personalised adoption certificate. Your Dad then starts his Wine Experience as soon as he activates his customer portal using the code contained in his welcome pack!

Delivery of the welcome pack takes two working days in France, and between 3 and 6 days for the rest of Europe. For any last minute Father’s Day gifts, we can send you the certificate by email.

Add a comment

The terroir and grape varietals of the Rhone Valley

The Rhone Valley landscape is very old, being formed some 300 million years ago as a result of the volcanic activity of the Massif Central, then when the Alpes were born 40 million years ago, some of the land subsided, separating the two massifs by the valley created between the two. At first the sea covered the land, but little by little the water level decreased and the river bed dug deeper leaving behind layered terraces on the banks of the valley. Today, four different types of rock and soil type can be found. Granite, sandy silica, limestone and clay. This varied terroir helps explain why the region is home to so many different grape varietals.

Some 27 grape varietals can be found in the Rhone Valley, 21 of which can be used in the Cotes du Rhone wine appellations. The main varietals found are grenache noir, syrah and mourvèdre for the red wines, and marsanne and viognier for the white wines. Grape varietals with a high tannic structure such as syrah favour silica soils for example, whilst the Grenache do well in limestone.

The history of the Cotes du Rhone wine-growing region

Wine-making in the Rhone Valley goes back a very long way, and we can find traces near Marseille that date to 400 BC, and as you go further north, to the first century AD. At this time, the large wine growing towns emerged on the banks of the river, as well as the workshops that produced the amphorae, used to transport the wine. These archaeological discoveries make the Rhone wine growing region one of the oldest in France.

The reputation of the wine from the region expanded in the 14th century during the time that the Popes settled in Avignon rather than Rome. The wine growing region developed lots during this time, and in 1650, there was even regimentation in place to guarantee the origin and quality of the “Coste du Rhône” wines. The appellation AOC Cotes du Rhone was launched in 1937.

The appellations

 

 

The Cotes du Rhone AOC territory stretches some 250 km from north to south and covers 171 communes. A wine that carries the Cotes du Rhone AOC can be made from grapes grown anywhere within this geographical area. Next up the chain are the Cotes du Rhone Villages wines that are produced by 95 authorised communes. There are then 18 Cotes du Rhone Villages appellations that are allowed to include the name of the village from where the grapes are grown. Wines that fall into this category include Cairanne, Laudun, Massif d’Uchaux, Valréas and Visan. At the top of the hierarchy are 17 Cotes du Rhone Cru wines such as Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Vinsobres, Vacqueyras, Gigondas, and Tavel. These wines are considered to be of the best quality.

There are also a few AOC appellations from the Rhone Valley that don’t fall under the Cotes du Rhone umbrella, such as Costiere de Nîmes, Ventoux, and Grignan-les-Adhemar.

An interactive map of the different appellations is available on the InterRhone website, a site that promotes the AOC Cotes du Rhone and Rhone Valley wines.
 

A few hidden gems to discover

As we have seen, there are many different wines in the Rhone valley, covering a large geographical area, and even if we have only looked at the southern Rhone wines in this article, the wines produced are very varied in style. There are still lots of appellations that are largely unknown to many, but which are gaining in notoriety and becoming more and more sought after by wine professionals and wine lovers alike.

The Massif d’Uchaux Cotes du Rhone Villages is a great example. This relatively new appellation was granted a named Villages status in 2005 to designate the 750 hectares that make up the distinct geology of the terroir, being made up of principally limestone soil, at a slightly higher altitude than the surrounding landscape, and with south, southeast or southwest facing slopes. Millions of years ago, the Massif d’Uchaux was an island, surrounded by sea. This unique terroir produces fruity and concentrated wines. The wine must be made up of at least 50% Grenache noir, but can be blended with a mix of the other regional grape varietals of syrah, mourvedre, cinsault or cargignan.  Domaine de la Guicharde and Domaine la Cabotte are great ambassadors of the appellation.

Another appellation is Grignan-les-Adhémar, formerly known as the Coteaux du Tricastin. Thanks to thoroughly renewing their charter and changing their name, they have been able to rejuvenate this wine growing region. It benefits from a diverse geology and its proximity to the hillsides helps develop wines that are fruity and fresh.

Next time you’re passing through the southern Rhone wine growing region, don’t hesitate to stop to admire the picturesque scenery and to treat your taste buds to the many delicious wines and culinary delights!


Related articles
Le Domaine de la Guicharde rejoint l’Expérience Vin de Gourmet Odyssey

Add a comment