Adopt a Vine and Make Your Own Wine

with the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience

Visit www.gourmetodyssey.com for more information

Tagged articles : Varietal

The 2019 harvest of cinsault grapes in the Languedoc


We spent a very enjoyable day harvesting the grapes under the bue sky in Domaine Allegria’s plot of cinsault vines.  It was a plot that had unfortunately suffered from the heatwave on the 28th June, so the quantity was reduced, but there were still enough grapes to keep us busy!

 

Meet an organic winemaker in teh Languedoc area France

After the introductions and instructions on how to harvest, we were each given a pair of harvesting secateurs, and we started to pick the grapes and put them in the crates.

Grape picking experience in Languedoc, France

We quickly got into the routine, and by midday we had finished the plot. We had picked 1200 kg, compared to 2500 kg in 2017 for the same plot, less than half the quantity.

Harvest Day experience in Languedoc, France

We then headed back to the winery, where Delphine, the winemaker had prepared a delicious lunch, centred around the old variety tomatoes that had been grow in the winery’s garden, and of course tasted the different wines throughout the meal.

harvesters' lunch at domaine Allegria in Languedoc, France

After lunch, we headed to the fermentation hall to put our harvest into a stainless steel vat. We first emptied the crates into the de-stemming machine to separate the grape berries from the stems.

Wine-making experience in Languedoc, France

The grapes then continued their journey into the vat, and we then washed the emptied crates. In 30 minutes we had put all of the grapes into the vat and all of the materiel was cleaned, thanks to our enthusiastic and efficient team of apprentice winemakers that we would like to have with us every day in the cellar!

Harvest experience in the chai in Languedoc, France

The day ended with a walk in the vineyard and a visit to see our adopted syrah vines. The grapes from this plot will be blended with the neighbouring mourvèdre grapes to make the Tribu d’A wine. The grapes had already been harvested because they had reached optimum maturity, and once that has happened, you can’t wait any longer!

Add a comment

Wine making course in Bordeaux


Many thanks to all of the participants of the Vinification Experience Day at Château Beau Rivage in Bordeaux last weekend. We spent a great time learning more about the art of blending wines and the work of the winemaker in the chai to vinify and age their wines.

The day started in the chai, where Christine Nadalié, the winemaker at Château Beau Rivage, explained how the grapes are received during harvest time and the work done during the fermentation period.

wine experience in Bordeaux

We then passed through into the barrel room. Christine comes from a family of coopers, and she spoke with passion about the role of the barrel in ageing wine.

Vineyard experience in Bordeaux

Before starting the wine tasting workshops, we headed out into the vineyard to see the plot where our adopted vines are to be found. The first buds are starting to appear on the vines, and in no time at all, the first shoots will grow to mark the start of a new season.

rent a vines in Bordeaux

The first workshop concentrated on our sense of smell, which is one of the key senses used when tasting wines. We had to identify some of the aromas that can be found in wine with the help of some small bottles. It's not such an easy exercise!

Unique wine gift in Bordeaux, France

Then we blind tasted two wines to compare them. Both were from the same Cabernet Sauvignon grape varietal, from the same vine plot, and from the same year. The only difference being the barrel used to age the wine. The first was made from American oak and the second from French oak, resulting in two very different wines, aromatically and on the palate.

Personalised wine gift in Bordeaux

During lunch, we tasted a Clairet rosé wine, and five different Bordeaux Supérieur and Haut-Médoc red wines made by Christine.

The afternoon was dedicated to blending wines, starting with the tasting of the four major grape varietals cultivated at Château Beau Rivage; Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Petit Verdot. We noted the different characteristics of each.

Wine tasting gift in Bordeaux

Then in small groups, we worked on different blends to better understand what each grape varietal brings to the final blend. The Merlot brings the fruitiness and roundness, the Malbec lovely aromas and colour, the Cabernet Sauvignon length in the finish, and the Petit Verdot a balancing acidity. It's amazing how just a small change in the percentage used of each grape varietal can have on the final wine.

Many thanks to Christine and Guillaume from Château Beau Rivage, and to all of the participants for this great moment spent together.

Other articles relating to wine tasting

The fundamentals of wine tasting

Wine defects. How to identify faults when tasting wines

Add a comment

Wine blending in the Languedoc


Last weekend we welcomed the parents of the adopted vines to Domaine Allegria for a Vinification Experience Day. And with them, a light drizzle for the first day of Spring, but that didn't dampen the good cheer and enthusiasm of our participants in any way!

Wine experience gifts in Languedoc

Once everyone had arrived and had a cup of coffee, we booted up, and headed out into the vineyard to find our adopted vines.

Rent a vine in Languedoc

On the way, Ghilsain, the winemaker at Allegria, explained the different work in progress in the vineyard. The pruning has now finished and the first tilling of the soil has started.

This allows the rain to better penetrate the earth. We then returned to the winery building, and we spent quite a while in the chai to better see and understand the different ways that the wines are worked during the vinification phase.

The questions abounded, covering topics as varied as sulphites, racking the wines and ageing them.

Unique wine gift in Languedoc

Before lunch, we participated in a workshop which the winemakers children had help to devise. We had to guess which aromas the 37 different cups contained!

These weren't synthetic aromas, but natural ones that were hidden from view with a tin foil cover over the cup with some holes in.

Personalised wine gift in Languedoc

And so we set about identifying smells as diverse as burnt cork, rosemary, blackcurrant and truffle.

To spice things up a little, we organised a competition and the winner left with a bottle of Dolce Vita 2014 rosé wine!

We then sat down for the meal and wine tasting, which Delphine had lovingly prepared.

Wine tasting gift in Languedoc

To start, a warm chickpea salad with slices of black pudding, which pairs delightfully with the Cinsaut Abuelo 2013.

We then enjoyed a home-made lasagne, and some local goats cheese from the Mas Roland.

wine making experience in Languedoc

After lunch we set about the serious business of blending wines. We blind tasted different grape varietals of Carignan, Mourvèdre and Syrah to learn what characteristics each brings to a blend, and then had a go at blending some wines to learn how they combine with each other!

Many thanks to all our participants and to the winemakers for a great Vinification Experience Day.

Add a comment

First Wine Experience Day in Alsace


Last Saturday we were at Domaine Stentz-Buecher in the Alsacien village of Wettolsheim for the very first Wine Experience Day at the winery.  And if they all go as well, then we're well set!  A passionate winemaking family, a group of very interested clients, a most enjoyable time spent together, and even some sunshine!

Rent a vine wine gift alsace

We were welcomed by Céline and Stéphane Stentz who introduced us to the region and the winery.  Their father Jean-Jacques, officially retired but who continues to work each day, also spent the morning with us.

We then headed off to the Rosenberg vineyard, home to our adopted vines that will produce the grapes for the 2013 vintage.

Wine experience gift Alsace

It's the end of the pruning period at the moment, all of the vines needing to be pruned before the sap rises up in the plants with the arrival of the warmer spring days.  We walked through the vineyards until we reached a plot of Grand Cru vines that still had to be pruned.

Adopt-a-vine gift. Vineyard tour gift

Jean-Jacques and Stéphane explained why we prune and how to do so, and then we each had a go at pruning for ourselves.  Something that's not as easy as you would imagine!

Rent-a-vine. Gift for wine lovers Alsace

We also learnt more about working the soil, and Jean-Jacques even prepared a couple of vine cuttings to be planted back at home.  You'll have to keep us posted if they take or not!

Wine experience gift Alsace


Back at the winery, we tasted several of the wines produced by the Stentz family, starting with the Pinot Gris Rosenberg, which is the wine chosen by Gourmet Odyssey.  Stéphane explained the differences between the Rieslings, Gewürztraminers and other wines that we tasted.  The tasting continued over the lunch of choucroute and other regional specialties.

Wine tasting gift Alsace


In the afternoon, Stéphane took us through the rest of the work that will be accomplished in the vineyard between now and the harvest, and explained how he will choose the optimum time to harvest.   We took a tour of the cellar to see the wine press, the barrels, vats and casks, the oldest of which dates from 1899!  He introduced us to the vinification side of winemaking, and we could even hear the gurgles of the wine that is currently still fermenting.

Winery visit gift Alsace

Many thanks to our clients who shared this first day at the winery with us with such enthusiasm and good humour, and of course to the Stentz family for welcoming us with such passion.  We look forward to coming back for the next day soon!

Add a comment

Share |
RSS

About the blog

The Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience

Adopt a Vine in France and Follow the Making of Your Own Wine !

From € 169

Tags

Adopt-a-Vine Biodynamic Blending Burgundy Cellar Experience Fermentation Gift Grapes Harvest Making Organic Tasting Vine Vines Vineyard Vinification Wine Winemaker Winery

All Tags

Categories

Archive

Last Comments

Links