O'Vineyards
by Ryan O'Connell

The writer, twenty something Ryan O'Connell, is the social media evangelist at O'Vineyards in the Languedoc and son of the Florida couple who acquired the Domaine in 2004

Domaine O'Vineyards

Domaine O'Vineyards

Our family acquired and now work, Domaine O'Vineyards, on the hillsides around Villemoustaussou, after a local co-op winery that had pressed the Domaine's grapes for decades, went out of business. Our goal has been to build our own winery on the property, re-trellis and retrain the vines, and in fact do everything ourselves from scratch to make the Domaine name a quality wine brand.

Villemoustaussou, Languedoc Roussillion

Not only does the whole family "labour at the wine face" but in our spare (?) time we run winery visits that include the winery, the vines and a barrel and tank tasting; winemaker workshops - that allow visitors to shadow a winemaker for a day; simple tasting of the property's wines in our tasting room; and bed & breakfast - in what we call our vineyard hotel (see side-panel on right)

We're also of course delighted at our location, the Canal du Midi UNESCO heritage site, one of the most extraordinary attractions in the entire region, passes right through Villemoustaussou.

You Can't Argue With Fruit Thieves
After we arrived we were lucky to find a lot of friends very quickly in the local wine community, and they gave us valuable advice and help as we took our first hesitant steps in winemaking. There were occasional spats or should we just say minor cultural misunderstandings (you can't argue with fruit thieves) with local villagers who didn't like all the ruckus we Americans were making on their hilltop vineyard above the town, but even that has waned now that the locals can see how revitalised the vineyard has become.

O'Vineyards hilltop vineyard above the town

Making and Selling Wine is a Business Like Any Other
The renewal didn't stop at O'Vineyards. Making and selling wine is a business like any other and here at O'Vineyards we have opted to extend communication and marketing efforts to the entire region. Very few people want to hear about the same vineyard over and over, unless it's owned by a celebrity like Johnny Depp or Depardieu, in my view and so I've become a bit of a social media evangelist here at O'Vineyards.

Love That Languedoc
When we started Love That Languedoc, a website (see side panel on right) about the other wineries in the region, we saw almost immediate results. It's worth mentioning that a lot of the content on Love That Languedoc strays significantly from typical wine media. There are no ratings or advertisements. A lot of the most popular posts on the website are from winemakers just being themselves, complaining about politics, talking about the weather, reminiscing on their early days, and so on. Anything goes, as long as it avoids archetypal wine snobbery.

Trah Lah Lah - a fanciful blend of Merlot and Cabernet
- " a lot of the O'Vineyards message is about avoiding that wine snob image" -

Fine Wine With a Big Smile
Indeed a lot of the O'Vineyards message is about avoiding that wine snob image. In today's highly competitive global market, it's not enough to make great wine. You've got to help people have fun with it.

So whether it's baking our wine into bread or posting videos of other winemakers telling jokes, O'Vineyards is ready to deliver our fine wine with a big smile and a healthy dose of laughter.

Links
	A Sip of wine bread On this website
	Love That Languedoc On this website
	Love That Languedoc blog
	O'Vineyard's website
	O'vineyard's Bed and Breakfast On this website
	O'Vineyards Bed and Breakfast Website
	O'Vineyards Wine Tours
	View Ryan's collection of photos on the Flikr website
	List of Languedoc wineries with a Facebook page
	Ryan O'Connell's, O'Vineyards Twitter Page
	OVineyard's You Tube Video Channel

Article: Ryan O'Connell
ryan@ovineyards.com
November 2011

Contact information:
Domaine O'Vineyards
885 Avenue de la Montagne Noire
11620 Villemoustaussou
France
e-mail: ryan@ovineyards.com
Tel: +33 6 30 18 99 10

A Sip of Wine Bread...

Fête de Vendanges
Carcassone, October 2011

"It's important to have fun with wine and mix things up," explains Liz O'Connell, as she slices a purple baguette in front of the crowd at the Fête de Vendanges, Carcassonne.

Purple Baguette...!?

Full story click the link

Love That Languedoc

Love That Languedoc
- Blog -

"This website is devoted to a beautiful stretch of wine country on the Mediterranean coast of the south of France. It's called the Languedoc".

So writes Ryan O'Connell as he introduces his Blog about his much loved adopted region of France - the Languedoc-Roussillion

Full story click the link

Bed & Breakfast

Syrah
one of the bedrooms at O'Vineyards B&B

If you are heading for Carcassonne and need somewhere to stay whilst you tour a vineyard or two - then look no further than O'Vineyards... for both!

Full Story - click the link

The Outsiders

The Outsiders

The story of how a diverse group of individuals all arrived at the same conclusion... they wanted to make wine and they wanted to do it in the Languedoc-Roussillon. The only thing they had in common, except, perhaps, the courage of their convictions, was that they were "Outsiders"...

Full story... Click the link

Tree House Break

The High Life

Taking time out from his regular column, our Grumpy Gardener, takes a family break in a tree house and yes he left all the tools of the trade behind him.

Full story... click this link