Did you know?...

...if you buy a wine from Burgundy, 97% of the red wines are made from Pinot Noir grapes and most of the white wines are made from Chardonnay?

...that many of the French winemakers use American oak since it leaves a less-oaky flavor in the wine, but American winemakers usually import French oak, which imparts that heavy woody taste common in American wines?

...that only about 50% of French wines contain sulfides, yet almost all American wines do? (The French don't list it, but the Americans wines are required to.)

...aside from the hangover, there's a major difference between Beaujolais and Beaujolais Nouveau?

...that Petit Chablis isn't the wine that comes in big glass jug from the supermarket and cost $2.99?

...wine can reveal it's age by its meniscus, apparent from just from a simple glance in the glass?

Olivier Magny, the sommelier of O-Château, speaks perfect English (better than me) and is a gracious host to wine enthusiasts from around the world.

For the next few hours, Olivier is your expert guide to the world of French wines answering all your questions with approachable style, wit, and knowledge. His family owns the Domaine du Crêt Gonin, a beautiful, approachable red wine, which if you're lucky, you'll get to taste as well.

I attended The Tour de France of Wine, which he generously pours six different styles of wine over a leisurely two hours to an enthusiastic group of Parisians, visitors, and residents like me. The tasting's are designed to represent a cross-section of French winemaking styles and Olivier discusses the differences and uniqueness of all seven, including descriptions of the French winemaking regions, how grapes are grown, common terminology (bringing 'wine-talk' down to earth for you and me), climates and terroirs which affect the grape harvest and wine production, and (at last!) how to properly taste wine and evaluate it with an attack on la bouche...the tasting!

Olivier also does shorter, three-wine evaluations, (Wine, Two, Three!) and afternoon Wine & Cheese-Tasting Lunches where you're welcomed into his wine cave with a nice, chilled glass of Champagne, followed by white and red wines for tasting, discussion, and evaluation.

O-Château
52, rue l'Arbre Sec (1st)
(Reserve in advance)
Tel: 01 44 73 97 80