O-Château: Wine Tasting in Paris

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 winemakes 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 it's 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 in his hip, Parisian loft. This sparse, contemporary surrounding is conducive for focusing your attention solely on the wine tasting (although some also find it thrilling to be invited into the loft of a handsome Parisian...)

For the next few hours, Olivier's 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 Grand 7, which he generously pours seven 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!
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Olivier also does shorter, three-wine evaluations, (Wine, Two, Three!) and afternoon Wine & Cheese-Tasting Lunches where you're welcomed into his loft with a nice, chilled glass of Champagne, followed by four wines for tasting, discussion, and evaluation.

O-Château
100, rue de la Folie Méricourt
(reserve in advance)
Tel: 01 44 73 97 80