Whether you are an occasional drinker, a knowledgeable enthusiast, or just curious, wine is an alcohol steeped in a universe of its own, following very specific codes. If you aren’t familiar with them, you can quickly feel excluded from the world of oenology, as if it were a party you couldn’t enter without an invitation… In short, all this is to say that it is precisely these “invitations” (metaphorically speaking, of course) that I will try to help you acquire through a few tips and great addresses, so you can grasp the keys to understanding this world, which is sometimes only seemingly closed off, I assure you.
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Table of Contents
Le Petit Ballon
Le Petit Ballon is an adventure launched in 2011 by 3 men passionate about wine. The company offers subscription boxes focused primarily on wine, but also on other spirits. There are several formulas and subscriptions, and you receive the box directly at home with free delivery (well, included in the price of the box). The subscription is very flexible, and you can stop and restart it whenever you wish. And if you enjoyed one of the selected vintages, you can also buy it again at preferential rates. All wines come with a well-designed tasting card filled with information. With each box, you also receive a small magazine, “La gazette,” which covers current events in the wine world but also contains cooking recipes and interviews with winemakers.
Le Petit Ballon
Subscriptions and formulas: 100% organic €22.90 per month / Age de Raisin with discovery vintages from France and the world €19.90 per month / Bel Age with high-flying vintages €39.90 per month / 100% Nature Method / Rum bound! / Grande Classe…
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DEGUST’Emoi, discover the emotions of wine in 2 hours
DEGUST’Emoi offers everyone the chance to be initiated into the secrets of wine tasting in a few hours and to discover a simple method to analyze our sensations and translate them using precise vocabulary. These tasting initiations are a gateway into the wine world and are led by a professional (a sommelier or a certified oenologist) who shares their expertise as simply as possible and in a friendly atmosphere, creating a true moment of exchange.
Several formulas are available:
- “Initiations” at €79: 4 hours, 8 wines tasted – The keys to tasting (Level 1) – The nose and aromas of wine (Level 2) – Regions and grape varieties (Level 3)
- “Thematic” at €59: 2 hours, 6 wines tasted – Basics of tasting – Discovery of great red wines of France Burgundy VS Bordeaux – Wine & Cheese pairing – Food & Wine pairing – Introduction to whisky – Introduction to rum
- “Grands Crus” at €98: 2 hours, 6 grands crus tasted – Mythical Burgundy bottles – Bordeaux grands crus – Tour of France of mythical red wines
- “Cocktail-mixology classes” at €69: 2 hours, 5 cocktails tasted – Discovery workshop – The golden age of cocktails – The great classics
- “MasterClasses” at €118: 2 hours, several wines tasted according to the theme
DEGUST’Emoi offers oenology classes in more than 20 cities in France: Paris, Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Nantes, Nice, Marseille, Montpellier, Rennes, Strasbourg, Dijon, Metz, Angers, Reims, Poitiers, Clermont, Saint-Etienne, le Havre, Strasbourg, Grenoble, and Toulouse. For my part, I tested a 2-hour class in the Parisian premises of DEGUST’Emoi focused on the aromas of different grape varieties, which was particularly instructive. I already had good foundations from having done a few oenology sessions before, but this class was particularly enlightening regarding the characteristics and specificities of the many French grape varieties.
The tip: the gift voucher to offer allows you to choose from all the formulas offered by DEGUST’Emoi to spoil your loved ones.
DEGUST'Emoi / Jeroboams Wine Bar 10, rue saint Sébastien 75011 Paris
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Jeroboam, the wine bar & eatery
I just told you above about DEGUST’Emoi. In the same place as the wine tastings, there is a wine bar/eatery belonging to the same owner, where you can taste gourmet tapas by Chef Jessica, renewed throughout the seasons. You can accompany these tapas with a choice of 25 wines by the glass. The selection of wines by the glass is renewed every month and offers the chance to discover a region, a country, or a terroir to highlight the characteristics and typicality of the wines.
Must try:
- Mini zucchini with homemade hummus (€7)
- Mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes, and basil oil (€9)
- Bonito (a fish) southern style (€11)
- Pork belly and Lebanese tabbouleh (€9)
- Homemade foie gras and rhubarb chutney (€12)
- Poached cherries, ricotta, and fresh almonds (€7)
- Chocolate fondant, mango lassi, and Espelette pepper (€7)
Jeroboams Wine Bar
tuesday to saturday from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM
10, rue saint Sébastien 75011 Paris
Edit 12/05/2019: Unfortunately, this address closed in 2018_
Wine Republik, community site about wine
Wine Republik is a community site dedicated to wine that offers to guide consumers in their choice of bottles by relying on the best recommendations: those of your friends! This platform, with its community logic, allows everyone to find their way when buying wine and to consume better, following a collaborative model. Moreover, the site has recently launched group buying for more ecological, economical, and shared purchasing. A group of friends, neighbors, or colleagues can thus organize themselves and buy together.
The tips: the proximity to producers and winemakers, who explain their approach with a desire for transparency, and also the guarantee of a property price for buyers (which is not negligible).
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The Atelier Hubris, from Plato to Dionysus
The Atelier Hubris was created by Benoît Chavanne, a former philosophy professor (Hubris expressing the notion of excess in ancient Greek) to give free rein to his love of wine by creating a universe dedicated to tasting in the heart of Buttes Chaumont. Hubris’s desire is to truly make oenological tasting a moment of pleasure around creative workshops, led by Benoît Chavanne himself, initially for large companies and now also accessible to the general public. For more info on these courses, just take a look at my full article on the Atelier Hubris.
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Trois Fois Vin
Trois Fois Vin is a French wine box that introduces its subscribers to the best wines from exceptional artisanal winemakers, 100% in responsible viticulture. For my part, I tested the “Buissonniers” box from March 2021. With the box, we also receive tasting cards on each of the wines with pairing advice, and every month there is also a recipe for a dish concocted with wine.
On the program for this March 2021 Buissonniers box:
- A red wine Côtes du Rhône Villages, Massif d’Uchaux from Domaine Brunely, 2019
- A white wine Saint-Bris, Domaine Petitjean 2018
- A white wine from Savoie, Jongieux-Mondeuse from Domaine Eugène Carrel 2018
Tastevin monthly subscription (2 bottles) €24.99
Buissonniers monthly subscription (3 bottles) €39.90
Echanson monthly subscription (2 premium bottles) €45.90
Cachottiers monthly subscription (2 premium bottles) €66.90
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Ô Château, wine bar in Paris
Ô Château is a place completely dedicated to the world of wine. It is a paradise for epicureans who want to understand and discover the mysteries of French or foreign wine.
This beautiful address is composed of:
- a wine bar open around the counter with an impressive choice of wines by the glass among more than 40 grands crus and the possibility of having a platter of charcuterie, cheeses, or both (between €18 and €21).
- a wine library located in a cozy lounge at the back, surrounded by bookshelves filled with hundreds of bottles. In the center, there is a large guest table that regularly hosts private events.
- a vaulted cellar dating from the 17th century and located in the private mansion of the Marquise de Pompadour, a place for tastings or dinners that can also be privatized.
- a restaurant with 1 homemade menu based on food and wine pairings, obviously.
Ô Chateau 68, rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau 75001 Paris
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The Your Blends De Mour Larigaudière Kit, to become a blender
This very playful kit allows you to discover the art of blending by composing your own Maison De Mour vintage yourself, a tradition well anchored in Margaux and in the Bordeaux appellations in general. This unique experience (in any case, I don’t know any other house that offers this for now) therefore allows you to practice the complex exercise of blending yourself. Inside the kit, you find a bottle of Maison De Mour wine and also 5 other “sample bottles” of 3 different grape varieties (Petit Verdot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot), in order to be able to test, make blends according to your tastes, and create your own vintage.
On sale in the Paris region at La Cavanine (4 rue Hervet 92500 Rueil-Malmaison)
price: between €150 and €180
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Coravin, wine by the glass system
Coravin, which revolutionized the way to serve and preserve wine with its system, is now available in colors (red, gold, or silver) and introduces in a limited edition its Model Two Elite. This also obviously allows you to test a bottle to see if it is the right time to drink it. The remaining wine continues its natural evolution, week after week, month after month, and even more since it has never been in contact with air!
The principle: Coravin allows you to taste a wine without opening the bottle because you don’t remove the cork thanks to this product, thus avoiding the wine oxidizing over time. You can thus have just one glass of wine and have another one several days later.
This product obviously remains very expensive for individuals, but it can be a very good investment for wine lovers to avoid wasting a good bottle. It is therefore an instrument rather reserved for connoisseurs.
Recommended retail price: €349 (€19.95 for 2 argon capsules)
Points of sale: Galeries Lafayette, FNAC, Darty, la Grande Epicerie du Bon Marché, Culinarion, Francis Batt, Cuisine Plaisir, Lavinia, Nicolas…
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A little reading about wine
This book by Emmanuel Delmas (who was a sommelier in prestigious houses) will help you become a seasoned taster by learning to memorize, analyze, and catalog each tasting experience. This work gives keys to decipher the clues left by wine to better understand its subtleties: the color which can inform on the region of origin, the aromas which deliver information on the grape varieties that compose it, how to chew the wine to appreciate all its flavors. It explains how to serve wine: serving temperature and decanting.
Vins – Leçons de dégustation / 240 pages / €17.90
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And finally, a small selection of Parisian addresses around wine that I recommend:
- L’Age d’Or in the 13th arrondissement
- The Cheese Bar at COOP for a wine tasting pairing with Savoy cheeses in the 6th arrondissement
- La Cantine Max y Jeremy for a Spanish wine and tapas atmosphere in the 10th arrondissement
- Vinum Picatum, opportunity to make beautiful discoveries at this passionate wine merchant met during my test of the mystery travel agency Emoovio
- La Petite Mangerie, a small tapas bar with world wines, very nice
- The restaurant Le Petit Sommelier, bistro in love with wine, near Montparnasse
Photo credits: Nicolas Diolez and Mademoiselle Bon Plan Photos are not royalty-free, photographer's authorization mandatory before any use
