Today we went to top up our local bubble supply – vouvray, the traditional method. We tried a new vineyard today, Vigneau-Chevreau, but we only bought their still wine. We still prefer Freslier for bubbles. Great cellar though! Aujourd’hui nous sommes allés se réapprovisionner en bulles locales : vouvray, méthode traditionnelle. Nous avons essayons un …
Category Archives: Wine and grapes
Choose your Wine – Choisissez votre vin
The sign inside this traditional French restaurant in Rochecorbon near Vouvray called L’Embarcadère says “Choose your bottle in the cellar and enjoy!” What a great way to present a large selection of local Loire Valley wines! J’aime bien l’idée d’aller choisir sa bouteille à la cave dans ce restaurant traditionnel à Rochecorbon à côté de …
Local Wines – Vins du coin
I noticed this window of a local restaurant today on Place Louis XII in Blois proposing Loire Valley wines. I thought the blue very cheerful on a dull day. J’ai remarqué aujourd’hui cette devanture de restaurant local Place Louis XII à Blois qui propose des vins du coin. Je trouve ce bleu bien gai un jour aussi maussade.
CDP Theme Day – Photo of the Year 2016
Today is City Daily Photo Theme Day when daily photo bloggers across the globe post on the same theme. On 1st January, the theme is always “Photo of the Year”. I have three. The first is my readers’ choice, a coypu swimming across the Loire, and also illustrates the river which is the leitmotif of Loire Daily Photo …
La bernache
This is the first year we’ve been in the Loire for bernache, which is grape juice at the beginning of its fermentation. It’s popular in Touraine and particularly in Anjou (also in Alsace where it’s called vin nouveau). It is available from October to about mid-November and is traditionally accompanied by grilled chestnuts and walnuts. …
Saint Vincent, patron saint of wine-growers – Saint-Vincent, patron des vignerons
This little statue of Saint Vincent is io be found in one of the wine cellars at Château d’Ussé. Saint Vincent, the patron saint of wine growers was born in Spain in the 6th century. No one really knows why he is connected with wine. One plausible explanation is that a royal abbey containing Saint …
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The Yellow Vineyard – Le vignoble jaune
After the Bordelaise mix on the vines earlier in the day, I was worried about why this vineyard was covered in yellow but it only turned out to be buttercups which seem to be everywhere this year. Après la bouillie bordelaise sur les vignes plus tôt dans la journée j’étais inquiète de voir ce vignoble tapis …
La bouillie bordelaise
As we cycled towards this wall, I thought it was a painting until we got up close and I realised that the blue is due to bouillie bordelaise, a pesticide consisting of copper sulphate, slaked lime and water used to prevent mildew. Mildew was first observed in 1878 on grapevines in the south-west of France. …
A Facelift for the Wine Co-op – La cave coopérative se refait une beauté
You may remember a post back in January 2015 when the Mont Près Chambord wine co-op was being refurbished. It’s now finished so we brightened up a grey day by replenishing our stocks of local cheverny. Vous vous rappelez peut-être un post en janvier 2015 lorsqu’on était en train de rénover la cave coopérative de …
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Wine Tasting – La dégustation
This weekend, we attended an open day at Cyril Sévin’s vineyard in Mont Près Chambord. This organic wine-grower has an excellent selection of sparkling and still wines. We particularly liked his traditional cour-cheverny made with romorantin grapes and his Impromptu cheverny red, which is 65% pinot noir and 35% gamay. It was one of his …