Favourite places in the Loire valley – Angers

Here are a few tips if you’re planning a day trip from Paris by train this year. Think ahead – tickets for the TGV are released 3 months in advance and this is when you will get the best prices. If you book early you can save as much as 50% on the cost of your ticket.

It’s interesting to see how the vintage year has such an impact upon vine development. In 2011 the Cabernet Franc sprung into action early and by the end of May they were in full flower. In 2012 you can see that the vines have not reached that point and this year we are even further behind with the lack of sunshine throughout May. We count 100 days from flowering to harvest so it looks like we’ll be picking considerably later this year.

Frederic Mabileau has 28 hectares in the St Nicholas de Bourgueil, Bourgueil, Saumur and Anjou appellations. Since 2005 all grapes have been hand harvested and then sorted again on arrival at the winery to ensure only the best quality grapes are selected . Today the vineyards are all certified organic and the domaine embraces the bio-dynamic approach in an attempt to try and preserve the delicate balance between the vine and its environment.

This machine is ‘pre-pruning’ the vines which makes life quicker and easier for the pruners to do their work later on.

Sometimes you find a small family run domaine that makes wines that tick all the boxes. Leduc Frouin falls into this category – the wines are great value for money, the welcome at the domaine is always warm, it’s run by a tight family unit of brother, sister and mum and the wines are always reliable, pure, well made.

Pruning is a vital task during the vineyard year that controls yield and keeps vines manageable during the growing season.