Back to work!

14 months has passed. Yes, 14 months since we last had the pleasure of welcoming guests into our home, our tasting room and our lives here in the Loire.

Of course, we’ve not been lying around idly waiting for things to get back to normal. We’ve been busy doing other things. Pivoting I think they call it. That’s what we’ve been doing. Pivoting. Doing anything and everything to keep ourselves busy and financially afloat until things pick up again.

I can happily report that they ARE picking up. No, we’ve not got a flood of bookings that will have us flat out until the end of the season but things are picking up. They are. It’s great news.

This week we welcomed 3 lovely guests staying in the region for a day of Loire Wine Discovery and I have to admit to feeling just a bit nervous.

We spring cleaned the house from top to bottom, had the car professionally valeted, got the recipe books out and set to work.

So much to talk about and share.

It feels so odd not being able to shake hands with people when they arrive. A fist bump sufficed on this occasion but, by the end of the day we’d all just had enough social distancing and hugs were given as we waved our goodbyes.

So, back to normal then. We tasted a range of wines from some of our favourite producers in the morning while Nigel brought together a delicious lunch of roasted duck sausages on a bed of Coco beans cooked with lemon thyme, lardons, onions and garlic. A cheeseboard to follow of course and a dessert of apricot and raspberry clafoutis with creme fraiche (that’s me that does the desserts).

In the afternoon we drove through the vineyards to see Peter & Juliette Hahn of the Clos de la Meslerie. An idyllic spot – their beautiful home surrounded by 4 plots of vines that make just one single wine each year. The sun shone down on us as Peter showed us the vines, the hundred year old press he still uses to press the grapes, the barrel cellar tucked underground where the wine gently matures listening to the sound of classical music.