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This week has been a whirlwind of hot days and happy pickers sweeping from one plot to another, bringing in the grapes for the 2020 vintage.

The week started with very sad news. The sudden death of Frederic Mabileau, reknowned top quality winemaker in St Nicolas de Bourgueil.

The official go-ahead for harvest in the Vouvray appellation has been given but several growers requested permission to start a little earlier

This week seems to have been a week of eating and drinking. Well no change there you might say. And you’d be right to a certain extent.

Sometimes we get the chance to taste something offbeat and delicious and this wine that we enjoyed with friends this week, certainly fit the bill.

We’re off! Harvest has started in the Loire and the grapes are coming in. The earliest harvest in living memory for many.

These skinny courgette fries are totally addictive. Don’t be fooled. They are lethal. Deep fried, crispy and sprinkled with sea salt they’ll have you hooked from the first taste.

A long way from Noizay, the Cote Roannaise vineyards are situated between Clermont-Ferrand and Lyon and are some of the most southerly in the Loire.

Well, we can pretty much say our 2020 season is finished. Borders to the USA remain closed and this week the UK has introduced quarantine.

You’ve probably heard of Rosé d’Anjou. You might have tried a rosé from Chinon. But – have you ever heard of Touraine Noble Joué?

Another hot and sunny week in the Loire. The vineyards are quiet and one by one, the growers are leaving for their summer holidays before harvest begins.

It’s been so hot this week that spending too much time in a hot kitchen hasn’t been a very enticing prospect. How about a bowl of chilled gazpacho?