Tagged with "Loire wine tours"

3 weeks after moving in, we’re finally beginning to make some progress. The cardboard boxes are unpacked and the salon and tasting room are decorated.

Beautifully crafted artisanal wines made with practically zero intervention in the vineyard or winery. And what’s more, now we are practically neighbours!

Pruning is in full swing here in the Loire with teams visible in the vineyards as you drive along. Much of France has had snow this past week.

The van arrived with all our furniture this last Monday so it’s been all systems go this week unpacking boxes. It’s been like a lucky dip, rediscovering our things.

We’re big fans of Arnaud Lambert’s wines. Last night we enjoyed a bottle of his top red,  Clos de l’Etoile 2010 which is a Cabernet Franc from the Saumur appellation. 

In our village, we return to the calm just like we had in Cumeray although we have street lights and mains drains. I never thought I’d see the day when I’d be excited about that!

Feeling very old today! We showed pictures of our new home to friends and they mentioned that they liked the ‘tag’ on the wall

So, we’re living between two houses at the moment. We signed for the new one last week and are ‘commuting’ between the two doing some decorating.

You might think that not much goes on in the vineyard in December but in fact it can often be a busy month. There are lots of tasks that need to be tackled.

Like most people, we tend to spend a bit more on wine at Christmas. So is it important to take vintage into account when buying your wines for the festive season?

Pithon Paillé’s former domaine will be called Domaine Bel Argus, named after the tiny rare blue butterfly that can be found among the vines of Les Treilles. 

Growers in Montlouis have suffered greatly these past few years leaving many of them in a rather precarious position financially despite their best efforts.