Tagged with "Loire wine tours"

Domaine Filliatreau is having a ‘portes ouvertes’ on Saturday May 25th and Sunday May 26th. Pop in to taste good quality Saumur Champigny wines and I’m sure much more.

As we drive around the vineyards of Vouvray it’s easy to see who is respecting the environment and who is not.

Once again frost has struck the Loire valley. 2 nights ago growers lit the burners, turned on the aspersion and cranked up the hot air turbines.

This is a really delicious beetroot salad that comes from Ottolenghi’s book Simple.

Growers who choose not to use chemicals to control weeds underneath the vines ‘work’ the soil mechanically or occasionally use a horse.

Growers are rushing to get pruning finished as buds are already bursting. Young vines were at the wooly bud stage about 10 days ago.

Valençay is one of the most famous cheeses from the Loire valley. A goat’s cheese shaped like a truncated pyramid the story goes that …

Vines in the region are weeping as they come out of dormancy. Baby vines are already at the wooly bud stage but more established and older vines are not.

It seems pertinent, having moved to a small village that falls within the geographical boundaries of the Vouvray appellation, to have a closer look.

It’s a while since we caught up with Jean-Francois Mérieau. We’re big fans of his wines and are really excited he’s now only half an hour away from us.

The Chateau de Nazelles is a wonderful 16th century manor set amongst beautiful tranquil gardens, perched on the limestone hillside in the countryside.

You’ll often see the word ‘clos’ mentioned on a wine label. A clos is a walled vineyard or a vineyard that used to be enclosed by walls (not always still standing).