Wines of the Loire

Having spent quite a bit of time on the coast recently, we felt we needed a change. So we headed off inland towards the Loire Valley, one of the numerous wine regions in France.

We like our wines and, although we had planned to spend some time in Bordeaux at the end of our first trip in France, we thought it would be a good idea to also visit another French wine region. We don’t know much about French wines and we don’t consider ourselves experts but we know what we like: dry for white wines, and full-bodied for red wines. We tend to drink Spanish wines, mainly: Albarino and Vino de Rueda for whites, and Riojas for reds. Occasionally, we have South African wines –Pinotage– and Italians –Pinot Grigio and Orvieto–.

The Loire Valley includes four regions: Nantes (green), Anjou-Saumur (violet), Tourine West and Tourine East (yellow). The grapes produced in this regions are Muscadet, Chenin Blanc (white) and Cavernet Franc (red).

Here is the wine map. We had planned to spend in the area no more than three days so we only drove around the centre of the valley. We visited: Saumur (number 17 on the map), Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil (number 20), Coteaux de Bourgueil (number 21), Tourine Azay le Rideau (number 24), to end up in Chinon (number 22).

 

The valley is located in the centre of France and runs along the Loire river. The scale of it is incredible.

By doing a bit of research, we learnt that there were generally two places where you could taste wine: Vineyards and Maison du Vins. Vineyards are located in the countryside, normally outside the villages. They are run by local producers who also produce the wine on site. Everything is produced locally.

Maison du Vins are just places about wine. It could be anything from an educational centre, a vineyard, a wine shop, a museum or simply a place where you could taste some wine. They could be located either in towns or in the countryside.

Two main grapes dominate this area: Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc. We were looking forward to taste new flavours. We started our tour in Saumur, a middle size town, by the river, which happened to have a Maison de Vin.

This place looked like a wine shop. It was Saturday afternoon but the place wasn’t very busy, we were probably three couples around the bar waiting to taste some wine. Although the shop assistant did his best to attend us all, he was also assisting other customers who just come in to buy. This was definitely his focus.

Finally, our turn. He asked us what we wanted to try, and after explaining we knew nothing about French wines and that we wanted him to recommend us, he suggested we should start with white wines and followed by red.

So he offered two local wines produced not far from the town. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the name of the grape for the first one below.

We thought it was quite light, refreshing and a bit dry. Not bad at all.

He then offered a Chenin Blanc from Chinon, one of the towns we were going to stop the next day.

This wine was slightly young and sweet. We weren’t that keen on it.

Thereafter, he suggested two red wines. Again, we are sorry we didn’t get the name of the grapes.

The colour was pale red, and the tear lightly marked when swirled around the wine glass. The smell was strong in the nose, giving us a hint of what it could be a full-bodied wine. It seemed promising, but when we tried it, what a disappointment. On the palate, it felt acidic, with a short finish. “It is quite young” the shop assistant commented.

He took another red, a year older.

The colour, smell and taste were slightly stronger than the previous one with again, a short finish, really no better than the first. We were still disappointed.

We didn’t want to try anymore, so we weren’t sure what to do. All the other customers were buying some wine after tasting them but we didn’t particularly like any of them. So we explained to the shop assistant that we were more used to different flavours and left. “Perhaps it is a matter of drinking more of the French wines to get used to them” we thought, something we don’t have a problem with.

Overall, we felt there was no interaction between the shop assistant and the customer. He seemed it was there to serve the wines we wanted to try and (hopefully) sell some. Perhaps that is what tasting wine in a Maison de Vin is meant to be like, or perhaps it was that this place was in a town, and therefore less human contact than in small village. In any case, we wanted to repeat the experience to find out whether our first impressions were true.

Over the following two days, we continued to drive east through villages, this time looking for vineyards and also stopping to see some Châteaux (Gary has already talked about in a previous post).

As soon as we started to drive along the countryside lanes, we started to appreciate the stunning landscapes, dominated by hundred of lines of vineyards, running parallel, endless, into the horizon.

We had to stop Dora and took a panorama image to capture the immensity of the place in one shot. It was absolutely breath taking.

We let down Dora’s ladder so that we could climb up onto the roof to get a better view.

The houses, built in close to the vineyards, like oasis in the middle of the dessert, incredible.

Wine is often produced in France locally, in relatively small vineyards scattered around the countryside, a very different set up from Spain, where they are more commercially oriented and on much larger estates.

Spaniards tend to produce wine at a much bigger scale. There, the vineyards are a combination of both, a big wine factory where the actual wine is produced, and a wine centre. These wine centres – more like a wine museum – , are opened to the public. Visits to the centre are to be booked in advanced. The visits include a guided tour around the premises, and a talk about how the wine is produced and where it is sold. The guide would also tell you a bit about the history of the place to give you a bit more context.

The next day, Sunday, we didn’t have the chance to taste any wine as most of the vineyards were closed. We visited some Chateaux instead.

On Monday we continued our route and stopped in a couple of places.

The first one was a vineyard close to Savigny-en-Veron, fifteen minutes drive east of Chinon.

It looked delightful, but at this time of year we were invited into the office!

It is a hard life, especially this time of year, producing the wine!

The equipment is quite impressive and stunning.

We were offered two wines made from 100% Carbernet Franc, the grape mainly cultivated in this area.

Both wines, strong in the nose, dark red without being too deep, with a light tear mark on the glass. On the palate, sharp and bitter, slightly unpleasant. The wines still felt young, even though they were from the years 2011 and 2010.

Once again, there was no interaction between the owner of the vineyard and us. The owner seemed to stare at us waiting for our feedback, very similar situation to that in the Maison de Vin in Saumur. As the staff spoke English in both places, we didn’t think the lack of conversation was down to the language barrier.

So for the second time, we didn’t know how to say good-bye. We felt a bit guilty for not buying a bottle; a bit awkward about telling her that we didn’t like them; and a bit insecure, even though we were just a couple of amateurs, daring to come and judge their product.

As I have said we know very little about wine, just what we like. We thought that as The Loire Valley is further north, maybe the grapes don’t get as much sun and therefore they produce less sugar. Could this effect the body and fullness of the wine? If that is the case, it is not surprising that, even the wines from the year 2010 would taste still quite young. “Perhaps it will be different in Bordeaux”, we thought and hoped.

To test our thoughts, we bought a red wine from Bordeaux in the supermarket the next day and we had it for dinner.

The colour was darker than all the previous reds we had tried; the tear left a dense mark on the glass; the smell was stronger. More importantly, the flavour, fruity and rounder, with a longer finish. “This is more like it” we thought. Although this is better, it is still not a Rioja!

So we have a better feeling about the wines in Bordeaux, our next destination. But first we will stop at Ile d’Oleron, to try the best oysters in the area.

SM