Vines of the Loire

An article in the New York Times the other day
about traveling in the Mendoza wine country reminded us of our experience in the Loire. The writer notes the great gobs of time spent driving around looking for wineries rather than doing what he had come for; namely, to taste wine. That sounded familiar. We realized after a while that the smart thing to do was to go to the village church. Actually, we didn’t go into the church but to the church grounds, sometimes the parking lot, where a nice detailed map often could be found showing local roads and wineries. The maps in Savennieres and Cour-Cheverny were especially good.

Although a GPS would have helped, a GPS-recognizable address is required. Sometimes that’s a problem in the Loire. Still there is all that driving. One solution noted in the Mendoza article is to hire a knowledgeable taxi driver for day trips. An even better one in Mendoza would be to begin by visiting Vines of Mendoza. This is a commercial establishment in the city itself where 100 wines from the region can be tasted. Find the ones you like and then head out to the wineries to learn more.

The closest thing to Villa Mendoza we came upon in the Loire was Villa Quincy. Free tastings of several wines from Quincy and Reuilly were provided and more than 30 were offered for sale. It’s a small place behind the main road, apparently the creation of the regional tourism office rather than a commercial operation. The latter are to be found in Chinon, Tours and elsewhere, but the wines often are the pricey ones that don’t provide a sample of the region as whole. Along the same lines as Villa Quincy is the Maison des Vins in Vallet which has the wines from a single valley.

The Loire might take a tip from Vines of Mendoza. Imagine a series of like places, each offering a representative sample of local wines for tasting and purchase. Heck, they already have those nice maps by the churches. Just put up a store nearby.

[David M. Bueker]

One huge difference is the scale of distances bewteen Mendoza and the Loire. Driving around Argentina is tedious work (first hand experience from last month where a "short drive" was normally 1-2 hours, and a long drive was neary all day).

all the areas of the loire have local wine fairs where nearly all the locals bring their wine to one spot. the trick is finding out when they are. the one in sancerre is near the end of may. there is also a big tasting of wines from all over the loire in Tours at the very end of may.

I like doing individual wineries more so than a collective tasting in the village square or church. I like to get to see the wineries, get to know the proprietors/winemakers behind the wines that I drink here, understand their methods and see for myself the land and vineyards where they grow their grapes. Of course, the premise here is knowing which producers I’d like to visit … for that, then, advance planning, e.g. asking around folks here who have drunk and done Loire helped us in our case.

I realized that Loire Valley wineries are far apart if considering between regions and/or AOCs. For example, to drive from Nantes for some muscadet to Sancerre would take almost 4-and-half hours. However, within specific AOC, and if you plan ahead of time and make the pre-requisite appointments, you should be able to cover many wineries in a day. Alternatively, you can cover, say 2-3 wineries in Vouvray, have lunch, and then take the 40 minute drive to Chinon for 2 – 3 more wineries.

Btw, during our Loire trip last August, our GPS clearly made a huge positive difference in getting us to wineries, restaurants and historical sites destinations throughout the week we spent in the area.

However, within specific AOC, and if you plan ahead of time and make the pre-requisite appointments, you should be able to cover many wineries in a day. Alternatively, you can cover, say 2-3 wineries in Vouvray, have lunch, and then take the 40 minute drive to Chinon for 2 – 3 more wineries.

Is this really possible? When I did wine tourism in Europe, I found visiting more than 3 producers in a single day to be pure folly (whereas it seems relatively easy to visit up to 6 producers in a long day when doing wine tourism in the United States). Even with spitting, there is palate fatigue and visits to producers in Europe seem much more time consuming in a very good way--more interaction with the proprietors, more information to digest, more to soak in with the whole experience. The one or two times I tried to fit in four appointments in a single day, I regretted it, as even though the distances between producers could be small, I lost that leisurely sense of discovery and felt like I was cramming in more quantity at the expense of the quality of each individual experience. But, of course, there are so many superb producers one wants to visit, so it's indeed a challenge to work out the best mix . . .

Is this really possible? When I did wine tourism in Europe, I found visiting more than 3 producers in a single day to be pure folly (whereas it seems relatively easy to visit up to 6 producers in a long day when doing wine tourism in the United States). Even with spitting, there is palate fatigue and visits to producers in Europe seem much more time consuming in a very good way--more interaction with the proprietors, more information to digest, more to soak in with the whole experience. The one or two times I tried to fit in four appointments in a single day, I regretted it, as even though the distances between producers could be small, I lost that leisurely sense of discovery and felt like I was cramming in more quantity at the expense of the quality of each individual experience. But, of course, there are so many superb producers one wants to visit, so it's indeed a challenge to work out the best mix . . .

It is possible, especially if you are within the same AOC. My caveat is that I've never visited more than 4 in a day and 6 will be stretching it.

I agree that one can lose that leisurely sense with multiple wineries in a single day, but sometimes it's up to the wineries to only provide the alloted short time and it's really not up to the visitors. There are some wineries, small family-run ones or big/giant ones, and they have it done it so many times and have the hour to an hour-and-a-half timeframe down pat. Also, bear in mind that some wineries accept appointment the last start at 5:30 pm (I had a couple of those in Bordeaux, Rioja and we had one in Saumur/Loire).

However, within specific AOC, and if you plan ahead of time and make the pre-requisite appointments, you should be able to cover many wineries in a day. Alternatively, you can cover, say 2-3 wineries in Vouvray, have lunch, and then take the 40 minute drive to Chinon for 2 – 3 more wineries.

Is this really possible? When I did wine tourism in Europe, I found visiting more than 3 producers in a single day to be pure folly (whereas it seems relatively easy to visit up to 6 producers in a long day when doing wine tourism in the United States). Even with spitting, there is palate fatigue and visits to producers in Europe seem much more time consuming in a very good way--more interaction with the proprietors, more information to digest, more to soak in with the whole experience. The one or two times I tried to fit in four appointments in a single day, I regretted it, as even though the distances between producers could be small, I lost that leisurely sense of discovery and felt like I was cramming in more quantity at the expense of the quality of each individual experience. But, of course, there are so many superb producers one wants to visit, so it's indeed a challenge to work out the best mix . . .

I've done 4 per day in Germany (easily done on the Mosel or in the Rheingau, harder in the Pfalz or Rheinhessen), Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Loire, but I defy anyone to have more than 2 meaningful visits per day in Alsace. Just too many wines...

Mendoza Argentina and the Casablanca in Chile both have a 'winery row' where you can hit up a few pretty quickly, but some wineries are ridiculously remote.

Cheers,
Bill

I've been internet-abstinent the last few days. Thanks for the replies. The distances in Mendoza are much, much greater than those in the Loire. Also, visiting a winery is almost always better than tasting its wines elsewhere and festivals are great if you happen to be around at the right time. The larger point though is that the Loire as well as other regions in which wineries are not laid out Finger Lakes-style along one or two main roads could benefit from the Vines of Mendoza model. It's not a substitute for visiting wineries but a hands-on (taste-on?) orientation session for determining which wineries in a region you would like to visit. Be there too many, you can make some tough choices and buy a few bottles on the spot from those that don't make the cut. Drive less and taste more should be the mantra!

After 18 days in the Loire we found ourselves fantasizing about where Villa Mendoza -like places could be set up. The Sancerre region surely is one. Representative offerings could be included from as far west as Menetou-Salon. Both Sancerre and Pouilly actually do have places to go to learn about the region; the one in Sancerre is especially good. Not to be outdone, in neighboring Pouilly the room actually "rains" on you as fog rolls in on the video. Yet neither place offers the opportunity to taste more than a few wines. In fact, you get to taste just one in Sancerre and I don't recall that any could be bought. Other obvious candidates for the Vines of Mendoza concept are Cheverny, Touraine (several?), Anjou and several spots across the vast Pays Nantais.

it isn't in loire; but there is a good learning and tasting venue in Bergerac where you can also buy the wines. it includes all the neighboring AOC's as well. i think most of these regions find it sufficient to have one annual consumer event where most of the producers taste and sell their wares. people from hours away often leave with multiple cases of wine - whereas tourists from the states must buy much less. its these low purchasing, plane flying tourists that would benefit from a regional tasting/selling center; not the people from nearby nor the wineries themselves.

it isn't in loire; but there is a good learning and tasting venue in Bergerac where you can also buy the wines. it includes all the neighboring AOC's as well. i think most of these regions find it sufficient to have one annual consumer event where most of the producers taste and sell their wares. people from hours away often leave with multiple cases of wine - whereas tourists from the states must buy much less. its these low purchasing, plane flying tourists that would benefit from a regional tasting/selling center; not the people from nearby nor the wineries themselves.

Well said.

it isn't in loire; but there is a good learning and tasting venue in Bergerac where you can also buy the wines. it includes all the neighboring AOC's as well. i think most of these regions find it sufficient to have one annual consumer event where most of the producers taste and sell their wares. people from hours away often leave with multiple cases of wine - whereas tourists from the states must buy much less. its these low purchasing, plane flying tourists that would benefit from a regional tasting/selling center; not the people from nearby nor the wineries themselves.

Good point. When we were in Loire, we met up with family friends, Frederic and Arlene from Lyon, and had wine-lunch at Ch. Filliatreau in Saumur. Because it was the only wine-related itinerary that they had, as their trip was concentrated on visiting various Chateau and historic sties in Loire with their 2 young daughters, Frederic ended up buying 3 cases of wines from Filliatreau. He liked the wines enough, but would have preferred to have sampled and taken home a wider variety.