Vouvray

I had to pick up a friend in Tours yesterday, so I spent the driving day around Vouvray. This is the home of the Chenin Blanc grape, and these guys are the masters.

I've always liked Chenin Blanc, recently finding a great one at Paumanok Vineyards, but this is a whole different game. They make sparkling like Champagne, another that's less bubbly but still sparkling, some dry, some sweet, some semi-sweet...I think I tasted 40 wines at 5 different vineyards. All Chenin Blanc, except a couple of Cabernet Franc at Domaine Marc Bredif-my pix didn't come out so I'm linking here. I hadn't planned on visiting these guys but drove past and recognized the label, as my local wine store in NYC carried their Cab Franc and I had a lot of tasting to do before I got here. Tasted my favorite Chinon so far, a private reserve 2005, like a steak in a glass. This winemaker is a great visit because they have wineries all over and you can sample all of them at any location.

What's cool about Vouvray, is that most of the vines are on the tops of the hill and the caves storing the wine are directly underneath. Quite stunning to see.

Here's a great example of that, Domaine Allias (organic, by the way; that garage door-looking thing is the entrance to the cave and you see the greenery above. Those are mostly trees right on the edge of the cliff but trust me the vines are just beyond:

A quick detour about wines for the Loire (many more, but I've dived into these so far):

Vouvray is the region (actually the town and the land in it, almost all Chenin Blanc-the grape.

Chinon is the region (actually the town and the land in it, almost all Cabernet Franc-the grape.

Probably getting a little wine-geeky but my favorites were Domaine Huet (pronounce the T, like Hue-ette), and Domaine Champalou.

Lastly, the first pic is an example of the sign you see entering any town or village in France. Here's the exit: