A Spring Wine Tour in the Loire Valley

What better time to come to the Loire Valley and taste wine than in the Spring. For a start many of the wines are still in barrel so we have an amazing opportunity to taste the wines still in production. The sap is just starting to rise in the vineyards, the trees are in blossom and the Loire River is all sparkly and starting to reveal it's sandy banks.

Barrel tasting the Saumur Rouge 2008 with Romain at
Domaine Guiberteau St Just Sur Dive
Romain's Chenin Blanc the Breze 2006 was superb and
we excitedly await it's release in May 2009!

Celine Dubois in the labeling room at Clos Cristal
organic winery owned by the Hospices de Saumur

The Tresor Room at Bouvet Ladubay.
The Sparkling whites produced in oak picked up the gold medal
at the Salon de Vin this year.

Natalie Mabileau pours a tasting of the St Nicolas de Bourgueil
LES ROUILLÈRES 2008 directly from the tank!

Bruno the winemaker at Domaine de Mihoudy
in Aubigne Sur Layon sampling the Bonnezeaux

The Barrel room at Chateau des Fesles
Recently bought by Chais de France but contrary to rumours
Bernard Germain and Lisa Heidemans are still at the helm
along with Gilles Biguet the original winemaker.

La Grande Maison - Wine Tours in the Loire Valley France

La Grande Maison est Ouvert 2009

Tomorrow we re-open for the 2009 season.

Goodness I can't believe the holidays are finally over or have they just begun? La Grande Maison has raised her head from the winter dust and is all sparkly again. The Vine Room has had new windows, the signs have been repainted, the potager replanted, the cave restocked, the lawns mown, the windows washed...shall I go on?

Humble and Willow are ready to welcome all our new guests, the sun is shining, the hoopoes have arrived, the sap is rising in the vines and we have our first Wine Tour tomorrow!!

Humble Pie (HRH)

Look out for the Grape Pickers sign on arrival.

Now taking reservations for 2009
for our Chambres et Belle Salle A Manger!

Treves and Cunault from the Loire River

Sue takes to the helm.

There is no better way to appreciate the villages along the banks of the Loire River than by boat. So this weekend (our last weekend off before La Grande Maison re-opens for the season on the 23rd March) we headed off to our little cottage in Treves and waited for Pascal to deliver the latest addition to our fleet "Little Tern". We couldn't wait to get her out on the water and sailed straight away down to the tabac in Cunault for lunch.

Approach by water to Cunault

Elise our friendly neigbour in Treves has just taken over as the chef at La Cale. So if you want a spot of reasonable lunch then 11 euros gets you, for example, a salad of rillauds as a starter, salmon in a beurre blanc with vegetables and a plate of cheeses or a dessert . Washed down with a small pichet of local rose for 4 euros we sailed home very content.

Micaela tackles the tricky navigation over the shallows!!

Home in sight as we pass the Treves Tower

Where have they gone? I wanted to take the bigger boat!

The following day we were a little more daring and sailed around the island of Treves and out into the main river where the current was much stronger. If the river seems large from the banks then try sitting in the middle of it! However it is so beautiful and serene and there are plenty of herons, egrets and other birdlife to spot. We celebrate our 'maiden voyage' proper by mooring up on a beach and watching the sunset over Saumur Chateau in the distance with a bottle of Cremant. The end to a perfect day and the most beautiful spring weekend in the Loire Valley.

Chilled Wine on the Beach!

Good News for Diners and Internautes in France

Good news for both diners and wine writers on the internet in France this week.

First of all comes the news that TVA (or VAT) will be reduced in restaurants from 19.6% to 5.5% making it more affordable to dine out especially for our guests already suffering with a failing pound against the euro. This means that for example a dinner for two at 100 euros which would normally include about 20 euros in tax would now be a 5 euros tax making a 15 euro saving. Not bad ehh :)

Dining Out At the Tresor Belge

Our second piece of good news this week is that prior to recent scares that the French Government was about to ban advertising and writing about wine (and alcohol) on the internet that they have now taken a back step and it is legal again! Allegedly.....this is good news for all the wine writers, tourist sites and wine promoters who momentarily thought that their wine sites were about to become illegal in France.

The End is Nigh for Freedom of Speech in France ?

'What future is there for wine if we are not able to talk about it?"
Sign on the D77 into Le Puy Notre Dame late this summer.

Read more on Jim's Loire

Wine Quote of the Week from La Grande Maison

La Bar Mme Bovray Hotel Flaubert Trouville

"Vin - Sujet de discussion"

Gustav Flaubert
"Wine - Subject of Discussion"
Gustav Flaubert

The Shut Duck

Little did we know that whilst listening to Heston Blumental speak about the wonders of his cuisine at the Omnivore Food Festial in Deauville this week that he had just taken the serious decision to shut his restaurant, The Fat Duck, due to a food poisoning scare. You can read the full story on the link below.

www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/feb/27/heston-blumenthal-fat-duck

Heston Blumenthal speaking at Deauville

I think he has reacted swiftly and responsibly to try and find the cause of the outbreak and hope that he can re-open again soon without damaging his reputation. Although it could be argued that he has been tampering with food, we will await the outcome before casting 'nasturtiums'

Bon courage Heston!

The Fat Duck meets El Bulli...in Wonderland

Mention the name Heston Blumenthal and the words FOOD and CHEMISTRY spring to mind. Taste, aroma and flavour perception seem to be what modern cooking is all about these days and there can be no doubt that he is a genius alchemist at the cutting edge.

Les Cafes Confidences with Heston Blumenthal

So how fortunate we were to hear him speak for an hour at the Omnivore Food Festival this week. Especially as he talked about his latest creation inspired from his favourite childhood book, Alice in Wonderland. The dish entitled The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party is Blumenthal at his creative best and took two years to develop.

Mad Hatter's Fob Watch
Photo : Micaela Frow taken from slide show c. Heston Blumenthal

For the exact description of the recipe you’ll have to get a copy of The Big Fat Duck Cook Book (which will be hard as it has already sold out!). It is so complex it defies me attempting to explain but the first stage is the production of the Mad Hatter’s Fob Watch.

Photo : Micaela Frow taken from slide show c. Heston Blumenthal

The Mad Hatter’s Fob Watch (stages of production involve freezing, spinning the stock out to leave a flavourless ice and straining through muslin - enough said) is an intense broth tea bag that is then wrapped in edible gold leaf.

The Mock Turtle Soup
Photo : Micaela Frow taken from slide show c. Heston Blumenthal

The Fob Watch Tea Bag is placed into a teapot and the resulting bouillon then poured over the rest of the dish to form a Mock Turtle Soup flecked with gold. Unbelievable? Well his next project will include employing a magician to help him in his cookery.

If an hour with Heston Blumenthal, sorry Sir Heston, isn’t enough to blow your mind then how about a presentation from probably the most influential chef in the world. Ferran Adria is the inspiration behind the Spanish restaurant El Bulli.

Introducing the legendary Ferran Adria at OFF4

With over 2 million booking requests for only 8000 covers per year and no waiting list this is the restaurant to head for if you can’t get into The Fat Duck. Ferran speaks from the soul and his life is dedicated to researching new dishes, flavours and methods of presentation many of which were influenced during his culinary visits to Japan. In fact the idea for El Bulli, he says, came from visiting a restaurant in Japan that had only one table and could not be booked in advance.

Preparing a dish entirely comprised of seeds. The creation of life.
Photo : Micaela Frow taken from slide show c. Ferran Adria

Dining at El Bulli has been called Art in 4 Acts and is an entirely different dining experience extending to the waiters advising how to eat each dish and a preferred order to gain maximum flavour. Eating with your hands is encouraged as it is more ‘thoughtful’ apparently.

Preparing a dish entirely comprised of edible flowers.
Photo : Micaela Frow taken from slide show c. Ferran Adria

A rare opportunity as Micaela gets to chat to Ferran Adria of El Bulli

Adria's dishes are inventive colourful, minimaliste, inspired and if meeting Ferran doesn’t make you feel good, then I’ll eat my hat.

La Dive Bouteille Deauville 2009 10e

Monday 23rd February and on our way to the OFF4 Omnivore Food Festival in Deauville which this year incorporates the 10 Edition of La Dive Bouteille. A fantastic opportunity to sample ‘vin naturel’ from some 120 vignerons of France and a few from a little further afield, but more about that later.

The Loire Valley always has a very visible presence at this salon with some 42 producers from Muscadet, through Anjou, Saumur, Saumur Champigny, Touraine, to Sancerre. Including many old friends the Oosterlink’s from Domaine Juchepie in Faye d’Anjou, Eric Dubois from Clos Cristal, Sebastian Bobinet from Saumur Champigny , Antoine Foucault, le Collier and of course the now infamous Catherine and Pierre Breton of Bourgueil & Chinon whose wines I seem to find on everyones' wine list these days in France.


We specifically wanted to taste the Chenin from Romain Guiberteau, neighbours of ours in St Just sur Dive. Sue gave the thumbs up to the 2007 Saumur which was clean, fresh and acidic but with lots of grapefruity lemony zing 13.5% whilst I loved the 2006 Breze which had a nose I could wear all day as a perfume, slightly oaked with great length but not overly powerful. We will definitely be re-visiting Romain again this year on our Wine Tours.

A few other finds we discovered along the way. (more detailed tasting notes of each to follow later as the blog gets updated)


Noella Moratin from Pouillé in Touraine, one of the few female wine makers of the area, producing a cousin of chenin with her 2008 Menu Pineau with 20g residual sugar, very light, refreshing and citrus fruity and well worth trying for it’s originality and value. Chez Charles her sauvignon still under going it’s malolactic fermentation with a high level of residual sugar to balance 2008’s acidity was a surprise and an unusual find.


Matthieu de Genevraye Clos Ouvert from Chilli - Otonio 2007 very blackcurrant fruit and liquorice, excellent length produced with minimal intervention.

Le Loup Blanc - Nicolas Gaignon Languedoc

Soif de Loup 2007 Vin de Pays simple fruity, light (but not in alcohol) and very drinkable beautiful garnet colour 13.5%. Would quench our thirst along with the wolf’s.


Le Regal de Loup 2006 Minervois AOC 50% Carignan 20% Syrah, 30% Grenache aged in oak barrels very smooth 13.5%


Les Trois P’tits Vin de Pays Delicious with smooth tannins.

La Méré Grand 2006 Minervois AOC a more classic style aged in barrel more tannins displayed, great on it’s own but probably splendid with red meats.

Up next : In Conference with a not so Little Chef - Heston Blumenthal of The Fat Duck and Micaela get’s to meet her culinary hero Ferran Adria of El Bulli.

Going Underground at La Grande Maison

How did that happen? We've been at La Grande Maison for 6 years now, as of yesterday. Where did the time go? There is always masses to do on the house to maintain it's state of 'arrested decay', a new window here, a chimney re-built there, potager to dig over and re-plant, endless guttering to re-new and rooms to re-furbish. Hah - all in a days work!

This week though we have been working on a new project for the caves and creating a new tasting room where we can sample some of the superb wines that the Loire Valley has on offer. Come on down and we'll give you a tour around.

The New Tasting Area

In the 17th Century La Grande Maison was a fortified Wine Estate and owned all the vines in the surrounding area from which it produced it's wines. It was owned by Gilles Louis Antoine Aubert du PETIT THOUARS & Marie Gohin, Dame de Boumois and Arthenay who also owned Chateau Boumois on the south bank of the Loire near Saumur.

A section of the caves directly under the vineyard.

A bit of interesting history here. One of their sons, Arisitde Du Petit-Thouars participated in the American War of Independence 1779-83 and later sailed to Botany Bay, Australia in search of the lost French explorer La Perouse. He captained the ship The Tonnant in the campaign of Egypt with Napoleon Bonaparte but was killed in the naval battle of Aboukir on the 5th August 1798. During his time in the USA (c. 1794) Aristide Du Petit-Thouars was also involved in the construction of about thirty houses on a site called Azilum in Philadelphia. An enterprise promoted by the financier and Senator of Pennsylvania, Robert Morris. Amongst the buildings was one referred to as La Grande Maison, and later as “The Queen’s House”, in the hope that Marie Antoinette and her children would escape from France and come to occupy it.

Underground section of the Pigeon Tower or 'Fuye'

A second son, Aubert Du Petit-Thouars was obviously a bit more of a pacifist specialising in botany and a herbist of 2,000 exotic plants. He became Director of La Pepiniere du Route in Paris and was a member of the Academy of Sciences. It is said that he also sailed with his brother to Botany Bay in his exploration of plant life.

Another section of the tunnel and more wine!

So how come La Grande Maison has a pigeon tower? As a noble family of certain rank the du Petit Thouars' would have been allowed (with the permission of the crown) to build a 'fuye' or pigeon tower. This extends underground by some 10 metres and 7 metres above ground. The number of slots in the pigeon tower would have represented the hectarage of the vineyard in the 17c. A handy way of counting how much land you had when you came to pay your taxes. No wonder they hid it underground!

The tunnel from the “fuye” leads to a spectacular wine cave where you can still see the remains of the old wine press and barrels.
Many of the other tunnels have the names and dates of people who carved them out in the tuffeau walls where they might have been hiding during the 1st World War. This carving is from 1916.

Plenty of wine in the store too!
www.lagrandemaison.net

Wine Quote of the Week from La Grande Maison

"When I drink, I think; and when I think, I drink."

Francois Rabelais

CHINON
LOIRE VALLEY
FRANCE

How to Cut Tuffeau Stone in One Easy Lesson - Taille de Pierre

Our very patient tutor, Louis Legeas, president of the l'APEV and all things stone cutting spent 'une journee d'initiation a la taille de pierre sur du tuffeau' with us Saturday last. Here is my starting block all marked out and ready to be transformed into a vase?!?
The course was held at the Ecomusee du Veron in the Touraine region close to Chinon. So armed with a packed lunch and a chisel we headed off in the ice and snow for a day of dust and using of old tools.

Here is a photo of me doing something with one of the old tools....and here is Valerie's work of art that she started the month before. I secretly think she has been working on something for Valentines day don't you?Sue managed to look pretty professional and craftwomen's like with her chisel. Something seems to be taking shape.

Not bad for 7 hours work eh?? Can't show you the finished result just yet though as we have to go back again next month to finish them off. We have already been able to put our skills into action at La Grande Maison though where we are using some of the stone cleaning tips that Louis gave us during the day.