Wednesday 1 December 2010

Snippets from our Loire Valley Wine Tour Season 2010

What an amazing season 2010 has been for us and the vines. So busy that it has left little time for updating our blog and now it’s December and snowing - sheesh!

So at last here are some pictorial snippets from this year’s wine tour diary to get your mouth watering for next year. Don’t forget to request availability for 2011 NOW as we are already getting booked up and we wouldn’t want you to miss out.

Anyway here are some of the best bits :

Ambience with friends:

Wine tasting with winemaker Tessa Laroche at Domaine Roche aux Moines

In the caves at La Grande Maison with Guillaume Pire of Chateau de Fosse Seche

Our wine tour guests viewing the production line in action at Langlois Chateau

The Tasting Rooms:

Edouard Pisani-Ferry introduces his wines at Château de Targé

It's not only the excellent wine at Domaine Baumard the frescoes are pretty impressive too!

...and there is always a friendly welcome for our guests at Domaine St Just

The Fermentation & Maturation Tanks:

We have created our own micro-winery in the caves at La Grande Maison


But it's always fun to go out and peer into other tanks like Pascal Lambert's in Chinon

...or these revolutionary egg shaped fermentation tanks at Chateau de Fosse Seche

Tasting from Barrel or Tank:

You don't have to wear the red robe to taste wine here....

....but we do sometimes get the chance to taste directly from barrel with Seb at Chateau Dupetit Thouars

...or from the tank with Frederic Mabilleau in St Nicolas de Bourgeuil.

The 2010 Harvest:

We have been helping out with the hand harvest for many years now and hand pick our own few rows of Chenin Blanc too.

Harvesting with Melaric is a more than family affair!

The Terroir:

Learn a little about the soil structure and the wines that come from it.

Or view the soil profile in the vineyard.

Barrel tastings, hand harvesting, meeting the wine maker, viewing the bottling line, and discovering the vineyards are just some of the season’s activities. Read more about booking your wine tour here at La Grande Maison.

Wine Tours from La Grande Maison are also available by bike.


With picnics en-route by the Loire river or in the vineyards.


Or occasionally by boat if the river conditions are good!

You can read more about our Vineyard & Discovery offerings on wine writer Sarah Ahmed’s blog here : The Wine Detective.