Who knew?

 

My little project...

 

One of my projects over the weekend was to modify this wine rack to allow it to fit under the slope of the stairs here at the Old Walnut Mill. I have to point out that none of the bottles are radioactive, my phone decided a flash was needed.

Petit foire aux vins and coals to Newcastle.

Mormoiron  had it's 'foire aux vins' yesterday,it was a quiet affair made even more so with rain in the morning. But the sun came out in the afternoon which allowed us to check out Richard's competition.

 

 This is him talking 'viticulteur vigneron' with the new owner of the small estate that was Francoise's former family home. They have changed the name to 'Domaine Les Chancel'  and are investing heavily in promoting their new wines - which are, as we found out. very palatable. We bought some of the first rosé produced on the estate, aptly named 'Le Rosé No1' which we had to accompany our evening meal last night - very nice! We sampled and bought from a few other growers - as if we need any more wine?

Not part of the plan...

 On our 'plan B' walk on Monday with Chris and Gail I highlighted the odd looking tower that dominates the premises of Domaine Pierre Sourdais, what purpose did it serve? Was it a water tower, a watch tower or what?

So as we were passing I suggested we should pop in and ask. 

We did a spot of tasting,seeing as we were there,would have been rude not to and we got the answer...it is an elevator shaft down to their caves!

The domaine produce a special reserve 'Stanislas' (family name) which is aged in these impressive oak barrels. Their other wines rest in their extensive caves created over thirty years.

We  took a walk (not the lift) down the sloping entrance to the caves - very impressive. Not sure how they were made but a huge amount of work involved. Our host was a family friend who was 'standing in' and was not sure how they did it. 

Can you spot the elevator?

As we left we said that a revisit was in order which could be built around a walk,tasting and lunch at the restaurant,which looked good, for a good day out. 

Over to Chinon wine country...

A good day out today over in Chinon wine country...more to follow

What's not to like?

A good day out with friends yesterday to buy some sparkling wine as a gift  for up and coming event. We tasted wines from the Vouvray, Montlouis-sur-Loire and Noble-Joué appelations and had a spot of lunch - what's not to like?

Designing through rose coloured glasses?

We bought (and drank) this bottle of rose recently mainly because Pauline liked the bottle. It is called  'Cote des roses' and is from Gerard Bertrand in the Languedoc region and very nice it was too!

What appealed to her was the bottle design it has a rose cut bottom plus a glass stopper...a design step too far...what do you think?

Maturing with age...

Just because something is old does not mean it has less life in it!

Enjoyed sharing this bottle from our cave with friends and neighbours last night.

Passing the taste test...

We brought a couple of bottles of Canadian wine back with us from our recent trip and last night, with our French neighbour over for dinner we decided to get his view on it.Pleased to report that it was well received and we enjoyed it more than the Bordeaux we did the 'taste test' with...all a question of taste.

Canadian wine was a 'Trius' (Ontario's Winery of the Year) Merlot (2013) from Niagara-on-the-Lake.

French wine was a 'Chateau du Curton' (2009) from Bordeaux

Wines and vines

Went over to Charge near Amboise on Wednesday with friends Mike and Liz  to 'Plou et Fils' to stock up on  their delightful wines.

Their new set up is impressive.

Took a walk up to the vineyards on the high ground to check out the autumn colours...

...glad I did!

Picnic anyone?

Sounds like a great idea you take the Picnic they supply the wine...'Pique-Nique chez Vigneron Indépendant': 7th-9th June 2014.Thanks Jim...

http://www.vigneron-independant.com/pique-nique/

Sparkling day out...Part III

After our hearty lunch at 'Le Bas Rocher' we headed up to our favourite vintner Pascal Berthelot at Husseau just along the river from Montlouis-sur-Loire

You can take your car right into their courtyard...

 ...where they have a very inviting  little 'tasting room'

On this visit Pascal took us up to see his vines...

 Then it was back to the serious business of tasting...

...and buying...well,that's the weekend sorted! Mainly made up of our favourite Rosé Méthode Traditionnelle

I feel it in my fingers...

Norman and Margaret, friends and neighbours here in Barrou introduced us to friends of theirs over dinner last summer. Mike and Judith have a  property in a hamlet outside of La Roche Posay and it was obvious that Mike was a man who had to continuously have a 'project' on the go . One such project intrigued me - one thing they didn't get when  they bought the house was a cellar. So what did Mike do - he dug one out under the floor of his barn ...of course he did...wouldn't anyone?  

One of the the things that I have noticed about my wall building and other projects here is the effect they have on my hands and fingers, with my age probably also contributing a lot, stiffness and light pain after a day of lifting and chipping.(hence the post title,appropriately enough from a 'Trogs' song)

Well, just the thought of starting a project like Mike's cave has my fingers tingling!

 Unbelievable, and apparently mostly done by a cheap hammer drill he bought on 'special' from Lidl!

  It has lighting, air circulation and more importantly wine!

Not content with this project he has also made a lovely gite in the neighbouring property they acquired. He is offering it for rent this year for the first time at a very competitive rate so if you want a quiet location in the countryside with good access to La Brenne nature reserve you can contact him through us. 

Footnote:

Mike had a slight problem with his hammer drill near the end of his project and had it repaired under the guarantee, ' fair use' clause obviously didn't apply! Me? I would have buried it with full military honours!!

In case of an emergency break...

out the wine glasses!

We commend this to the house...any house!

Vin du Chateau de La Railliere...

We were at friends Mike and Liz in nearby Lesigny for a barbecue on Tuesday night and Mike opened the first bottle of wine (vintage 2011) from the vine in his garden. It wasn't at all bad and may encourage him to harvest them again this year and get the shoes and socks off and start treading.

Les Beaujolais Nouveaux and the taste of bananas!

The third Thursday of November is a much-awaited and high-profile event in France, the release of the first Beaujolais wines. Probably now more a marketing strategy than an  actual event, it splits the wine lovers of the country into them that won’t and them that do  taste these fresh young wines. We were invited into our French neighbour’s for a tasting – couple of bottles polished off with two saved for when he comes to dinner on Sunday.

David is a mine of information when it comes to wine (and most things) and says that it is actually the Japanese who are first to taste these light red wines.

This site  http://www.japanupdate.com/?id=11552 confirms this  “The third Thursday in November traditionally marks the official debut of the new season’s Beaujolais around the world, and the Japanese are first to get a taste of the light red wine because of the time zone. A spokesman for importer Suntory says Japan will import about 7.2 million bottles of the wine this year. The record for Japan was 12.5 million bottles sold in 2004. “ – not that I ever doubted him!

The first bottle we tried (second from right) had, I'm not lying, the taste of bananas - something that David had asked me of some Bordeaux wines he has shared with us. I was sure then that this was a ' trap' and when he agreed with me re the Beaujolais I still wasn't sure!

We now have our own version 'Touraine primeur' of early wines - these have had a mixed reception -article here on  Novelle Republique.

Extended shelf life?

Shopping at our local 'Intermache' I found this 2006 Château Léoville-Las Cases wine from the Saint Julian  appellation in Bordeaux and wondered would it ever leave the shelf - do people really come here for a 164 euro bottle of wine?

Maybe Jim from 'Jim's Loire' could answer this one.

 It would, I'm sure, be wasted on my uneducated palate but it would be great to taste to see if the difference is in the price!