Back in May 2020, which seems like a lifetime ago, I was due to go on a trip to the Loire. COVID-19 put paid to that, so instead, with the help of some brilliant, make-it-happen people, the Loire came to me. Well, just a taste of the Loire. In about 250 bottles. Project 'pack the Loire onto a pallet and send it to England' was born.
Click on the links below to explore the delicious diversity that the Loire offers wine lovers.
Project Loire – sparkling and sweet 1 March 2021
Reds and pinks 22 February 2021
Chenin Blanc 15 February 2021
Muscadet and Chardonnay 1 February2021
The Sauvignons 19 January 2021
The photograph above, by Dorian Mongel from Unsplash, is of 500-year-old Ch de Chambord – one of the Loire's largest châteaux with an estate the size of central Paris, boasting 32 km (20 miles) of wall, the longest wall in France. It's been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1981. For the first time in 200 years, they have planted a vineyard (13 ha/32 acres) and began making wine in 2019. Some of their vines come from cuttings of ungrafted, mass-selection Romorantin vines believed to have been planted in 1850. I'm yet to taste the wines.