Sancerre

We decided to continue our Loire Valley explorations with one last stop being Sancerre which we picked because Tim is a big fan of the wine produced there.

We were armed with a few wine recommendations from Ben’s (brother-in-law) brother Thom who is a sommelier and we thought we would do our usual and ride out and around the vineyards. That changed rather quickly when we arrived in the area and realised how hilly it was! So different to the other areas of the Loire we had visited. One of the vineyards recommended was on the way into the city so we decided to stop off there on the way.

We were greeted at the door by a lovely lady who very quickly realised we were not French and switched to fantastic English. This was lucky as we discovered so much more about Sancerre wines. Their vineyard was a family affair and she has taken over the growing of the grapes from her father. She said that in other areas you mix the grape varieties but in Sancerre you mix the grapes from different terraces as the soil can vary so much within a few hundred metres. She also mentioned that the summers have been getting hotter which is affecting the flavour of the Sauvignon grapes and making them sweeter/fruitier so they have had to change the way they produce the wines year on year. They are moving towards using similar practices to those of California and Australia and said eventually their Sancerre wine which is a dry white will eventually taste like Australian Sauvignon Blancs which are much more fruitier. They only produced two white wines, their premier wine had won several awards through the years and was aged through the lifecycle of the wine in oak. Their other white was produced in metal vats abs although if hint didn’t have the same depth of flavour it was still delicious. We left with a bottle of each.

We spent that afternoon just relaxing as it was the hottest day we have had since arriving in Europe. It was still entertaining as we were facing tennis courts and got to watch the locals slog it out on the court. My French improved but considering it was mostly swear words I don’t think that counts.

We got back on our bikes the next day and had a relatively nice ride along a canal parallel to the Loire and then took a detour up into the hills to see a town with a church. But to tell you the honest truth it wasn’t a patch on some of the other rides we have done. The plus side was it was exercise and the amount of wine and cheese and pate we have been eating we need to do the kms! On the ride back we did stop off at a lovely Chateau which we viewed from the outside and had a lovely lunch along the canal.

Due to the hilliness of the area we decided do a driving tour around Sancerre town and surrounds. Sancerre is situated on a hill and unfortunately our campsite was at the bottom so the ride in would not have been so fun! The town centre was another picturesque one with beautiful cobbled streets, a square filled with restaurants and streets filled with wine merchants. We may have added another bottle to the collection. I say collection but that would imply that we are keeping them which is totally not the case and it’s more a one in, one out situation.

We also visited the neighbouring town of Pouilly -sur-Loire which produces the wine Pouilly Fumé which was where the second of Thom’s recommendations were. The first time we arrived they were shut for lunch so we stopped for our own along the Loire and went back in the afternoon. Unfortunately the wine tasting experience was not as informative or as friendly as we were served by a snooty lady who couldn’t be bothered and their wines seemed to be on the more expensive side. They did have two reasonably priced ones which we tasted and walked away with another bottle to add to our collection.

We decided to go out for our first French dinner since we have arrived and settled on a lovely little rustic hotel walking distance from the campsite. The dinner was delicious and we got up to pay and soon realised that the place only took cash. Silly us not seeing the tiny sign as we walked in! Tim did sneakily in French tell them that maybe they should have told us that when we made the reservation via phone. Within seconds we had the chef/owner confirm she was the one who took the booking and yes she didn’t tell Tim it was cash so she would drive Tim to the cash machine to get the cash out. A dinner we will never forget.

It was a great finish to our time in the Loire. Definitely an area of France that we have thoroughly enjoyed and one that we would come back to in an instant. Sndt to aswe