Loire Valley Wine Fair, Angers (49)

On Tuesday Gérald and I visited the Loire Valley Wine Fair in Angers (49).  Now in its 26th year the Salon des Vins de Loire is the largest single gathering of Loire Valley wine producers (550 vignerons) and certainly a date in the diary for wine importers, retail and commerce.

Set in two great halls the wine fair is an impressive sight, and it was our objective to source new wines for Bistrot Les Tontons, our wine bar in Saumur and for Ten Green Bottles, with whom we are in partnership with, and have a wine bar, The Wine Shop & Tasting Room in Brighton, UK.

On a social level the wine fair is a great opportunity for us to catch up with the wine producers we work closely with.

One Domaine in particular is Domaine de la Paleine located in Le Puy Notre-Dame (49), AOC Saumur & AOC Saumur-Puy-Notre-Dame, and whose award winning wines are served, and can be purchased, at Bistrot Les Tontons.

Congratulations!! For 2012 Domaine de la Paleine was awarded the : Ligers d'Argent & Ligers de Bronze for the quality of its wines.

Owned by Marc & Laurent Vincent, Domaine de la Paleine continues to be represented at salon des vins, wine fairs, by Gérald.

And today whilst talking with Marc we sampled new vintages of favoured wines which we have followed for over 10 years.

Next we headed to see Le Petit Saint Vincent, Varrains (49), AOC Saumur-Champigny, whose wines are served at Bistrot Les Tontons.

Albeit not photographed Le Petit Saint Vincent produces a divine sparkling rosé, which was in great demand throughout last summer.

A Domaine whose wines have been produced by the same family for four generations and whose vines age between 30 and 80 years old.

The wines were a pleasure for me to sample, in particular the 2010 chenin!

Festi Vini 2011 - Le Marché des Vins de Saumur

Festi Vini 2011 : 03-11 September was eight days of festivities, culture, fun runs, concerts with the principal event Le Marché des Vins being held on Sunday 04 September in Place de la République in Saumur.



Le Marché des Vins is one of my favourite events of the seasonal calander. A fabulous day out which caters for every family member.

Gérald, representing Domaine de la Paleine for his 6th year was one of the 60 Pays de Loire vineyards to be invited.

Glorious sunshine and high temperatures aided the days festivities, enjoyment of artisans goodies and vignerons wines.

















Having timed their return stays perfectly were our wonderful & fun loving clients, Lisa & John, Susan & Paul, both of whom we had had the great pleasure of welcoming to 'La Bellevue' last year.

















United in one great shared passion, the wines from Domaine de la Paleine ! Armed with their dégustation glasses un grand tour of le marché was in order before concluding at Géralds stand to sample the Domaines latest vintages.

Festi Vini 2012 :
dates to be confirmed

Bistrot Les Tontons, Saumur

After a glorious day of sunshine on the 14th, le 'Pont', the Friday commonly taken in France to extend a Bank Holiday weekend, appeared to take a turn for the not-so-great.

Holiday makers, locals and passer-bys were undeterred from a spot of drizzle and Bistrot Les Tontons continued to exude les sentiments des vacances as the terrace and festivities reflected.

As the evening drew in the ambience moved inside the wine bar - those choosing full dining residing at the tables and those casually sharing a glass or two of wine stood at the bar enjoying a plate of charcuterie.

With an atmosphere accueillante et chaleureuse it was no surprise the evening ran into the small hours!

Bistrot Les Tontons

With much of Saumur cordoned off to traffic for this weekends festivities Fridays deadline deliveries were unable to reach us and albeit this wasn't quite to plan there was much to do in preparation for the now opening of Bistrot Les Tontons on Tuesday 05 July 2011.

BEFORE

Gérald and I viewed the then called Cafe La Grange back in March when it resembled the Pompidou Centre, Paris.

Since signing on 21st June the future Bistrot Les Tontons has undergone a vast transformation.


WORK IN PROGRESS

For those of you who know Gérald from Domaine de la Paleine you will be delighted to learn Gérald will continue to represent the Domaine.

Further more the wines from Domaine de la Paleine will be available to enjoy during lunch and dinner and can be purchased directly from la cave at Bistort Les Tontons.

In addition, Loire Valley Uncorked will continue to provided privately conducted wine tasting tours at the Domaine de la Paleine and NEW for 2012 - wine tastings & river boat trips on the Loire river held on Domaine de la Paleines own private la toue, river boat.

Oz Clarke's Pocke Wine Guide 2010

Featuring in Oz Clarke's Pocket Wine Guide 2010 Domaine de la Paleine is quoted amongst the better producers in the AOC Saumur and amongst the 'best producers' of the Saumur Brut.

Wine enthusiasts seeking an Oz Clarke style wine tasting can visit Domaine de la Paleine, a beautiful vineyard set in the picturesque village of Le Puy Notre Dame, south of Saumur.

Hosted by Gérald Beaumont, a bilingual French wine professional experience a privately conducted wine course, wine tour & wine tasting at Domaine de la Paleine, sample the Brut Saumur referrenced by Oz Clarke and the many more exquiste wines produced by this highly reputed Domaine.

If the Loire Valley is a little too far to go, you can meet Gérald at The Wine Shop & Tasting Room, Brighton, UK and enjoy a private wine tasting accompanied by an accords mets et vins, wine & food pairing.

Discover with Gérald the diverse wines from Domaine de la Paleine while learning about wine, the vines, food pairing & wine production.

Bonne dégustation.

For further information about our private wine courses, luxury wine breaks, full day Loire Valley wine tours & privately conducted wine tastings please contact Sarah-Jane at: info@loirevalleyuncorked.net

6ème Marché des Vins de Saumur

Set along the edge of the Loire river Saumur hosted its 6ème Marché des Vins de Saumur in glorious sunshine and temperatures of 30°C.

Locals and holiday makers got into the spirit of things taking their time to enjoy the festive ambience while sampling local vignerons wine and artisans home produced delicacies.

Proving to be increasingly popular Le Marché des Vins de Saumur is now a two day event, opening on Saturday from 16h00 to 21h00 and again on Sunday from 10h00 to 19h00.






Constance Beaumont made her debut at her first wine festival and joined Papa Beaumont at the stand.

While Augustin, now a novice at these events, decided playing with his favourite cars were far more fun!

7ème Marché des Vins de Saumur will be held the first weekend of September 2011.

Grape Harvest 2009 - Last but not Least !!

With next week seeing the end of Harvest 2009 at the Domaine it was the turn of the chenin grapes to be picked for the exquisite Côteaux de Saumur - a white wine and delicious accompaniment with foie gras or blue cheese.

'The GP Team' !! Not quite recreating the romantic image of grape picking we like to imagine - but fortunately for them this autumn has been fabulous with glorious sunshine throughout the day.

The tractor and trailer used to take the picked grapes back to the Domaine.

With autumn taking a tighter grip daily the colours in the vines have been a picture.

Grape-Picking - Harvest starts - AOC Saumur

Poised and ready for action !

Yesterday saw the start of Harvest 2009 and the first grapes to be picked were the chardonnay for the Crémant de Loire and blanc Saumur Brut sparkling wines.

Clean and awaiting the first trailer load of grapes.

The Press and conveyor belt which transports the grapes into the Press.

The first tractor trailer load arrives.

My photos aren't the sort to conjure up the romantic image of harvesting grapes in France we all imagine.

Instead they show more of the 'behind the scenes' work involved during harvest, other than seeing pickers amongst the vines.

Here the chardonnay is being emptied on to the conveyor belt ready for pressing.

From this two different juices will be extracted to produce the Domaines wines.

And 2009 looks to be a very interesting vintage as the good quality grapes and good volumes are proving.

5ème Marché des Vins de Saumur

On Sunday 6th September Saumur hosted its 5th Wine Festival - Marché des Vins de Saumur.

In glorious sunshine and set along the edge of the Loire river visitors sampled wines from 60 vigerons from the AOC Saumur and local artisans cuisine whilst enjoying live music and the festive atmosphere.

No stranger to Saumurs' festival Gérald was there presenting the Domaine.

And not to miss out on his 2nd Marché des Vins de Saumur, Augustin went along to help Papa...

...well, to bring Papa his lunch, to meet friends and annual returning holiday makers who make the Saumur Wine Festival part of their holiday - who can blame them, it's a fabulous event !!

6ème Marché des Vins de Saumur - Sunday 5th September, 2010

A Week in the Loire Valley with Ros & Peter

All the way from Perth, Australia Gérald & I welcomed Ros & Peter to 'La Bellevue' whilst on their Loire Valley leg of their own 'Tour de France'.

Clearly after our own hearts, Ros & Peter embraced 'la France' - this was going to be a great week !

A full days bike riding and exploring...

...warranted the evenings aperitif !

A morning spent at a bustling local market was followed...

...by an afternoon at the Domaine for a Private Wine Tour & Wine Tasting with Gérald.

Château visits and more bike riding where Ros & Peter covered some phenomenal distances continued...

And as all good things come to an end, Ros & Peter's final day in the Loire fell on Saumur's 5th Wine Festival - Marché des Vins de Saumur - perfect timing !

By now fully adept to the art of dégustation they enjoyed sampling wines from the 60 presenting vignerons, naturally spending more time with Gérald at his stand.



"Everything was PERFECT. Our stay with Sarah-Jane & Gérald was an absolute highlight. Their warmth, generosity & friendship provided us with a more complete French experience in this beautiful wine region. Gérald educated us in the art of wine making and his dégustation at La Paleine was an occassion to remember. The wines were superb, Annie's House was spotless & well appointed, set in the serene setting of Pouançay. We will return!"
Ros & Peter Buck, Perth Australia

AOC Tour de France 2009

This week we saw the return of wine enthusiasts Mark and Jeremy to 'La Bellevue' for the final leg of their 'AOC Appellation Tour de France 2009' .

Hosted by Gérald the early evenings Wine Tasting Soirée got underway with dégustations held in the garden and in our troglodyte caves.

Taken through an array of sparkling, white, rosé and red wines, Gérald introduced Mark and Jeremy to last years vintage and discused todays expectations for this years wines.

Wine and conversation continued over dinner which was enjoyed outside with a setting sun and spectacular view across the Loire.

To experience a Wine Tasting Soirée visit: http://www.domainedelabellevue.com/wine_tasting.html



A l'année prochaine !

Route Touristique des Vignobles

Southern France suffered some extremely heavy storms this week.

Huge hail stones took their toll on the fragile new growth of the vines damaging them severely.

Thankfully the Loire has avoided being hit by these tempêtes !

Curiosity aroused Augustin and I took an afternoon stroll along the route touristique des vignobles.

A peaceful walk amongst the vines, vineyards and neigbouring villages.

Anticipating 2009 to be a hot summer I was encouraged to see the baby grapes had started to form.

The Vines - taille à la baguette

At this stage of the year the taillage will be finished and the vines are fully prepared for their year ahead.

The photo shows these vines 'taille à la baguette'. Cut and prepared for their future growth and yeald.




Taillage complete attention is turned to the supporting posts, lines and soil. The lines which the vine will use to support herself are tightened and tension restored.

Posts are replaced if necessary and straightened and the soil either side of the vines feet is turned to oxygenate it.

AOC Saumur - sparkling Saumur Brut wine

Sparkling Saumur Brut wine - created by L'Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) on 31 December 1957 and actualised in 1976, to date its cépage remains a combination of the: Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Franc & Chardonnay grapes.

This week saw Gérald busy operating the machine which removes the dépôt 'à la volée' , from the bottles of tomorrows Saumur Brut wines.

The Saumur Brut is created by two fermentations, the first in the vat and the second in the bottle. During a period of 12-24 months the bottles are turned quarterly to encourage the dépôt collects in the neck of the bottle.

There are two ways to extract the dépôt: 1) à la volée (very rare) and 2) by freezing the top of the bottle.

Gérald is using the 'à la volée' method. The bottles resting at 180 degrees are placed into the machine.

The machine moves the bottles to 45 degrees, instantly removes their caps and the natural pressure created by the bubbles from fermentation ejects the dépot. Over within moments a cap is immediately replaced on the bottle to secure its contents.