I am spending a few days discovering the Loire Valley as I ring in 2009.
This is my sweet little hotel in Chinon. Every morning we have a truly amazing breakfast of croissants, baguette, assorted homemade jams (apple with lavender and rose, fig, rhubarb and strawberry), fresh butter and goat cheese and artisanal local apple juice. All enjoyed in front of a roaring fireplace.
Even better, I discovered that epiphany Chinon rouge wine last night at dinner.
Pure clear color, delicious violets and red currants on the nose and a delightful acidity to cut through all the rich meat dishes I have been enjoying a bit too much here in France.
Olga Raffault Chinon Les Barnabes 2007. From my googling, it looks like Louis/Dressner Selections imports these wines to the United States.
Olga herself is a bit of a legend here in Chinon, with many winemakers utilizing her expertise over the years. Her granddaughter, Sylvie now runs the Raffault estate.
Like many vineyards in the Loire, the grapes are farmed organically and stainless steel fermented for your drinking pleasure.
2 comments:
Very cool... glad you got out to Chinon, and the Raffault sounds delicous... are they certified as organic growers?
After scanning the web, I could not confirm whether they are certified or not, just several references to their old school organic grape growing practices.
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