France Trip Continued--Drive West and South in the Loire

May 4th

We drove west and south through Vouvray and Tours. There are troglodyte caves just above the road in Vouvray! Tours is, of course, the site of the historic battle in which Charles Martel (Hammer) to defeat the Moors in 800 AD. The bank is very steep to the Loire River at this location. Modern day Tours is a city of 140,00 with a metropolitan population of over 400,000.

We were on the way to our next hotel, Chateau de la Motte in Usseau. This was a 15th century castle built by the Normans and is now a B and B. It did have a lot of circular staircases. There were only four suites plus the managers and owners suites, The managers are Belgian which means that they spoke French, Flemish, Dutch and English! We did have excellent dinners with local wines which were red Chinon and Saumur Champigny, both made from Cabernet Franc. In addition, we were offered Vouvray made from Chenin Blanc and Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé both of which represent Sauvignon Blanc.

May 5th

The drive to Chinon was 28 miles. Chinon is a small city that boasts a pretty impressive chateau in the center of town. Charles Joguet is an estate in Chinon about 70 kilometers northwest of Usseau. It is located on the Left Bank slopes of the Vienne river, a tributary of the Loire. Some of the vineyards are on the opposite bank. We had a very informal tasting of wines. Chinon is 98% Cabernet Franc and 2% Chenin Blanc. The latter is labeled as Touraine Blanc. The total acreage is around 65 acres.