The wine flowed . . .

It's been quite a weekend. Here's a quick glimpse of where we were Saturday - Chinon wine festival - Place Hoffheim, which is the German town that Chinon is twinned with. The festival was set up in three key areas, the other two being Place Mirabeau and the main square in the centre of town. There were about sixty wine producers. Cravant was represented in Place Mirabeau. Lovely lovely time. We'd called into some friends first thing in Chinon, and then went wandering around afterwards, bumping into others we know as we went round, and catching up with various wine producers. Good atmosphere. Live music everywhere and excellent wines. We paced ourselves very carefully as we were  out to dinner that same evening.

Saturday evening we were with friends at their house near Fontevraud. It's about thirty minutes from Cravant. There were ten of us in all, some of whom were meeting for the first time. Great evening.  Sunday morning we drove to the other side of Chinon to a quartier called St.Louans. The first time we'd been over there. You can see it from the ramparts of Chinon Castle and had often said we should go and wander around. We'd made some new friends who live there and who we'd met through one of our Anglo-French groups. So went over to support their village event - a Vide-Grenier - emptying the attic. Stalls lined the streets all over the village. There were eateries and bars at various places to be stopped off at as we wandered around. Hopefully they've made some money. Last year the weather was horrendous, but even so they broke even. This time it was a lovely day and by the time we left which was about mid morning, there were plenty of customers around.  We then dropped back into Chinon to see another friend from the same Anglo-French group but he is involved with French Rotary. They had a fund raising event along the river edge in Chinon, all sorts of items for the garden, including some fabulous herbs. Our friend was a marshall and happened to be standing by someone else we know, who was doing face painting for children and adults. As I was dressed head to toe in blue, I had a magnificent striped fish painted on my cheek. Mike of course managed to escape. The offer of painting hair on his head didn't really appeal. 

Next stop on Sunday was to a porte-ouverte on the Chinon side of Cravant. Domaine de Nueil (doesn't have a website) is owned by Laurent Gilloire and has been for several generations. Lovely wine and lovely people. Theirs was a two-day event. The first day clashed with the Chinon wine fair, so we went the next day and booked for lunch. We got there around midday. Great buzz. As you drive towards it from Chinon the domaine is quite striking with a turreted building at the front, that leads into a large courtyard. The entire family live on site - several generations - in their own houses all of which face on to the same courtyard.  Their portes-ouvertes are always well supported. We checked in, were given a glass (to keep - quite normal here) and then we wandered into the cave for a series of tastings. Six reds and two rosés. Delicious. We bought a case of Vieille Vigne/2011. So good. Bumped into some more French friends and decided to have lunch together as they'd booked as well. They arrived with their seventeen year old grandson, who had just been to the UK for a week, staying of all places, in Bath - just eight miles from our house in Bradford on Avon. Bath we of course know very well. Small world etc., As to lunch, all I can say is that I ate one of the most delicious and beautifully cooked steaks, ever. Such flavour and so tender.  Wine came with lunch, cheese, bread etc. The eating area was under a huge canopy. Absolutely packed. Everyone was chatting together. Wonderful atmosphere.  Unsurprisingly we went home and collapsed in a heap. It had all been just ace.