17 October 2010

Wine and fuel

What with the fuel shortages and gas station closings, we wonder whether two of the people we invited for dinner today will even be able to get here. They were planning to drive down from Paris. We're waiting to hear from them. The other two friends live just five miles up the road, so they shouldn't have any trouble making the trip.

We found these wines from the region to have with our dinner:


  • a Touraine Cabernet Franc from Valérie Forgues at Domaine de la Méchinière, a winery just a mile down the road from us in Mareuil-sur-Cher;
  • a bottle of Touraine-Mesland from Domaine de Lusqueneau, which I think is a a blend of Gamay, Malbec/Côt, and Cabernet Franc— Mesland is a village about 25 miles north of Saint-Aignan that has a good reputation for its red wines;
  • a Côt/Malbec from Guy Allion at Domaine du Haut Perron, across the river from us in Thésée-la-Romaine;
  • a Saumur-Champigny from Nicolas Verdier in Montreuil-Bellay, over on the west side of Tours, made from Cabernet Franc grapes;
  • a Touraine Gamay bottled by Justin Monmousseau in Montrichard.
I think we overdid it on the reds. I can't imagine we'll open more than a couple of them this afternoon. There will be six of us, as I've said.

Just to be sure, however, we also bought some whites and rosés:


  • a Perle de Rosée ("pearls of dew") Pineau d'Aunis rosé from the Domaine de la Renaudie, the winery that owns the vines around our hamlet, La Renaudière;
  • a Domaine de la Renne rosé from up the road in Saint-Romain-sur-Cher, which is also made from Pineau d'Aunis grapes;
  • a Valentin Ledys (Domaine de la Chôtinière) Touraine Sauvignon white from the new winery just a few hundred meters up the hill from our house;
  • a local Chardonnay white from the Domaine de la Pounière in Saint-Aignan.
And did I mention the bottle of bubbly Vouvray we plan to have as our apéritif, with some tomates confites on toast with fresh goat cheese?

We seldom buy much wine in bottles, because it is cheaper to buy it in bulk and bottle it ourselves, without labels. But for a special occasion... well, we got carried away. We'll save some for the visitors who are coming to spend three or four days in early November. Too bad we can't burn wine in the Peugeot.

10 comments:

  1. Just got home from a drive to the Mornington Peninsula - driving so couldnt drink to much ánd here you are enticing us with these lovely Loire wines - We'll be around in a moment. We did however have a nice red with the bunny Sue cooked Saturday night.

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  2. Ken, you are making me jealous. One thing I am missing already is the wine.

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  3. Do you get the bulk wine at the vineyard?

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  4. I hope everyone gets to dinner- it sounds so yummy!

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  5. What a wonderful array of wines! It's fabulous that you can get this range of interesting wines from so nearby. I'm jealous.

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  6. The visitors who are coming to spend three or four days in early November are REALLY looking forward to it.

    They also hope that the gods of the grève settle down.
    Chrissoup

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  7. I think it is just fine that you can't burn wine in your Peugeot

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  8. I have been missing a lot in 1 week. It took me almost an hour to read both blogs and the comments.
    I hope the fuel situation is over with.

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  9. Sounds like you will enjoy a fine drop or two of your local wines. You must come to Oz so that we can treat you to some of our local grapes. But I must warn you that the wind and rain at home have been extreme.

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  10. Tbiker Tony, wine is actually cheaper than diesel fuel here! Not the stuff you get already bottled, but the bulk wine that we bottle ourselves.

    Starman, we get wine in bulk from producers and co-ops. Not all of the wine-makers sell it that way, but many do.

    Chrissoup, the strike situation is coming to a head, I think. Besides, for some reason there never seem to be strikes on holidays (Toussaint in your case).

    Leon and Sue, rabbit sounds awfully good, especially with red wine. I bet the recipe with caramelized shallots I wrote about today would be as good with rabbit as with chicken or guinea hen.

    Bob, Evelyn, Kirstie, Nadège, bonjour to you all. The food and wine were excellent, IMHO.

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