Days of Loire Valley Vineyards,
Wine Caves and a Chateau in Chinon
Cave de Monplaisir
A Deep Dark Wine Cave in Chinon
Cave Monplaisir is located on the Quay Pasteur which runs along the Vienne River and leads into Chinon and as we whizzed by it, Jim quickly said “do you want to stop there?” Naturally, a chance to taste wine in a wine cave was not to be missed, so we u-turned as soon as we could and headed back to the dark cave inside of the tufa cliffs. These caves are the remains of the old Tufa quarries which were mined for their stone. These stones were used to build the great chateaux and towns of the Loire. Centuries later, enterprising vintners decided to store their wine in the cold caves where the French oak casks could be kept at a perfect temperature for years until the wine was at the optimal time for bottling.
This cave is huge with extensive caverns running for hundreds of yards back into the hillside. The tunnels are lined with casks and some cave-rooms are filled with antique bottles of wine covered with mold and dust while others are filled with neat stacks of cases which contain much more recent wine. Most of the current wine is held from 6 months to 2 years. You can feel the decades of winemaking contained within this rocky cavern. As you walk far into the cave, the temperature drops until you are shivering in your summer clothes perfect for keeping wine, but a little chilly for humans.
This cold temperature finally pushes you back to the warm mouth of the cave where there is a long counter with a friendly person to answer all your questions about the wine of the region, pointing out the vineyard locations on a map conveniently spread out on the countertop. Cave de Monplaisir is owned by three Chinon wine estates: Domain de L’Abbey, Jean-Maurice Raffault and Domaine du Raffault. The region’s wines are based on the Cabernet Franc grape.
We tasted several red wines since we had only a very short drive up the hill to our hotel in Chinon. Be sure to stop by and taste what is considered some of the best wine in the Loire region.
This cave is huge with extensive caverns running for hundreds of yards back into the hillside. The tunnels are lined with casks and some cave-rooms are filled with antique bottles of wine covered with mold and dust while others are filled with neat stacks of cases which contain much more recent wine. Most of the current wine is held from 6 months to 2 years. You can feel the decades of winemaking contained within this rocky cavern. As you walk far into the cave, the temperature drops until you are shivering in your summer clothes perfect for keeping wine, but a little chilly for humans.
This cold temperature finally pushes you back to the warm mouth of the cave where there is a long counter with a friendly person to answer all your questions about the wine of the region, pointing out the vineyard locations on a map conveniently spread out on the countertop. Cave de Monplaisir is owned by three Chinon wine estates: Domain de L’Abbey, Jean-Maurice Raffault and Domaine du Raffault. The region’s wines are based on the Cabernet Franc grape.
We tasted several red wines since we had only a very short drive up the hill to our hotel in Chinon. Be sure to stop by and taste what is considered some of the best wine in the Loire region.
A Wine Cave in Bourgueil, France
During a two day stay in Chinon while on our driving tour of the Loire Valley Chateaux my wife, Susan, decided that we should take a short break from looking at the many chateaux to visit a wine cave. She had obviously done her homework as she already had one in mind. So we drove from our hotel in Chinon to the Cave du Pays de Bourgueil on the outskirts of the town of Bourgueil which is about a thirty minute drive. Having the address of this tourist attraction and a GPS made the trip much easier and a good deal more pleasurable.
When we first arrived the cave was closed and no one was in the outbuilding that served as the office/shop and wine tasting facility. We quickly learned that we had arrived at lunch time so rather than just sitting around we set about taking pictures of the vineyard. The manager and her dog arrived at promptly 2:30 which is what the sign on the door indicated. She was a very pleasant woman and talked intelligently about the region and the wines that were produced there. She also explained how and why the cave was created. Apparently it originated as a quarry to extract stone to build some of the Chateaux in the region and then it laid dormant for a couple of hundred years until someone came up with the bright idea to store wine in the caves due the caves maintaining a constant temperature that is advantageous to wine storage.
After learning about the cavern she escorted us into the cave and after providing information about the museum (the cave is actually a museum) she departed and left us alone. We were the only people in the cave so we were not rushed as we visited each exhibit and took lots of pictures. Most of the displays were an assortment of antique wine presses, some being huge and dating back to the sixteenth century, and other equipment found in producing wine including barrels and tubs of all sizes. Other displays told about the history of wine making in the region.
After the tour of the cave we returned to the shop to sample some of the local wines and to learn more about the wines produced in the area. After tasting a number of the wines we purchased a few bottles of one that we particularly liked. This excursion is worth the 4 ½ Euro fee.
When we first arrived the cave was closed and no one was in the outbuilding that served as the office/shop and wine tasting facility. We quickly learned that we had arrived at lunch time so rather than just sitting around we set about taking pictures of the vineyard. The manager and her dog arrived at promptly 2:30 which is what the sign on the door indicated. She was a very pleasant woman and talked intelligently about the region and the wines that were produced there. She also explained how and why the cave was created. Apparently it originated as a quarry to extract stone to build some of the Chateaux in the region and then it laid dormant for a couple of hundred years until someone came up with the bright idea to store wine in the caves due the caves maintaining a constant temperature that is advantageous to wine storage.
After learning about the cavern she escorted us into the cave and after providing information about the museum (the cave is actually a museum) she departed and left us alone. We were the only people in the cave so we were not rushed as we visited each exhibit and took lots of pictures. Most of the displays were an assortment of antique wine presses, some being huge and dating back to the sixteenth century, and other equipment found in producing wine including barrels and tubs of all sizes. Other displays told about the history of wine making in the region.
After the tour of the cave we returned to the shop to sample some of the local wines and to learn more about the wines produced in the area. After tasting a number of the wines we purchased a few bottles of one that we particularly liked. This excursion is worth the 4 ½ Euro fee.
Click here to find out more about visiting the Cave du Pays de Bourgueil
2 rue des Caves de Chevrette
37140 Bourgueil
2 rue des Caves de Chevrette
37140 Bourgueil
In The Footsteps of Joan of Arc
Our second base location in the Loire Valley was the old royal city of Chinon which was added to the French Royal Estates in 1209, now known as a favorite stop on tourist wine-tours. There is a really good reason for this popularity. The town is full of history, whether it is the history of France and its famous citizen, Joan of Arc, or the history of wine and both can be explored easily from Chinon.
At our hotel, we ran into a group of bicyclists who were riding from town to town through the Loire visiting vineyards and chateaux along the way. While we truly admired their healthy mode of transportation and their incredible stamina, Jim and I both knew this would never be a tour we would consider doing. Too much work!
We liked the fact that our luxury car would convey us speedily along the countryside with ease accompanied by French music on the satellite radio, while allowing us to stop as we pleased whenever something caught our fancy. The only exercise we would be getting would be climbing the steep (and sometimes endless seeming) stone and wood steps of the ancient chateaux and wandering their formal gardens.
So if you are looking for biking tour info, stop here.
If like us, you like to tour in comfort, Chinon is a beautiful old city with several lovely hotels and most importantly, a few even have parking available for your car. We chose to stay at the Best Western Hotel de France, Chinon, which is one of the most charming hotels we have ever stayed in. Be sure to check out Jim’s review Charming Hotel in a Great Location in Chinon.
At our hotel, we ran into a group of bicyclists who were riding from town to town through the Loire visiting vineyards and chateaux along the way. While we truly admired their healthy mode of transportation and their incredible stamina, Jim and I both knew this would never be a tour we would consider doing. Too much work!
We liked the fact that our luxury car would convey us speedily along the countryside with ease accompanied by French music on the satellite radio, while allowing us to stop as we pleased whenever something caught our fancy. The only exercise we would be getting would be climbing the steep (and sometimes endless seeming) stone and wood steps of the ancient chateaux and wandering their formal gardens.
So if you are looking for biking tour info, stop here.
If like us, you like to tour in comfort, Chinon is a beautiful old city with several lovely hotels and most importantly, a few even have parking available for your car. We chose to stay at the Best Western Hotel de France, Chinon, which is one of the most charming hotels we have ever stayed in. Be sure to check out Jim’s review Charming Hotel in a Great Location in Chinon.
Chinon is the French town where in 1429, a weary Joan of Arc transformed herself from peasant girl to warrior-saint, by recognizing the yet uncrowned king she had never met, from among a group of nobles inside the great hall of the Chateau Chinon. She went on to convince him that with her belief in angel voices, he could drive the English out of the city of Orleans. Joan of Arc then armed herself in Tours and entered Orleans with a small force, leading the French on to eventually force the English out of the city. She was captured in 1430, turned over to the English and accused of witchcraft. She was burned at the stake at the age of 19.
The Chateau at Chinon is one of the oldest Chateaux of the Loire as it dates from the 11th century when it was owned by the counts of Blois and then Anjou. In the 12th century, Henry II of England, also from the house of Anjou, favored the chateau as a residence and most of what remains is from that period. The chateau came under French rule in 1205 and remained a French Royal holding. It was used as a prison for the Knights Templar accused of heresy in the 14th century and again in the 16th century, but was left to decay after that.
You have the choice to walk up a zillion stairs to the high on the cliff plateau, but you can also zip up in the nearby elevator. Guess which one we took! Just seconds later, we stepped out of the elevator and onto the path leading to the chateau perched on the promontory. Its dusty stone walls gleamed white in the bright sunlight. Much of the chateau is in ruin, but it has recently undergone renovation and restoration and the chateau interior hosted rooms where the walls provide the screen for videos detailing the history of the chateau.
The Chateau at Chinon is one of the oldest Chateaux of the Loire as it dates from the 11th century when it was owned by the counts of Blois and then Anjou. In the 12th century, Henry II of England, also from the house of Anjou, favored the chateau as a residence and most of what remains is from that period. The chateau came under French rule in 1205 and remained a French Royal holding. It was used as a prison for the Knights Templar accused of heresy in the 14th century and again in the 16th century, but was left to decay after that.
You have the choice to walk up a zillion stairs to the high on the cliff plateau, but you can also zip up in the nearby elevator. Guess which one we took! Just seconds later, we stepped out of the elevator and onto the path leading to the chateau perched on the promontory. Its dusty stone walls gleamed white in the bright sunlight. Much of the chateau is in ruin, but it has recently undergone renovation and restoration and the chateau interior hosted rooms where the walls provide the screen for videos detailing the history of the chateau.
Personally, Jim and I prefer to see rooms restored to the period and full of furniture and decor from the period of the chateaux, so the huge empty rooms showing videos were a bit of a disappointment. The guard’s quarters where the walls were carved with reliefs by the guards during their long tedious stays in the ramparts, and the deep dark dungeons where prisoners would have been kept were really interesting. The 14th century Tour de l’Horloge (Clock Tower) loomed over the cliffs and the view of the medieval town rooftops punctuated by church spires and nestled on the river was spread out below us. Vineyards blanketed the hills nearby where 19th century villas nestled.
We spent the rest of the sunny afternoon and cool evening wandering the medieval streets in the footsteps of Joan of Arc, stopping in to the Cave Voltaire for a wine-tasting and lounging at tiny tables under the trees in the Place du General De Gaulle sipping a glass of local Chinon Cabernet Franc (me) and a local beer (you know who). Dinner was at Le Bistro de la Place, which was located just inside the hotel and we had well prepared, delicious, traditional French cuisine and of course a bottle of Chinon wine. We ate well since we had to be fortified for the next day when we would head off to visit more chateaux!