Dear wine friends,
I
just got back from a 10 day trip to the Loire Valley verifying hotels,
meeting many wine domaine owners, checking out restaurants and finding
the best travel routes.
I
am still glowing about the hospitality of the people I met, the
stunning beauty of the châteaux, my amazement at the skills in the 14th,
15th, 16th century to create such huge, impressive buildings, and the
exceptional high quality of the wines across the board. I learned to
love Cabernet Franc from the Saumur-Champigny region. These wines are
simply delicious, the tannins are tamed and the fruit is just beguiling.
Of course I also visited some of the magnificent châteaux and even
stayed a couple of nights in a small château to completely “feel” the
Loire Valley and its incredible history (we will stay there too on the
wine tour). The Loire river was wild at this time of the year and had
overflowed its banks in large areas.
The
Loire Valley’s viticulture is steeped in history and still today has a
cohesive artisan wine culture. It respects tradition but is at the same
time dynamic and experimental. It is the Loire wine region where
biodynamic wine production took off and subsequently this region has
become the spiritual home of natural winemaking. Currently three
quarters of wineries and about 80% of the vineyards have achieved some
sort of environmental accreditation.
I
am about to finishing up the final itinerary and it should be on my
website by the end of this week. I have two rooms (sgl or dbl occupancy)
left for this trip. You can sign up on my website: https://ombiasypr.
FALL WINE TOURS:
GERMANY: the
classic Rhein and Mosel regions: Tuesday, August 27 -
Thursday, September 10, 2024: The tour starts in Mainz and ends in
Frankfurt.
We
travel along the main wine arteries of Germany: the Rhine river, the
Mosel river, and the much smaller Ahr and Nahe rivers. Roman, medieval,
and modern history accompany us all the way and will help us to
understand what German wine is all about. The beauty of the landscape,
the steep vineyards, the romantic Rhine valley, the quaint villages, the
stories behind the wineries and their families, and the gorgeous wines
we will taste at world-renowned estates will give us a renewed
understanding of German wines. This is Riesling country and the spot on
the planet where the Riesling grape developed tausend years ago, and
subsequently morphed into the best white wine grape for producing crisp,
fruity, elegant, delicious wines. There is one exception: the tiny Ahr
valley and Assmanshausen in the Rheingau where Pinot Noir always was and
still is king. If you are a Riesling fan, this is the ultimate tour for
you.
RHÔNE: Northern and Southern Rhône: Sunday, October 13 - Wednesday, October 23, 2024: The tour starts in Lyon and ends in Avignon.
Don’t
hesitate to contact me via telephone, WhatsApp or email for any
questions you may have. I am happy to speak with you. I am currently in
Germany. I return to the US on February 27.
Enjoy the President's Day holiday weekend.
Best
Annette
Wine Tours - Wine Education - Wine Events
Annette Schiller, Diplom-Volkswirt
Washington DC - Frankfurt am Main
USA: Ph and WhatsApp +1 703 459 7513
GER: Ph and WhatsApp +49 -177 337 0281
Office:
6404 Woodsong Ct
McLean, VA 22101 - USA
Postings on Schiller-wine Related to the Upcoming 2024 Loire Trip by ombiasy WineTours
This is the third in a series of postings on Schiller-wine Related to the February 2024 Loire Trip:
A Journey Through The
Loire Valley - Seminar at the 2023 American Wine Society National Conference in St. Louis/ Missouri/ USA led by Annette Schiller
Plateau des Fruits de Mer and a Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie at Historic Brasserie Cigale in Nantes, Loire Valley, France (February 2024)