Loire Valley Wine
One Day Immersion Tour
We have been increasingly asked over the past few years if we could arrange a wine tour lasting for just one day for visitors who are staying elsewhere in the region or who are travelling from Paris or another city. We have normally managed to do this on an ad-hoc basis but have now decided to offer a day's tour on a more regular basis. So, if you are a lover of the vine why not join us on our days "Immersion in Wine". We have enhanced the day so that it includes not just two visits to an award winning winery but refeshments at our property, "Le Clos des Guyons" and lunch in the village restaurant "Le Bouchon Ponot" which we hope will give you a feel of a French wine village.
Your Day in the Loire Valley
A Tasting of Loire Valley wine in an award winning local winery.
Your day of wine discovery will consist of the following:-
Welcome to Le Clos des Guyons
including Pètit Deujener or Aperitifs depending on the time of day.
A privately conducted tour of one of the most prestigious wineries in Le Puy Notre Dame including walking the vines, the wine chais and the caves with information and discussion on the grape varieties, the cépages, the terroir, the appellations in this part of the Loire, (including the village's own appellation, Saumur-Puy Notre Dame), wine making techniques and the machinery involved and generally an overview of a year in the life of a winemaker.
Lunch in the pretty village restaurant, "Le Bouchon Ponot". This will consist of Le Menu du Jour, normally an extremely apertising meal made with local products which are available on the day. (An a la carte menu or several other fixed priced menus available if you wish to pay a little extra).
Return to the winery for a detailed tasting of the full range of wine with professional guidance and "insider knowledge" pointing out subtle differences between each years vintages 
and the different wines from within the same vintage. One of the most attractive things about this region from a wine point of view is the sheer range of wine produced with reds, dry whites, sweet whites, rosés and sparkling wines all produced here.
Return to "Le Clos des Guyons" Sit in the garden or wine chais for refreshments and further discussion of the wines we have tasted.
A Personal Note
Within France's world famous and magical Loire Valley, Anjou and Saumur are two of the most vibrant wine regions in France. The last twenty years has seen an immense leap forward in terms of quality leading to wine which can compete with any. At the same time the traditional respect and love of the vine has been maintained together with a relaxed approach which some other regions could do well to emulate.
Having both worked for years in the retail wine
business in the UK and having studied wine for much of that time I was of the belief that I knew most of what there was to know about wine production. It was therefore quite humiliating to arrive in the village of Le Puy Notre Dame with around 1600 hectares of vineyard and well over 60 winemakers and to realise that I actually knew very little about the actuality of wine making. A situation which has, to a large extent been remedied by the many wine makers that we have got to know over the ten years we have spent in the region and by actually working in the vineyards.
Vineyard in Le Puy Notre Dame producing red wine of the new appellation: Saumur-Puy Notre Dame. Medieval church in the background.
Le Puy Notre Dame is the largest wine producing commune within the Saumur 
vineyards both in terms of production and area. Wine making here dates back to the 13th Century. On the pilgrims route to St. Jacques de Compestella, the village is one of the prettiest in the region. Its ancient buildings, pretty sunken lanes and its quiet vineyards on the surrounding slopes truly make it 'picture postcard' France.
The region is amazingly well served with transport links. It is easy to get to even from Paris by using France's famous high speed trains, (the TGV). Taking the morning TGV from Montparnasse will get you into Angers in ample time to spend the days "Immersion with Wine Tour" before returning on the evening TGV. (The trains are roughly every hour).