A walk around the village of Vouvray


Vouvray is a beautiful word. It rolls off the tongue like a song.
Vouvray is also a wonderful village, nestled into the rocks and cliffs on the northern side of the Loire river, just 10 km to the east of Tours.

One of the highlights is the Church, Notre Dame et St Jean Baptiste, established in the XIth century, extended in the XIII and XVI centuries, and rebuilt in the XIX century.

You will see troglodyte caves, evidence of the ancestral alliance between humans and nature. They also provide a stable temperature and humidity to enable the conservation and maturation of wines.

Wine is of course the raison d’être of Vouvray. It is believed that Saint Martin planted the first vine stocks in Vouvray in the year 372. Vouvray’s wines are made from Chenin Blanc, a white grape variety, which offers a unique balance of finesse and complexity.

I tasted Vouvray in all its forms — sparkling and still — dry, sweet and “nectar”. Strangely the wonderful Vouvray wines are not well known outside the Hexagon.

After I walked around this beautiful village, I wondered where the vineyards were. In fact, they are up in the high country above the village and the cliffs. This is of course where wine walking became fun. It is a wonderful trek as the photos show.

When you get back down from the high country, there is no better place to stay than Chateau de Jallanges, built in 1465 by King Louis XI, with its Renaissance-style garden.
Next time, I will stay there.

 


Links

All About Vouvray Wine
Vouvray Wine
Vouvray


Logistics

TGV Train from Paris to Tours. Taxi to Vouvray. Walk around the village, and then up into the high country at both ends of Vouvray. All up, I walked 12 km


Map