A day in Chinon
After a six week break, due to travels in Australia, I was back to wine walking today, in the Loire Valley. This is in many ways the cultural heartland of France. It is well known and visited for its chateaux. Chinon is one of the most interesting Loire towns. The Chateau Chinon is a large castle that dominates the town, and is very rich in history. The English King Henry II built much of Chinon Chateau in the 12th century, and it is thought that Richard the Lionheart died in Chinon Chateau in 1199.
History is interesting, but our objective was wine walking. When I arrived, I asked for the location of the vineyards. I was told that the vineyards are everywhere. But as I could not see any, I decided to walk up into the hills, and sure enough I found vineyards. This is June 2022, the weather has been very warm, the vines are very leafy, the grape bunches are forming and the viticulteurs are pruning the vines. The viticulteur I spoke to was worried about global warming, and the increasingly hot weather in Chinon. He fears that Chinon wine will become like the “hot-climate” wines of the Languedoc in southern France.
The predominant Chinon wine is a delightful red, made from the Cabernet Franc grape variety. It is not a very long-living wine like Bordeaux or Burgundy, but it can mature and improve over several years. In Paris, Chinon is a very popular, value-for-money wine that many Parisians enjoy for everyday drinking. Fortunately, I had to wait a couple hours for my train back to Paris, so I enjoyed a lovely wine and cheese tasting.
Logistics
TGV train from Paris Montparnasse to Tours. Then local train to Chinon.