The California “locavore” scene has nothing on Saumur and Chinon. Especially when it comes to wines.
I long for an acknowledgment, a sense of loyalty and pride, from the restaurants and inhabitants of Livermore for their local wines. I have been the most outspoken critic of the improving, but not-yet-there quality of our home wines, but I believe there are a number of offerings that don’t get out of the cellar doors (but ought to) to the restaurants in the East Bay.
Because most of these wines (at least the ones we have encountered so far) are fermented and aged in concrete, there is no obtrusive shadow of oak to obscure the purity of fruit and earth.
Beth and I had dinner at Bistrot La Place, a 100 yards from our AirBnB in the Centre Ville of Saumur after tasting all day in Chinon, and their extensive by-the-glass list is a tribute to the wines of their place.
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