I am taking a break from adding articles to Winedoctor this week, as I have landed in the Loire Valley for what could be a week of R&R. Then again…

I had originally hoped to spend some time in Vouvray, but the one domaine I was particularly interested in visiting has not responded to my request for a visit. I should have anticipated this, as I have been in the domaine’s bad books since 2014, but I was hoping to build some bridges with them. It looks like that will never be….

So instead I arrived this weekend in Muscadet, staying and dining in Clisson, which was divine. Both the Sèvre Nantaise and the Maine (the latter pictured) were looking beautiful, each shimmering deep blue under bright skies. Reports on social media suggesting that the rivers of the Loire Valley have “evaporated away” are patent clickbait/like-seeking nonsense, and it was disappointing that they received amplification and endorsement from some respected figures in the wine world.

Right now I am back in my house near Chinon, so I will hopefully head up to the Vienne and the Loire itself at some point too. In the meantime I am busy making repairs, as this year’s clients (I rent out my house here during the summer) seem to have caused a lot of damage. One bedroom door has had half the frame blown out, and a metal lock snapped in two, I can only imagine achieved with an impassioned and forceful door-slam during what must have been an epic tantrum. And the sliding cover over the swimming pool has been broken, the bill for which will run into the thousands. Oh well. Fortunately the view of the pool (with broken cover permanently retracted) serves to remind me why I do all this.

When I am not busy making repairs, I will head back to Muscadet to check out the opening days of the harvest.

So much for that R&R!

Normal service will resume next week, with updates to the site starting again on the first Monday of September.