I am back in the Loire Valley - my home away from home and the most magical place on earth for Cabernet Franc. If you think I’m biased or exaggerating, let me take a moment to remind you that this is the grape’s ancestral homeland, the only place on earth with centuries of tradition producing single varietal Cabernet Franc, and with over 15,000 hectares of the grape under vine, there is more Cabernet Franc planted in the Loire Valley than Italy, Hungary, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, United States, and Canada combined. The Loire is (or should be) for Cab Franc-o-philes what Burgundy is for Pinot-philes - this is Mecca.
All that is to say, I’m delighted to be back in the Loire, even with the excruciatingly oppressive heatwave that persisted over 5+ days last week - the short and long terms impacts of which have yet to be fully understood. Thankfully, this week the temperatures have returned to more “normal” summertime conditions, and there was some welcomed scattered showers over the…