Last Friday we welcomed Helen & Steve back to 'La Bellevue' for their exclusive Weekend Wine Discovery - a weekend dedicated to Val de Loire wines and traditional French home cooked cuisine.
The evening started with the customary pre-dinner aperitif, and was shortly followed by a 'Beaumont household' custom......une petite dégustation to experience the difference between les primeurs - Beaujolais Nouveau and Touraine Primeur.
Spending most of their weekend with a wine glass in their hands Helen & Steve had an impressive 17 different AOC appellations to sample throughout their day.
No time was lost heading off to the first vineyard where a Chinon blanc was tasted - only 2% of the wine produced under the appellation AOC Chinon is blanc, a rare find as Chinon is traditionally known for its fruity reds.
The mornings wine tasting concluded, at this next particular dégustation Helen was a little more reserved but Steve embraced his 'French experience' and tucked into a plate of oysters.In keeping with French tradition a pre-lunch aperitif is taken at the bar of our friends lovely cave â vin/bar à vin where conversation is freely shared with fellow lunchers....aaahhhh la France !
To avoid any temptation of la sieste a visit to the vines for 'a breath of fresh air' and a look at the surrounding countryside was opted for before the afternoon dégustations got underway.
Fortunate enough to experience une porte ouverte at one of the Domaines it was time all too soon to return to 'La Bellevue' for the evenings aperitif and a home cooked dinner.
"Just FANTASTIC, such a great experience ! Very friendly vineyards. A great selection of wines and extremely interesting to sample the difference between the different appellations. The Weekend Wine Discovery was everything we were looking forward to."Sarah-Jane & Gérald have been fantastic and looked after us as part of the family. We will be encouraging our friends to come along next time." Helen & Steve, Warwick
