11:45PM | Chinon | Loire Valley
Coffee, toast, and a collection of homemade jams for breakfast this morning — back for a third time at the utterly pleasant Hotel Diderot in Chinon. Our first appointment is out in the fields east of Chinon; a young producer we discovered a few years ago when he had just started to bottle his own wines. This year’s crop is dense and lovely — pure, unoaked cabernet franc showing dark cherries and graphite.
We stroll through the market in Chinon, full of vegetables, oysters, baskets, and crêpes. After lunch we head west to St. Nicolas de Bourgeuil, for a tasting at a biodynamic producer whose wines are juicy and full of life. Back in Chinon we finish up some work and head to dinner.
Dinner is exceptional — house made foie gras, crusted and roasted mignon de porc, and baba au rhum for dessert. One more jam-filled breakfast tomorrow, then west to Nantes.
