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Cider has seen an explosion in popularity recently. Everyone from large beer companies to small scale New England farms has jumped into the game, and “craft cider” is no longer hard to find.

We’ve tasted a lot of wine over the past few weeks: 40 winemakers, three regions, and several hundred wines in all. Friday night, over Breton oysters and Muscadet in a Nantes brasserie, we made the “Best Of” list -- “most memorable meal,” “most exciting new producer,” and “wine of the trip.”

We spend the morning putting finishing touches on three weeks of tasting notes. Over coffee we discuss the final lineup for next week's Futures Issue, and catch the noon TGV from Nantes to Paris. At Montparnasse we take a cab to the Latin Quarter, where our rental host is waiting.

A morning drive through the Vallée de la Loire -- sprawling fields of wheat and corn dotted with grain elevators and crumbling churches. Our first tasting is with a familiar Muscadet producer -- pure and expressive wines showing far more complexity than most expect from the grape.

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…

We take our coffee in Amboise, near a bridge over the river Loire. Our first appointment is at 9am -- a young energetic vigneron with only 3 hectares of vines, which he tends on the weekends. His wines are clear and crisp, all Chenin Blanc, both sec and demi-sec; we sample his pétillant-naturale (single fermentation sparkling wine).

Our 9am appointment this morning is in a sleepy town west of Pouilly-sur-Loire, still in the appellation of Pouilly-Fumé. The vingeron is absent, and his quiet, charming mother shows us his two wines. Both are excellent -- round and rich and full of life. The first shows excellent weight and length; the second, an old vine cuvée made from vines…

We spend our day off with a bit of sightseeing, and some catching up on email. A short trip north to the Reims Cathedral is well worth the drive. The massive gothic masterpiece, built in stages over thousands of years and carefully restored (with, of all things, Rockefeller funding) post WWI, is magnificent; as the French say, impressionant.

We leave Beaune this morning under cloudy skies. As the fog lifts and the drizzle clears, we drive northwest to Chablis, Burgundy's satellite region. Our first appointment is en centre ville -- a family producer of classic, mineral Chablis. The 2013s are perhaps the best they've made in recent memory, full of life and energy, and in perfect balance.

Last day in Burgundy. We head south on the highway towards Macon, back to the region where we once spent a year living. The softly rolling hills are covered in wheat, forests, and vines, and our car dips gently as we rise and fall with the rhythm of the countryside.

With a morning off from tastings, I take the car for a stretch up the Côte d'Or for photo collection. The soft morning sun quickly rises past the haze and clouds to paint a picture perfect blue sky above the shimmering green rows of vines. Many vignerons are in the fields this week -- treating with insect deterrents, pruning the…

A quick coffee before heading south today -- again a clear blue sky with warm sun and a mild breeze. The floraison (flowering) happened last week, and the weather was perfect; the vignerons are trés content with the the flowering of their vines, and have begun their 100 day countdown to the maturation of the fruit.

Coffee in the apartment and a warm baguette from the boulangerie next door. Our first tasting is a new producer in Gevrey, in a beautiful 18th century house with a welcoming courtyard. The domaine is a very exciting new find, with excellent Gevrey-Chambertins at the villages, premier cru, and grand cru levels.

The Gare de Lyon buzzed quietly at 6:30 this morning, with sleepy travelers standing blankfaced in line for their coffee. The train to Dijon was sunny and sleepy as it rocketed smoothly through the lush French countryside.

Sunday coffee in Châtelet on the way to Porte de Clingancourt. We meet a local friend for a morning tour of the Les Puces market, which is sprawling and full of amazing antiques: copper pots, Victorian dresses, Louis XIV furniture, and everything in between.