Mini Vacation to Nantes & Veronique’s Day

Yo Vinous People!! How it do?? The Ceci Sipper here. Just relaxing with a glass of vino. I know that may come as a shock =P Anywho, I am relaxing for a while before I go wake up my Frenchman from his pre-driving nap. We are leaving for 5 days to go to Frenchman’s hometown of Nantes. It is towards the Brittany part of France near the Atlantic Ocean. It is also VERY close to the Loire Valley….and we all know that Loire Valley has some DEE-LICIOUS WINES!!! I love me some Muscadet with some seafood. Mmmmm! Also some Cabernet Franc! Yummm-EEE!! We are going to celebrate Frenchman’s birthday. I love his family a ton. We always have such a great time when we go there. I also like it cause it makes me feel a little less homesick. I know, I know. I am a total softy when it comes to familia! But I can’t always be the hardcore Ceci Sipper. Besides Softy Ceci Sipper has a bit of a ring to it…..or should I say “a bit of a “hiss’ to it” haha.

Well this is a wine blog so what wine knowledge will you walk a way with today…..why not buff up on the Loire Valley facts? It’s time to get nerdy!!

Okay, Loire Valley:

• contains 63 appellations under the AOC
• Some of the better known AOCs are: Saumur, Anjou, Chinon, Bourgueil, Gros Plant, Vouvray, Sancerre, Touraine, Pouilly Fume, Quincy, Menetou-Salon, Muscadet.
• Some of the major grape types used in the Loire Valley are:
  Chenin Blanc – Used for Cremant de Loire (sparkling) and Vouvray.
  Sauvignon Blanc – Used for Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume.
  Cabernet Franc – Used to make (red) Chinon
  Muscadet – Used to make… Muscadet! A light and dry white wine.
• Below is a mini version of an awesome map of the Loire Valley AOCs you can find on the Loire Valley Wines website: http://www.vinsdeloire.fr/en_EN/
  

  

I will of course take photos of our trip there!! And of the yummy Loire wine we will be drinking! I am also doubling up this entry with another one, (gotta get y’all caught up to speed) I drink wine faster than I can type about it. hahahaha.

The following is a photo-journey from……..VERONIQUE’s DAY. For those of you who didn’t know or forgot, my first name is Veronique. My Middle name is Cecilia, which is where Ceci as in the Ceci Sipper comes from. I go by Ceci in the US and Veronique here in France. It is like I get to have 2 different persona’s!! Anywho, being that the french generally name their children after Christian Saints, and each saint has a ‘feast day’, so that day is the day you celebrate being called you name. It really is just like having a 2nd birthday. You go out to eat, get presents, drink more wine than usual. Luckily my mom gave me a name of a saint, cause if I moved here to France not having name that is in this saint calendar to have a name day……..I would have been pissed! Moving along, for my name day this year, Frenchman took me to a wine bar here in Dijon, called Le Caveau de la Porte Guillaume at the Hotel du Nord, where you get 5 glasses of Burgundy wines and a cheese and meat plate all for the insane cost of 19 euro!!!! NINETEEN freaking euro for a feast. This was a steal!! The first wine was Bourgogne Aligoté 2007. Aligote is the lesser known white variety grown here in Burgundy.



I was “chewing” my wine =P

FRENCHMAN!!! Oh LA LA!!

Check out this cheese and meat platter. Ooooooooo!


Three letters…….O-M-G!!

Next up was 2005 Chablis Vieilles Vignes!! (translation for vieilles vignes = Old Vines)


Followed by the 2007 Hautes Côtes de Nuit Rouge

Then some 2007 Savigny lès Beaune « Les Golardes »


THEN the big bad Gevrey Chambertin 1998!!! COME TO MOMMA !!!


The reds went amazing with the STINKY, yet oh so yummy, Burgundy cheeses!!

This cheese will really put some hair on your chest. I know I have a few.

Shot of the bar


Here are a few photos from my Name Day in 2009 when we lived in Lyon. This is still to this day our #1 favorite wine bar!!! La Cave des Voyageurs!!!





Hope you enjoyed the photo journey and learning/refreshing the Loire Valley wine factoids.

See you when I get back!!!

Vinously Speaking & Vinously Yours,
The Ceci Sipper!!