Herbivores In Antartic

Day 16 (June 2, 2009) Vineyard, fortress and festival Michel

We started the day early because transportation of Clermont-Ferrand to the Loire was long: 5 hours with stops. We arrive at the winery Couly-Dutheil at 13.50, just in time for our appointment 14 hours. The visit is interesting and we learned a lot.
AOC. (AOC) Chinon includes many standards to follow:

• Spacing
• limited size of the vine
• Yield: 50 hl per hectare
• divide land into different name from the style Floor: quaffer, local wine, wine storage.
• used for the red grape Cabernet Franc and the white Chenin Blanc

The wine produced at home Couly-Dutheil is of excellent quality. She won her first prize in 1927 and exists since 1921. It produces wine in refrigerated tanks in stainless steel because it builds on the development of taste through the grape and not the oak. We had an explanation of the process from A to Z. The explanations have allowed us to better understand the causes of various manufacturing defects that may be encountered on the finished product. The visit ended with a tasting of Cabernet red from different years: 2008, 2006 and 2005, a Cabernet rosé and a white Chenin. Many of these wines have won medals. We learned that when wine is served cold is the acidity that stands out most, if wine is at room temperature, it will sweetness comes out.

Subsequently, we visited the castle of Chinon, which has a superb view over the medieval town of that name and the Loire. Temperatures since the start of the trip, very lenient: beautiful blue sky and sunny. For some people the visit was more or less interesting for others it was the opposite. The fortress consisted of many stairs and few materials other than a fine exhibition of Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc) that went into this fortress.

Like most people wanted to eat, we spent some time in the city. We supped Restaurant "Côté Jardin", an idea of Peter Pan (Xavier). It was a real treat for all. We tried some specialty dishes such as coq au vin. We did a surprise to Michael "Clutch" Lamontagne for her birthday. A flare on his dessert and a beautiful French puppet as a gift that we gave once at the hostel. Another day ends with a flourish.

We had a request about the nicknames of some members of the group, here at last! The teasing
Lamothe Luce LEE A for Leah Luke pirate witch Montrottier Kim and guinea fowl for Erika

Marie-Pier and Xavier