Next, we drove to the town of Sancerre. I doubt anyone knows of Sancerre unless they like French white wine. The region around Sancerre produces a beautiful white wine. One small part of the city proper is a bit touristy, with lots of places to try and buy the wines of Sancerre. Other parts are quiet and beautiful:
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- Almost all the town was this quiet, and this pretty.
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- An old store. I saw an older lady open it up.
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- A tribute to the area’s produce: a man holding a wine barrel, with grapes on his back. Seen on the roof of a house.
We had lunch in the tiny town of Cauvignol, famous for its chevre – goat cheese. There, we had a very nice bottle of Sancerre wine, so we went to the winery. For those who have been to wineries in, say, Napa Valley, this was a bit different. We found the winery, rang a bell on the door, and after five minutes or so, a woman came out of a house down the street. She took us into the room where the wines were bottled and stored, and poured us a couple tastes. We liked best the wine we had at lunch, so we bought a bunch of it.
How are we going to get all this in the car?!?
We did not buy that much; Laurie and I bought six bottles, Mary and Gilles twelve, I think.
What a difference from a Napa Valley experience: no tasting fee, no fancy tasting room, no shirts/ball caps/books/posters/scarfs/glasses/whatever. Just “Here’s our wine. Buy some if you like it.” The wine we bought cost $11.45 per bottle. I looked it up on the ‘net because the winery woman told us they export some to the United States. Sure enough, I found it: $24 per bottle plus tax plus shipping, a total of somewhere around $30 per bottle. No wonder we don’t see much of it in the US of A.
One last comment. I love this about France: you’re driving out in the middle of nowhere and come upon something like this:
A 15th century fortress/chateau/farm.
Then, on our way to Bourges.