Monday 2 April 2018

La Cave Amboise


When we went to pick up Célestine from the auto-electricians we also took the opportunity to stop off and visit our friend Summer. She's just started working at La Cave Amboise, a wine boutique right opposite the exit to the Chateau Royal of Amboise (how perfect a location is that?!)

Summer got a bit over excited with the photo shoot and caused a considerable tail back. 
You can do that if you are a smiley American photographing a classic car (apparently).

La Cave is owned by Louisa Martin and Fréd Plou, from the Chateau de Montdomaine wine estate in Nazelles-Négron. Fréd is a very well known young winemaker in the area, from a winemaking family and formerly working in partnership at the Closerie de Chanteloup on the other side of town. He and Louisa also own Chez Bruno, the very popular restaurant in Amboise, just a few doors down from La Cave.

 Summer, Célestine and la Cave Amboise.

La Cave offers wine by the bottle, glass or tasting. To do a tasting you buy a card and help yourself by inserting your card into the tasting cabinet and holding down the button of your choice. The tasting gizmo will give you a full glass, a half or a quarter so you decide how much wine you want to taste and how much you want to spend. I tried four whites, tasting portions, which cost €1.25 each (I was very favourably impressed by Fréd's Vouvray). The shop offers six whites and six reds for tasting, all local. Their stock focuses on the Montdomaine wines especially, and local wines in general, but they have wines from other areas of France too, and a few spirits as well as terrines and foies gras.

 In case you are wondering why Simon was so rugged up, it was snowing when we left home.

Summer is American, married to a French man. They moved to the Amboise area when her husband retired and she runs the social networking group for anglophones Loire Connexion, who meet once a month in Amboise. It's kind of like the apéro soirées I run, but held at a bar so people buy their own food and drinks on site rather than bring bottles and platters to contribute to a buffet. To be honest I sort of stole her idea after hearing such good things about the gatherings and then finally attending one myself. We now go regularly.

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