This is Bourgueil !!!

Posted in Europe, Food and Wine, France

And on our continuing saga of my road warrior campaigns in my belle France, I bring you again to the wonderful historically and architecturally stunning Centre Val de Loire region. We went for wine but got a lot more of nice places finally the chance to see them amongst the many unlimited choices we are lucky to have in France. We arrive; this is Bourgueil !!! Hope you enjoy it as I.

The town of Bourgueil is located in the Indre-et-Loire department 37 in the Centre-Val de Loire region. It is located in the heart of the Loire-Anjou-Touraine regional natural park. The town is located in the Touraine Angevine, formerly the province of Anjou. We arrive here by car of course following the road from St Nicolas de Bourgueil (see post), the D35 road.

Bourgueil city hall and justice palace front side nov21

A bit of history I like tell us that the region of Bourgueil including the domain of the castle of Gizeux and up to Château-la-Vallière was attached in 1790 to the brand new department of Indre-et-Loire under the French revolution, About thirty deputies from the three provinces constituting the generality of Tours: Anjou, Maine and Touraine plan to return territories to Poitou and to subdivide the remaining domain into four departments, around the traditional capitals, Tours, Angers and Le Mans, and around the city of Laval, which would reclaim land from Maine and Anjou. On November 12, 1789, the representatives of Saumur dissociated themselves from this decision. The Saumurois plead in favor of a department of Saumur located at the crossroads of the three provinces of Anjou, Touraine and Poitou, with Loudun for the sharing of powers, Discontent was growing, the population of Bourgueil was demonstrating for its maintenance in Anjou and joins forces with Saumur. On January 14, 1790, the Constituent Assembly of 1789 decreed that “Saumur and the Saumurois will be part of the department of Anjou”. The Constituent Assembly ratifies this structure on June 22, 1790 and the King on June 25, 1790. The Bourgueil region is detached from Saumur and separated from Anjou, to integrate the brand new department of Indre-et-Loire.

Bourgueil is at the heart of the Touraine vineyard on the slopes of the Loire Valley, producing famous red wines which were celebrated by Ronsard, by Rabelais and by Honoré de Balzac in Maître Cornélius, (1831) where Louis XI asks “that we bring him good Bourgueil wine served at the table”. The Bourgueil is a wine with a controlled designation of origin (AOC) since 1937 produced around appellation vineyard covers 7 towns : Restigné, Benais, Ingrandes-de-Touraine, Saint- Patrice, Chouzé-sur-Loire, La Chapelle-sur-Loire and Bourgueil. It was in the 4C that the vines spread under the impetus of Saint Martin and his disciples. When Henri II, Count of Anjou, acceded to the throne of England in 1154, the Angevin vineyard experienced a real boom. The wines of Bourgueil are vinified from the Cabernet franc grape (locally called Breton). Cabernet-Sauvignon can also be used within the limit of 10%. My favorite wines here are from the Domaine Yannick Amirault.

The wines of Bourgueil : https://en.vinbourgueil.com/

And so much wine around us made us hungry and thirsty so the time was right to have lunch in Bourgueil. Mind you this was a Sunday in France,,,,, Even then the first choice was booked full !! so we settle by chance to the Pause Coffee Saveurs Terre bar cafe 12 Rue de Tours. As by chance, we hit it right, super friendly folks talkative we like,  came both owners to the table. We had the typical cafe lunch of steak and fries with a bottle of Benoit Thibault Cuvée Bastien 2019 red Bourgueil of course ! Dessert were panacotta and berries, and a expresso coffee all for 21€ per person, nice, We left continue talking and the meal was correct , nice company we like to be back here for the ambiance, Very helpful with my Dad in wheelchair and our dog Rex !!

Bourgueil Pause Coffee Saveurs Terre front nov21

Bourgueil Pause Coffee Saveurs Terre wine racks to bar nov21

There are things to see in Bourgueil other than the wineries are the abbey and the church. The abbey Saint-Pierre de Bourgueil was an important Benedictine abbey, founded in 990 by Emma, ​​countess of Blois, daughter of Thibaud Ier le tricheur or the cheater, count of Blois, The characteristic feature of the Church Saint-Germain is that it has a Romanesque nave contrasting with a Gothic choir.   

The city of Bourgueil on its heritage : https://www.bourgueil.fr/patrimoine-2/

There you go folks, a dandy little town that we enjoy getting to know it as a new dot in my world map. Passing by several times and finally saw it in person, Bourgueil is a nice town and worth the detour, very good wines price/quality ratio here! Again, hope you enjoy the post on this is Bourgueil as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health and many cheers to all !!!

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Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

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