Chenin or Chinon

Chinon, Loire Valley, Tuesday 29 September 2026

Today I rode to Chinon from Saumur, and what a journey. There are green arrows that take you along the cycle route, but I followed Google Maps instead, which took me along the main highway only for a short while and was probably a km longer, but oh well, I saw more of the country. I said hello to two patchy donkeys watching me over a fence on the way.

Riding through the little villages along the Loire, Souzay-Champigny, Parnay, Turquant and Montsoreau, was absolutely incredible and stunning. The history, the buildings, everything was immaculate, and there were caves everywhere, with houses built right into the white rock faces and chimneys poking up out of the hillside. Some people use their caves and others have been left alone, half swallowed by ivy. The rock is tuffeau, the soft pale limestone the castles and houses are built from, and the holes left behind from quarrying became cellars and homes, because the rock stays cool and steady all year round, which is exactly what wine needs. The locals told me some of the caves are an eyesore, so I guess you see things differently when you see them every day.

Wow, what a town! The medieval castle sits right up above it, a true French town by all accounts. Chinon is castles and a proud little village, and here it's Chenin and Cabernet Franc only, of course. Cabernet Franc makes the reds and the rosés, and Chenin Blanc makes the whites. Behind each door there is a story, a family, a home. Inside these buildings it's like walking through a magic door, because on the other side they are often beautifully decorated, with courtyards in the middle.

I always go looking for the bars off the main squares, and I found two. The first was La Cave Voltaire, a bar à grignoter, a snacking wine bar. It was out of the sun, out of the way and out of the square, with good glasses. It's that simple! I sat outside on the cobbles with a glass of sparkling Touraine from Les Pieds Rôtis, great bubbles, and a cheese board with nine cheeses on it and a basket of bread (didn't eat the bread).

My favourite was La Cabane à Vin. The owner was awesome. It was very quiet, because it's the off season now and it was only 1.30, so the village was still sleeping. After 2pm everything comes alive, and that doesn't just apply to Chinon, it's everywhere in France. Timing your arrival is everything. Between 12 and 2 don't arrive anywhere in any village in France, because everything is closed, even in the bigger villages.

At La Cabane à Vin I had the Rigodon 2025 from Ludovic Chanson, a Montlouis-sur-Loire, and it was delicious. Montlouis is a Chenin-only appellation just across the river from Vouvray. This is where I got corrected on my pronunciation of Chenin and Chinon. Chenin or Chinon, one is the grape and one is the place, I was told (I thought it was quite obvious). There are more English-speaking people here than I've heard in Saumur, so I'm clearly not the only one getting it wrong.

Sitting there with my glass, my mind wandered. Finding my place in the world, ok being on my own, but missing my family and my Mikey. While you sleep I think about you, on my magic carpet in your dreams. I need to take Libby away.

Must dash and beat the clock home, because the bike had to be back before the shop closed at six. I'd wanted to ride back through the castles and the villages, but instead I had to go direct, with the Loire beside me most of the way. I had a great day anyway. If you are in the Loire, it's a must come.