Day 14: Le Thoureil, Ackerman Winery & Dolmen de Bagneaux

Sat 14 Sept 2024

Saturday is Market Day – we start to feel like locals as we head to the markets and visit our favourite stalls to pick up local produce for lunch and dinner.

After lunch we head south-east again toward the city of Saumur. Dominique finds us another beautiful scenic route to follow, this time along the south bank of the Loire. We stop at the village of Le Thoureil – listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its emblematic Loire Valley Landscape. It also has a Small City of Character label for its rich historical and architectural heritage. Neolithic remnants have been found there, along with remains of a Roman villa and road. There was an abbey built here, along with 4 churches (as there were previously 4 parishes). Along the Quai des Mariniers, there is plenty of evidence of its history as a trading port: we can see the old dock area, old salt warehouses and even one of the traditional-style boats. Judging by the beautiful tuffeau houses along the riverside, people certainly made money from trading. Today there are lots of smaller craft alongside the river and a few people fishing.

Enroute we are stopped for quite a while to let a vintage motorcycle club pass on their Saturday afternoon rally.

Further along the river we stop at Maison Ackerman famous for its sparkling wines:

Founded in 1811, Ackerman – the oldest Loire Valley fine sparkling wine House – elaborates the Saumur and Crémant de Loire appellations according to the méthode traditionnelle. Combining tradition and innovation, these expressive and aromatic blends, produce gastronomic premium wines and daring offerings for all sorts of tasting moments. This is a sensorial promise that was dear to our founder, Jean-Baptiste Ackerman: “Bubbles are fleeting, emotion is eternal.”

Originally the winery operated wholly inside the tuffeau caves. Today the caves house a museum of the winery and a series of art installations. Due to health and safety reasons, the winery itself operates out of more modern facilities. There is also a large modern tasting area. After our tour of the caves, we partake of a lovely selection of the sparkling wines. Many of the wines are made using the méthode traditionnelle but as we are not in the Champagne region, the wines are referred to as Crémant. As seen in the quote above, the winery is not afraid to experiment (although the resulting wines cannot use the appellation if they do). I particularly like the Royal Rouge – a semi-sweet sparkling red wine perfect as an aperitif or with dessert – and buy a bottle for my last night in France tomorrow.  They are also experimenting at the moment with creating zero alcohol wines (removing the alcohol after making the wine). I try one called Pur Raisin – a delicious rich red.

After our wine tasting we head into Saumur to find Le Dolmen de Bagneux, the largest megalith in France. The overall length of this dolmen is over 23 meters and its chamber is over 18 meters long. As with all dolmens ‘The Great Covered Tomb’ was a large chamber tomb, likely receiving a large number of burials during the Neolithic period about 5,000 years ago.

We head home, admiring the wide streets in Saumur with the very bourgeois tuffeau stone houses, and catch a glimpse of the Chateau de Saumur.

Back home we indulge in some olives and huge fresh artichokes from the market – served with vinaigrette. Then some ‘paupiettes’ – veal stuffed with spiced pork mince; and some of our favourite local red wine. Our favourite butcher didn’t have the rabbit Dominique was hoping for but paupiettes are another favourite local dish. We decide to leave the dessert from the patisserie to have with our Royal Rouge sparkling red wine tomorrow night.

 

Exploring the Angers Region in France

Day 1 & 2: Exploring Angers

Day 3: Chateau d’Angers and Historic Quarter

Day 4: Exploring the Loire Valley to Cunault Abbey

Day 5: Troglodyte Village & the Mysteries of Falun

Day 6: Fontevraud Royal Abbey & Chateau du Brézé

Days 7-9: Angers, Markets & Old Town

Day 10: Troglodyte Restaurant & Medicinal Plants

Day 11: Béhaurd Island Village in Loire River

Day 12: Michelin-star Restaurant Degustation Lunch, Angers

Day 13: Day 13: Puy du Fou Historical Theme Park

Day 14: Le Thoureil, Ackerman Winery & Dolmen de Bagneaux

Day 15: Visit to Slate Museum, Trélazé