Bar sign in the hotel

If you are looking for a hotel in Sancerre then La Côte des Monts Damnés, run by Karine and Jean-Marc Bourgeois, is certainly the best choice.

From the top of Les Monts Damnés across to Sancerre

After foul weather yesterday, the sky cleared late this morning and by mid-afternoon the light had become spectacular, so on our way back to Touraine we stopped above Chavignol and look a few shots.

Looking down the Monts Damnés to
Chavignol and beyond

Looking along La Côtes des Monts Damnés

L'eglise@Chavignol

Over the roofs of Chavignol towards Sancerre

Chavignol from La Côte des Monts Damnés

Chavignol is often misty and foggy, especially during the winter. I can only assume that the inhabitants have become so attached to these conditions that, even on clear days, they light large, smoky fires, so they don't think they have taken a wrong turning on the way home.

Smoke and La Côte des Monts Damnés

Hillside of vines between Saint-Satur and Chavignol

Vines near Saint-Satur

Epeigné's 'grand cru' vineyard

The 2008 harvest starts today in the only ‘grand cru’ vineyard in Epeigné-les-Bois, as Mark Robertson reports:

'Yes we’ve had some good weather for the past 10 days or so. We helped James pick his Chardonnay and Sauvignon yesterday and will pick our Sauvignon today. Grapes are very ripe – but there are very few of them! Cabernet and Côt are ripening slowly and are probably close to 11 degrees or will be tonight. There’s a spot of rain forecast for Tuesday and the first few days of October, but the grapes are healthy and providing the rain is only light we should be able to hold on until the second week of October, which is the goal. Elsewhere in the area pickers are out for the whites – weather is really nice at the moment and it was a pleasure to be in the vines yesterday.'

The light crop of Côt (three years old)
ripening late August 2008

Mark’s organically tended vineyard (5 ares) may well qualify as the smallest in Touraine. A true garagiste, destemming is done by hand and takes far longer than the picking. “The smallest quantity I can make is 15 litres,” says Mark. His first vintage was 2005 when the Cabernet was very successful.

Update 22 September: less a garagiste more a cyclist – only about 6 litres harvested.