This coming Saturday the producers of Bourgueil will be invading the centre of Tours for the 9th edition of their Fêtes des vins Bourgueil à Tours from 10am to 7pm. They will be setting up camp in the middle of the Boulevard Heuteloup, close to the Gare de Tours. A tasting glass will cost 2 euros and the producers will be showing the 2010 vintage both red and rosé, the latter style being of growing importance for Bourgueil. Producers claim that the production of rosé has grown by 40% over the last five years to reach 350,000 bottles in 2010, although it has to be remembered that this progression is from a pretty small base.

I went to last year's edition and found it very useful, sadly this year I can't make it but if you happen to be in the area on Saturday it is worth a visit.

Full details from:

Pour tout renseignement :
Syndicat des Producteurs d'AOC Bourgueil
Tél : 02 47 97 92 20
mdv.bourgueil@wanadoo.fr

The 2010 edition

 

A TGV arriving at Tours station

The first TGV (Train de Grande Vitesse) arrived in Tours on 30th September 1990 bringing Paris just less than an hour away from Tours. The idea to build a TGV Atlantique network was conceived in 1976. The TGV Ouest has two branches one to Le Mans and the second to Tours. Work started in 1987 and the TGVs to Le Mans and beyond serving Angers, Nantes, Rennes etc. on the existing conventional lines started running in 1989. Those to Tours started running the next year.

The dedicated TGV line stops just to the south of Tours. Work is just beginning on the LGV (Ligne Grande Vitesse) extending the fast line to Bordeaux. The complete line is due to be finished in late 2015/ early 2016. When it opens Bordeaux will be 2.05 hours from Paris (3 hours now) and 1.40 from Tours (2.20 at present). The line is being built in two stages – Bordeaux-Angoulême (service starting in 2013) and Angoulême-Tours.   

Ryanair is now accepting bookings to and from Tours Airport, so presumably the Conseil Générale had now paid the outstanding marketing fees. Apparently Ryanair directly employs 60 people in Tours with 300 employed indirectly.  

See news story in La Nouvelle Républlique.