A Unexpected and Deeply Pleasurable Treat, Loire Valley Style
One of the stops one day 2 of the 2017 Tour de Corso was with Jean-Michel Gautier of Domaine de la Racauderie . Jean-Michel and brother Benoît are in possession of a centuries old underground cave carved by hand from the tuffeau, an endless and sometimes claustrophobic labyrinth of ancient tunnels, a perfect pace for making and aging sparkling wines.
The Loire produces an amazing array of high quality sparklers using the Champagne Method, and Jean-Michel makes both a glorious Vouvray Brut from Chenin Blanc and a lovely Touraine Rosé, made from Grolleau. After exploring the dusty cave, we were ushered into a cozy tasting room for a degustation. The wines were delicious but it was very difficult to concentrate, because right in front of us was placed the most colorful and appealing selection of macarons that one could imagine. I mean. it’s hard to concentrate on asking technical questions when you are staring at something like that.
And if you are of the mind that sweets should be paired with sweet wines, we suggest you go buy an assortment of macarons, or better yet, make a batch of your own this week-end, and try them with these brilliant dry and off-dry sparklers. It might change your world forever.