Hello all! I will be traveling to France for the first time this fall. Will be staying a day so and Paris and then going to Loire for a bit. Primarily Angers, Tours, Saumur.
Looking for the best wine shops in Paris but also the Loire. Places that have selections of fine and rare but that aren’t marked up crazy for the tourists.
Would also love any recommendations for dining. The more recommendations the better. I really do appreciate it!
Hi Carson,
You can replace tourists with “non regulars” and I don’t reckon there are too many places outside of France, let alone in France that exist that meet your brief. The days of stumbling across a wine shop that has some Raveneau or DRC in a dusty corner at standard mark-up are well and truly gone.
Ambassade de Bourgogne in the 6th in Paris has some nice selections if you are into Burgundy. The real trophy wines are not on display however, and allocated out to regulars.
cheers
Jeremy
Jeremy is spot on.
The best way to drink highly allocated/hard to find wines in France is in restaurants.
Wife and I were in Loire this past week primarily for outdoor activities (cycling, kayaking/canoeing, just driving around). While we didn’t peruse Michelin-starred establishments, we went primarily for casual bistros with good regional cooking. We had loads of great eats at Bistrot de Ducs in Angers for lunch and at Le Dauvaliere in Tours. Suggest calling in advance to reserve if you decide to go.
Btw, am not going to give up on finding well-priced fine wines in small win stores especially outside of Paris. I haven’t been in the hunt for these wines since the last few years that I’ve been visiting. For example, chanced upon appropriately-stored and aged Northern Rhones in a wine store in Alsace and a ton of 2014 Raveneau at <$100 in Laguiole in Aveyron (store owned by the sommelier in a highly-regarded local restaurant). In Loire, I’ve tasted aged-rare wines during appointments at wineries. In any case, I’ve seen quite a bit of rare local-regional stuff (Bourgueil, Saumur, Chinon) at Les Belles in Les Halles in Tours that I bought for my hotel consumptions.
@Ramon_C My wife and I decided on a last minute stopover in Tours this past Tuesday evening to Thursday morning. I booked Le Dauvaliere for Tuesday and loved it. Local wines and inventive takes on local food done well. Thanks for posting this.
And BTW we also stopped by Les Belles Caves in Les Halles and checked out their interesting Loire selections. My wife picked up an offbeat Cheverny rouge for her bookclub, but I was out of room for anything in my suitcase. Hopefully I’ll get a sip of hers!
We took a bus to Vouvray Wednesday. The restaurant we were interested in, Val Joli, was closed. After our basic tour of the local co-op’s sparkling wine caves (don’t bother, unless you have nothing lined up like us), we hoofed it to Les Hautes Roches and enjoyed a good lunch with lovely views on their terrace. Lunch was €150 for two (entrees, plats and 5 glasses of wine) but again everything was well paired, with local wines with pretty good food.