Went on a wine / bike tour in May. ~350mi of biking along the Loire valley. A dozen private tastings at organic/natural wineries arranged by a somm/distributor friend of mine. Did not suck.
On the way to the airport with a bike on my back
Built up the bike in the hotel
Riding out of Paris before hoping a train to Sancerre
Our first bottle on arriving in Paris -- fell in love with Romorantin on this trip
Lucien Crochet in Sancerre-- or as we got to know him -- "the magician"
Francois Pinon in Vouvray
A sample reciept from bottles to drink along the way and take home...that's 1990 Vouvray from an awesome fellow for 15E, and magnum of his finest bubbles for 20E. Not including the magnum he threw in for good measure
Celler of Francois Cazin
Tasting with Henri of Clos de Tue-Boeuf
And more with Herve Villameadre
Chambord
And Domaine Guiberteau -- this was a hard one to get. Everything allocated ahead of time so no on-site bottle sales. Except the young American apprentice gave us a bottle of his label. The 2014 Breze we tasted was the bottle of the trip. There is now a bottle waiting for me in 5 years in my meager holdings of 6-8 bottles worth aging.
Stayed on a house boat in Saumur for a few days.
A typical lunch along my way
Not pictured because I'm lazy: Bernard Baudry and Olga Rauffault in Chinon, Thomas Labille in Sancerre.
Please excuse any typos in this: I'm 3/4 of a bottle into some funky Italian blend.