At the Pestoury winery

We left the Loire Valley towards Bordeaux and treated ourselves to a pothole-free highway for about 20 euros on the first stretch. Then we continued on the equally well-built Route Nationale towards Bordeaux. And what could be more fitting than a visit to a winery in this region?!? The Pestoury family offers free accommodation including wine tasting. We arrived in the late afternoon, were warmly welcomed and immediately asked if we were interested in the wine tasting. What a question ;-)

The winery is a family business, consisting of a mother, father, daughter, and an employee during the peak season. They cultivate 38 hectares, resulting in approximately 200,000 bottles of wine per year. They are currently converting to organic wine and have given themselves three years for this process. This year is - like most years since 2017 - once again not an easy year. Many plants are affected by a type of fungus, and some wineries will not be able to produce any wine this year as a result. They are neglecting their vines, which leads to a stronger spread of the fungus and becomes a danger to neighboring vineyards. Many winegrowers want to sell and understandably currently cannot find a buyer or tenant, but they are available at a favorable price! Some winemakers are currently testing wine production in Normandy and Brittany, which would have been unthinkable 20 years ago.

For dinner, Della prepared the most delicious meatballs ever and the newly acquired wine tasted excellent amidst the vineyard.