schiller-wine: Formule du Jour Lunch with a Vouvray at Restaurant Le Val Joli in Vouvray

The Loire Tour 2025 by ombiasy WineTours took place from Sunday, October 5 to Thursday, October 16, 2025. The tour started in Nantes and ended in Sancerre, with a bus transfer and lunch in Paris. There were 9 of us including Annette and myself.

Following:

Cellar Tour and Tasting at Domaine Pichot, Vouvray, Touraine, with Louis Pichot - Loire Valley 2025 by ombiasy WineTours

Cellar Tour and Tasting at Domaine Carême in Vernou-sur-Brenne, AOP Vouvray - Loire Valley 2025 by ombiasy WineTours

we had lunch in a traditional, typical French village restaurant in Vouvray, Restaurant Le Val Joli.

Vouvray

I found the perfect description of Vouvray on Kevin Pike’s Schatzi Wine (one of the great importers to the US of German and other European wines) website:

“Vouvray is one of the Loire’s great terroirs for Chenin Blanc. As part of the Paris basin, the soils are largely fossilized marine based. The bedrock, from which the region’s myriad historic cellars are cut, is tuffeau. The topsoils are flinty clay, limestone, gravels, and marls. The climate is marked by the tension between moderate maritime and more extreme continental influences. This, and the fact that Vouvray is traditionally one of the last parts of France to harvest, opens vignerons here to great risk - first, of severe weather, foremost hail later, of disease. The reward is a cool climate that allows both the acid edge and haunting, subtle depth of Chenin to develop to maximum potential. Multiple vineyard passes are key to producing the traditional range of style from sec to moelleux to sparkling. The wines can fall anywhere between austere and opulent, depending on the ripeness and botrytis levels of the vintage.”

Loire 2025 by ombiasy WineTours led by Annette Schiller

Annette Schiller in her announcement: What comes to your mind when you hear ‘Loire Valley’? Of course images of glorious Châteaux pop up in your mind. Yes that is true and we will visit some iconic château and dig deep into France’s history. However, during this wine tour we also discover a magnificent, but often overlooked French wine region and one of the most exciting best kept secrets of excellent, high quality wines at very reasonable prices. The Loire Valley wine region is a vast area and consists of several distinct wine regions, each with its own characteristic grapes, appellations, and wine style. We take you on a journey from the Atlantic Ocean to the Auvergne mountains to explore this unique region. We learn to appreciate “Sancerre”, "Pouilly-Fumé", “Vouvray", “Chinon”, as well as many other not so familiar appellations.

Restaurant Le Val Joli in Vouvray

This is a traditional, typical French village restaurant in the heart of the small town of Vouvray with a reliable country cuisine.

tripadvisor: Perfect welcome, excellent cuisine with very fresh and homemade products impeccable service with excellent value for money, everything you need to make a very good meal.

We had the Formule du Jour - ENT + PLAT + DES - with a Vouvray. This was a usband/ wife operation with him in the kitchen and her doing the service.

Arriving