Come to France with me!

Okay. I have to tell you something big.

I'm going to the Loire Valley in May 2027 as a Host Sommelier, and you can come with me.

I'm partnering with ENV Travel on a 10-day journey through one of the most historically significant wine regions in the world. ENV are pros at this kind of immersive, luxury food and wine travel at an incredibly high level. This is not a bus tour.

Save the date for the trip of a lifetime: May 8-17, 2027 
A Loire Valley Journey of Châteaux, Wine & Culinary Elegance.

Here's the thing about the Loire that I need you to understand: everyone is so fixated on Burgundy and Bordeaux that they completely sleep on this place.

And I get it! Those regions are iconic for a reason. But the Loire is the fruit basket of France, where fresh goat cheese poured with local Sauvignon Blanc (called Sancerre!) actually makes you feel something. Where Chenin Blanc shows you just how versatile and age-worthy one grape can be— bone dry in Savennieres, lusciously sweet in Anjou, everything in between. This is where Cabernet Franc isn't a mere blending grape, it's the whole point of the wine. Oh, and there's sparkling wine coming out of ancient limestone caves. We're doing that, too. 

And we'll be doing all of it at some of the most storied, famous, and impressive chateaux in France. 

This trip will take us from Orléans west to Angers, hitting Sancerre, Vouvray, Chinon, Saumur, and Anjou  along the way. We'll be staying in 5-star château accommodations the whole time, with private producer access and Michelin-caliber dining. Plus, visits to Chambord, Chenonceau, Villandry— all the places that will make you feel like you're living inside a history book, and I'll be there for all of it, guiding the wine program, adding context, and definitely losing my mind a little over the Dagueneau (in a fun way, I promise).

Space is very limited to keep this trip intimate. 

📅  May 8-17, 2027
🇫🇷  Loire Valley, France
💰 Beginning at $10,450/person

If you made it this far, here's a little more of what we're getting into:

The trip is fully loaded with nine nights in château accommodations, daily breakfast, six lunches, six dinners, all tastings, all entry fees, luxury ground transport the whole way. You show up, I'll handle the wine.

The dining alone is worth the trip. We're talking a wine cave restaurant in Blois, Domaine des Hauts de Loire, Auberge du Bon Laboureur, L'Evidence, and a restaurant overlooking the Loire in Saumur. These aren't hotel restaurants, these are destinations!

And the winery list! Okay. I have to talk about the winery list.

These are some of the proposed producers— plus a few of my personal favorites I am requesting we get in front of. Domaine Vacheron in Sancerre, one of the biodynamic benchmarks of the appellation. Domaine Huet in Vouvray, historic and non-negotiable. Domaine Bernard Baudry in Chinon for exactly the Cab Franc moment I was describing. Bouvet-Ladubay for traditional method sparkling in the caves. The handsome and charming Arnaud Lambert on the hill of Brèzé. And the two most insane: Clos Rougeard in Saumur, which is genuinely iconic and hard to get into, and Domaine Didier Dagueneau— revered Pouilly-Fumé with request-only access. (The last two are not guaranteed, but we're pulling strings.)

Oh, and we're visiting the mushroom caves and ancient troglodyte dwellings carved into the tuffeau cliffs (!!). The Loire is weird and wonderful and I can't wait to show you.  

Have questions? Just reply to me or message our friend Karen Forester Rowley at ENV Travel - A division of Food and Vine Travel.  (925) 785-2902 or [email protected]

Hope to see you in France!
-Cara

Ready to go? 
Head to ENV Travel for the deep details and booking portal.