THE MAJESTIC BEAUTY OF THE AND IT’S WINES LOIRE VALLEY

by JIM PETERSON, WINE ENTHUSIAST & INSTAGRAM WINE INFLUENCER

Chateau de Chambord, in Loire Valley, France,

Living in Europe twice, offered many opportunities to explore the often overlooked areas of Europe. It’s common for first-time visitors to hit the highlights of the renowned cities like Paris and Rome, and they have certainly earned their enduring appeal. When you live there, and everything is so relatively close, it makes it so much easier to explore some of the lesser known, yet often more breathtaking areas of Europe.

The Loire Valley, merely two hours southeast of Paris, is one such area. The Loire River Valley stretches from Orleans to the Atlantic Ocean. It is often called the “Valley of a Thousand Châteaux” because there are so many of them. Its popularity with the French aristocracy began in the early 1400s when King Charles VII moved his court there to escape the British occupation of Paris during the Hundred Years’ War. This lasted until Joan of Arc led the French troops to victory in the Loire Valley. After that, the mild climate and good hunting made it a popular place to build “hunting lodges” where the wealthy and royals could retreat for relaxation.

And who can relax without wine? With that, the Loire Valley developed its own wine subculture with the many villages creating their unique styles of wine along the way.

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Favorite Appellations

The Loire Valley stretches 170 miles and has about 87 appellations where a variety of grapes like Melon de Bourgogne, Cabernet Franc, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, and Gamay (among others) are used to make very distinctive wines highlighting the terroir of each location. As can happen with some French wines, the grapes used in the wines are often hard to discern because we become so accustomed to the appellation name. There is no way to cover all the appellations, so let me focus on a few of my favorites.

Sancerre

If you shy away from Sauvignon Blanc wines because you have only tasted the tart, sometimes mouth-puckering wines from New Zealand, then I encourage you to try a white wine from Sancerre. The white wines are 100% Sauvignon Blanc and have an elegance about them I find impossible to resist. You can still get the flavors of green apple or pineapple, but there is a mineral characteristic imparted from the limestone soils that puts it all in balance. The wines are crisp and dry, and this makes them perfect to refresh you on a summer day or to sip while enjoying your favorite seafood. There are also smaller quantities of Sancerre red and rosé wines made from Pinot Noir, and I highly encourage you to try these if you happen to see them on the shelf.

POUILLY-FUMÉ

Here is another appellation where Sauvignon Blanc rules the day. The name may strike a chord because Robert Mondavi used the “Fumé” part of this to market his California Sauvignon Blanc as Fumé Blanc. The best Pouilly-Fumé wines can easily compete with the wines of Sancerre. In fact, the best Sauvignon Blanc I have ever tasted was an aged Didier Dagueneau Silex Pouilly-Fumé. It’s what many (including myself) consider to be the best Sauvignon Blanc made in the entire world.

Chinon

The Chinon (shee-naan) wines are the hearty red wines of the Loire Valley. They are made from the Cabernet Franc grape, which is typically a blending grape with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in Bordeaux blends. These celebrated red wines are usually inky dark in color with black fruit and spice flavors often tinged with a bell pepper aroma and flavor that adds to its uniqueness. Even better, they are very food and wallet friendly. If you are used to drinking big, bold California wines, try surprising your palate with a Chinon red.

Vouvray

The white wines of Vouvray are made from the Chenin Blanc grape. The styles can range from dry to sweet depending on the producer, so it is worth asking about these wines before buying. I prefer the dryer style which can offer a crisp acidity with aromas and flavors of white fruits like pear and apple along with hints of honeysuckle. This is a perfect aperitif or to serve with a goat cheese laced salad.

SAUMUR-CHAMPIGNY

Here in Texas, finding a wine from this tiny appellation always seems to be a bit of a scavenger hunt. Only red wine production is allowed, and all wines must be at least 85% Cabernet Franc. Small percentages of Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot d’Aunis are allowed to make up the rest (if they are used at all.) All I can say is these wines are fantastic if you can find them. I grab one every time I see it.

Scavenger Hunt

MUSCADET-SÈVRE-ET-MAIN E

The white wines of Muscadet are made solely from the Melon de Bourgogne grape. Because of the appellation name, people often confuse these wines with those from the Muscat grape, but there is no similarity whatsoever. These wines are quite dry with aromas and flavors highlighted by a citrus backbone often finishing with a light salinity that leaves you thirsting for more. This makes it the perfect match to a beurre blanc sauce over grilled or pan seared white fish. Delicious.

Loire Valley Travel Notes

The Loire Valley is an amazing travel destination. The natural beauty of the river valley only accentuates the experience of the wines, and of course there is nothing like the amazing array of châteaux you can visit. We stayed in a small château turned Bed & Breakfast, Château Des Ormeaux, near the town of Amboise. Highlights of our trip included the iconic Chambord Castle, the largest of the châteaux in the Loire. Construction began in 1519, originally intended as a hunting lodge for King Francis I. That fact is easily forgotten when you see the grandeur of the French Renaissance architecture and the scale of the place. It’s truly amazing.

The other must-visit is Château de Chenonceau which bridges the Cher River with beautiful arches to support the structure. The history here is even more intriguing because there are competing gardens on either side of the entrance. One side was planted by the mistress of King Henry II while he housed her there. After he died in 1559, his widow Catherine de’ Medici basically kicked her out and made it her permanent residence. She then designed a more magnificent garden on the opposite side to overshadow the first.

Whether you choose to experience the Loire Valley through its wines you find here in the United States, or you decide to make it part of a European travel adventure, you cannot go wrong.

Between the wines, the historical relevance, the natural beauty, and the opportunity to explore and experience so many facets of French culture, there is no other place quite like it.

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Producer Recommendations

Here are a few of my favorite Loire Valley producers you can typically find in Texas.

Lucien Crochet, Sancerre – The red, white, and rosé are all brilliant wines.

Daniel Chotard, Sancerre – Very pretty Sancerre.

Domaine Couly-Dutheil, Chinon – The red Chinon is magnificent, but don’t pass on the others.

Château Soucherie, Anjou – I did not mention Anjou wines, but these are incredible.

Éric Chevalier, Pays Nantoc – makes a variety of delicious and affordable Loire Valley wines.

Domaine Sérol, Côte Roannaise – The “Turbullent” sparkling Gamay rosé is a fan favorite.

Follow Jim on Instagram, @tx_wine_pilot, for more wine tips and reviews.

Jim Peterson is a retired U.S. Air Force officer who mainly flew the A-10 fighter jet. He has ties to the wine business going back over 20 years and is an avid wine collector. His extensive wine knowledge includes travel to many wine regions while living in Europe, many tastings led by Master Sommeliers, and ongoing personal wine exploration and self-study. He has cultivated a large following on his Instagram account, @tx_wine_pilot, tasting and reporting on wines from vintage to value. He now works in marketing and resides in San Antonio, Texas.

by SHERIFF JAVIER SALAZAR, BEXAR COUNTY, TEXAS

Most people think it could never happen to them. In my 30th year of law enforcement, I have seen and heard it all when it comes to scams and scammers. Suffice it to say, scammers are alive and well. They are also persistent, resourceful, well organized, and singleminded in purpose—to separate us from our hard earned money. Fear not, however, as the best way of thwarting them is to simply NOT engage. Unsolicited phone calls, emails, even text messages, should ALL be suspect.

In fact, if you didn’t initiate a communication, the best approach is to NOT answer the phone, NOT reply to the text, and NEVER click on a link you didn’t ask for. Unfortunately, scam operations are extremely adept at mimicking logos of well known tech companies and actual top financial institutions. They rake in money by the millions just by sending out “phishing” emails and texts, just to see who takes the bait—hence the word “phishing.” The scammers use the actual real name of the most popular banks.

For the purpose of the following example, I’m going to use the name, “ABC Bank.”

Here’s how one modern scam works:

1,000 people receive a text that says:

“ABC Bank Alert: Your loan is past due!” To make a payment, sign in to ABCLoanPay.org. in order to pay without late fees.

Of the 1,000 people who get this text, some of the recipients DON’T bank with ABC Bank. They figure it’s a mistake and disregard it.

However, some of the 1,000 people WILL bank with that bank but will know they are up to date on all loans and will also disregard it.

Unfortunately, several innocent people of those 1,000 are STRICTLY BY CHANCE, actual ABC Bank customers. They WILL assume that they must have gotten busy and missed a payment or figure their spouse, who keeps up with the bills, must have forgotten one.

They’ll click on the convenient link provided by the nice people (scammers) at “ABC Bank,”give a bit of personal information, and BAM, all bills paid.

ONE PROBLEM…… The text WASN’T from their bank at all, but a relatively simple operation for sophisticated scammers who created a SHAM website, links, and phone lists to send a “bait text.” Instead of paying their bills conveniently, victims are drained of money.

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By the time it’s caught, the money is gone. Maybe the actual bank will make the victim whole, but maybe not. Maybe it’s reported to law enforcement, but perhaps not, as the victim who is made whole figures, “I’ll chalk it up to experience, but at least I got my money back. No harm, no foul. No need to involve the police.” Maybe the victim is too embarrassed to report it because they were so easily duped and know they should know better. Again, law enforcement is not alerted. Either of these scenarios is what scammers are counting on. Off they go to scam again.

Email scams work roughly the same way. Links are sent from official looking financial institutions or tech companies purporting to help you with everything from missed payments to errors in personal information that one “has to log into and correct immediately.” Again, a convenient link is clicked, one goes to a very convincing and reallooking website where victims enter personal information in hopes of correcting what they were told is an error. Scammed once again!

Suffice it to say, if you did NOT initiate the email or text, IGNORE IT! I repeat, IGNORE IT!!!

Speaking of phone calls, here’s several I’m hearing with more frequency:

1-“Hello. This is Captain Jones with the Your County Sheriff’s Office. You’ve missed jury duty, and now have a warrant. Just give us a credit card number by phone to pay the warrant and avoid being arrested.”

Scammers go WAY out of their way to make this scam realistic. For starters, phone numbers can be “spoofed” or faked. In other words, thanks to technology, these entities can mask their own number and make it look as though a real law enforcement agency is calling you. If the number to your local law enforcement is 210-555-5555, that number will actually appear on your caller ID. Second, they will usually give the number to a real law enforcement official. Chances are, if they identify themselves as “Captain Jones with the Your County Sheriff’s Office, chances are the scammers found the name of a real person on the real agency’s website and are using it to lend credence to their scam. Here’s how to thwart these scams.

Hang up! It’s that simple.

First, the vast majority of law enforcement agencies don’t solicit money or payment by phone, for this very reason.

Second, IF you end up having any warrants for jury duty, tickets, etc, we WON’T call you to tell you. We will actually arrest you.

Hang up on that fake captain and rest assured it’s as fake as a 2023 Super Bowl ticket to see the Dallas Cowboys! (I’m a Cowboys fan, so I can make that joke.)

2-The next scam I’m seeing quite often is the “stranded or arrested relative.” The static-filled scam phone call will come in the dead of night. A frantic young voice will say, “Grandma/Grandpa, is that you? It’s ME!” The scammers are hoping for several things. They hope the victim will be an actual grandparent who is disoriented from having been awoken from a dead sleep and that they will answer the frantic young caller’s “it’s ME!” With a name, “Jimmy? I can hardly hear you! What’s wrong?” Once you’ve filled in the blank with a name, the fake “Jimmy” will tell you he’s only got 1 minute to talk as he’s in jail in Mexico after going across the border with friends and being wrongfully arrested. But if you just give the nice police officer your credit card information over the phone, they’ll let him go. The phone will be yanked away from young “Jimmy” as a fairly official yet scary “police officer” assumes the communications to hopefully take the credit card number from the frantic victim who desperately wants their grandchild safely back on US soil.

Once the card info is given, the scam is done.

If you do indeed have a grandson named Jimmy, chances are he was never really in Mexico and was never really in danger. The scammers’ gamble paid off and they caught you vulnerable. They played on your emotions and panic and you took the bait. Hang up the phone on the fake “Jimmy.”

If you feel this could ever be a real possibility for you or your family, consider creating a PASSWORD only family members would know to give you on demand in the event the unlikely situation presents itself. If he doesn’t know the password, hang up.

Although the “fake” Jimmy might plead with you on the phone NOT to call his parents so he doesn’t get in more trouble …..For extra peace of mind, call the real Jimmy or your children. They should understand the middle of the night call and you can go back to sleep reassured.

3-The last of these similar calls I’ve seen with more frequency recently is probably the most disturbing.

It’s what is frequently known as the “virtual kidnapping.”

There are several variations of this, but here is the one I’ve personally dealt with in my official capacity.

The intended victim gets a call in the middle of the day or night from someone with a foreign accent, claiming to be from the cartel. The claim is made that “we have your husband/wife” and we are demanding money to release them without harm. If you notify the police or anyone else, they will be tortured/killed!” To add to the confusion, disturbing screams of a fake kidnap/ torture victim will be heard in the background. Again, the caller will count on the victim being frantic and panicked and will “fill in the blank” with a loved one’s name. I’ve seen where the caller will demand a credit card number or even demand a cash drop at a local business. As troubling as this might be, CALL THE AUTHORITIES IMMEDIATELY!

Check in with your loved ones as soon as practical for added peace of mind. Chances are they are OK.

Any of these scenarios are likely, but these certainly aren’t the only ways scammers can get us. Some scams like the “Nigerian Prince,”the “Pigeon Drop” and others have been around for decades. Others have only emerged with and have been made possible by new technologies. The thing we can be sure of is, as new technologies will continue to emerge, so will new scams.

The constant advice I keep giving is still the same. “Hang up on scammers!”

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