点评:All of my past wonderful Napa wine tasting experiences have been knocked down a peg by Cathy and Nigel! None of my past wine experiences prepared me for the friendly, educational and personal approach offered to our small group of four. Cathy greeted us in a narrow lane outside her home to show us where to park our rental car as we awaited the arrival of two other guests being picked up at their hotel by Nigel. We entered their home and were immediately brought to a comfortable meeting room where Cathy used maps and a whiteboard to give us an overview of France's wine regions and the Loire Valley in particular. During our give-and -take session among Cathy and the four guests, Nigel regularly brought in various Loire wines for us to taste, accompanied by servings of cheese, salami, radishes, olives and more.
After our session was over, we were brought into their kitchen, dining room and living room, all beautifully decorated with an open plan that made the very best of an old and narrow building. Nigel prepared and served to us an outstanding restaurant quality lunch of skillet-cooked chicken and potatoes with a fig cake for dessert. After lunch, Cathy needed to get to the airport for a business trip to Australia, so Nigel then transported us to the vineyards and tasting room of Domaine Vincent Careme. We picked grapes off the vine to eat, explored the barrel rooms, and then tasted some outstanding Vouvray.
A truly memorable day. We encourage others who travel to France to enjoy the Cathy and Nigel experience, too.
翻译:我过去所有精彩的纳帕品酒经历都被凯茜和奈杰尔打倒了!我过去的葡萄酒经历都没有让我为我们四人小组提供的友好、教育和个性化的方式做好准备。凯茜在她家外面的一条狭窄的小巷里迎接我们,告诉我们在哪里停车我们租来的车,我们正在等待奈杰尔到酒店接的另外两位客人的到来。我们进入他们的家,立即被带到一个舒适的会议室,凯茜用地图和白板向我们介绍了法国葡萄酒产区,特别是卢瓦尔河谷。在凯茜和四位客人的交流中,奈杰尔定期带来各种卢瓦尔河葡萄酒供我们品尝,并配上奶酪、萨拉米香肠、萝卜、橄榄等。
会议结束后,我们被带进他们的厨房、餐厅和客厅,所有房间都装饰精美,采用开放式布局,充分发挥了古老而狭窄的建筑的优点。奈杰尔为我们准备了一顿出色的餐厅品质午餐,包括煎锅煮熟的鸡肉和土豆,还有无花果蛋糕作为甜点。午餐后,Cathy需要去机场出差去澳大利亚,于是Nigel就送我们去了Domaine Vincent Careme的葡萄园和品酒室。我们从葡萄藤上摘下葡萄来吃,探索了酒桶室,然后品尝了一些出色的武弗莱葡萄酒。
真是令人难忘的一天。我们鼓励其他前往法国旅行的人也享受凯茜和奈杰尔的体验。