Guillaume and Mathieu PLOU — Attraction in Loches

Short story – my family and I had such an unexpectedly rude experience that we left and didn’t even try any wine. The specific person we dealt with was extremely disrespectful beyond any measure of language or culture, and shouldn’t ever be in the customer service business.

Long story – After visiting some of the local attractions, my wife and I decide to swing over and try some wine, with two young, well-behaved kids in tow. As we pull up, carrying a camera bag and a bag of quiet activities for the kids, we see several potential locations for the tasting – including some tables outside. As we are not clear where to go so we step inside and see a young woman behind the counter. I say “bonjour” and receive one back in return. As an American with a limited French vocabulary, I do not make an expectation that one speaks English, so if I do not know enough French to start a conversation, I test the waters with a short phrase in English to see how an individual responds. I do not know how to say “is this where the wine tastings are” in French, so I continue with a, “can we do a wine tasting?”

I receive a confused face in return, which usually means limited-to-no familiarly with English. This is ok so I start to try to figure out how to say “wine tasting” in French, but before I can speak any more the young woman starts berating me, in fluent English, for “not exchanging pleasantries and just wanting to jump straight to the tasting.” She continued, “In France, it is customary to ask how I am doing first. You say 'please' when asking for something, etc, etc, etc.” This continued for about 2 minutes with no room for me to speak. My wife, who wasn’t even inside the door at the start of the exchange, is so confused as to what is happening, as am I. After receiving a condescending “lecture” on the details of French pleasantries, I remain calm, look her straight in the eye, and say “I’m very sorry. Do you have recommendations for a wine tasting?” Her, in a very agitated and disgusted tone: “The menu is right here,” shoving a menu in my direction. Me: “Can you please tell me which are sweet and which are dry?” Her: “I do not even know what you want, red or white. How can I know what to recommend, etc, etc, etc.” Me: “Can we please try both red and white?” All the while, she is becoming increasingly agitated and infuriated with me – for what, I am still not sure. She was obviously looking for a fight, becoming more and more frustrated as I did not engage. Ultimately she yells some phrase in French that I do not understand and leaves behind the bar. I look at my wife with very bewildered eyes, and we both make the decision to leave.

It is beyond me how a business can employ someone with such a short fuse in a customer service position. While I’m trying to navigate my own shortcomings in not speaking fluent French, I make the misstep of not asking her how she is doing before asking for a wine tasting – in an establishment labeled “Cave Dégustation Visite” – and this warrants a huge tirade of the proper ways to make small talk? Even the nearly-7 and 9 year old had never seen anything like this and I had to attempt explain to them what happened. I would leave less than 1 star if I could. In all my worldly travels, I’ve never experience such an overreaction, at a place of business, to a lack of formalities within the first 7...

We called in and asked if we could look around the cellars and was treated to a wonderful guided tour by Shannon who was so knowledgeable and passionate and a bonus that she spoke impeccable English for us too and answered our many questions in depth. It was so interesting to learn about the rules of the appellation as well as the process itself. We were treated to a tasting of the lovely wines and even grape juice for the grandchildren. We bought a selection of red, white and sparkling all at reasonable prices and are going back for more before we leave! We were also kindly shown where to picnic in the vineyard, as due to mobility issues we were not able to take advantage of the self guided tour, and enjoyed a chilled bottle with our baguettes, so idyllic! Such lovely, kind and welcoming owners and staff, thank...

I cannot say enough good things about this winery! We picked this winery on a whim given its location was convenient that day. Our guide (unfortunately I can't remember his name!) was a part of the family. He was young but very knowledgeable. He taught us about their processes in an interesting and entertaining way. We were able to see the process from start to finish! We also had a wine tasting. We enjoyed the wines so much that we had a difficult time deciding which ones to ship back home to the US. We ultimately purchased 24 bottles and were gifted 2 bottles to carry out with us that evening. Their Heritage wines are top notch. I would specifically highly recommend those. We are anxiously awaiting the delivery of the bottles we shipped home and will surely savor them once...