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The legend of Loire wines began when the future Saint Martin, who was travelling from Pannonia, a Roman area in Eastern Europe, reached the banks of the river Loire. He had given away half of his cloak en route but he had never allowed himself to become separated from a small fragile shoot that he carried with him a grape seedling. When he reached Vouvray he was overawed by the landscape and set the seedling in a bird's bone like a flower in a slim vase. The plant grew and the following year, country country people from the area harvested enough for three pints of wine. When they drank the first pint they sang like birds, when they drank the second pint they became as strong as lions and when they drank the third pint they started to bray like donkeys. The French are overly fond of tall tales such as this but a glass of this friendly rose makes them much more acceptable!
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