Beauvais Wine (un) fair

Last weekend was the annual wine fair in Beauvais sur Matha, a small town in the Charente Maritime region of France about a 20min drive from our holiday properties. For the first time in a couple of years the weather was just right, sunny but not too hot. We have been going for around fifteen years although the fair itself has been going for 22.  We always head off fairly early, aiming to arrive for 10ish - the idea being that it is quieter and the producers are keen to chat and discuss the depth of their wines. By the afternoon and after having sold plenty and consumed their lunch of wine and cheese, they are tired and more occupied by the hundreds of people tasting their wines to be keen to talk. We tour around the town square tasting more than 50 + wines but also receiving tastings of Cognac, Champagne, cheese, bread, paté and snails, to name just a few of the hearty free portions of French produce there is on offer- you can understand why we are regular visitors.

So, is it a hard sell or a tourist trap ?   To find out everything about the Beavais wine fair and why it was so unfair visit our web site