the LOIRE VALLEY
with woodland wine merchant
May 4-10, 2025
Travel to the heart of wine production with our friends from Woodland Wine Merchant in Nashville! You’ll meet producers, vintners, wine shop owners and, of course, you’ll taste and learn so much that the region has to offer.
May 4 - 10, 2025
7 days, 6 nights
From $6,500.00 USD
Picture this: start your day with coffee on the terrace, followed by a grandiose breakfast buffet in the château's hall. We’ll spend days tasting locally produced products with the winemakers who spend their lives with their hands deep in their craft. Enjoy a fresh market luncheon in the garden and then take a forest walk to discover the castle moat, or have a refreshing dip in the pool, all followed by a blissful nap in your luxurious bed. End the day with a natural wine tasting led by Will Motley and Jami Reid of Woodland Wine Merchant (NASHVILLE) and a dreamy traditional French dinner. We'll make it all come true at Château de Jalesnes, a 17th-century gem in the Loire Valley. Join us for a gastronomic journey to remember!
A peek into a Rêverie week at the Château de Jalesnes in the Loire Valley - wowee!!!
What will you do?
This retreat, for wine novices and cellar dwellers alike, is all about digging IN. We will learn the art of tasting, pairing, making, and producing during our time together - all under the tutelage of the best wine folks we know.
An exploration of this rich and abundant wine region will leave little to be desired. We’ll be visiting vineyards and the wonderful vintners who make it all possible. We’ll learn about their processes, taste their wares, get a better understanding of terroir and the structure of a beautiful wine from this region. And, lucky us, we’ll get to enjoy just how great and entertaining the people around these parts can be!
Will and Jami will be bringing their own good hearts and great knowledge around wine - our friendly experts - helping us deep dive into taste, regionality and a true un-intimidating education of the vastness and thrill of wine.
All of this is rounded out with a knock out menu built around this same abundance of the region from the incredible Rêverie kitchen crew - long, family style meals at night, courtyard luncheons between wine tastings - and we hope your heart will desire little else.
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While we hope everyone will be excited about the itinerary, all experiences are optional! Please feel free to sit out whenever you desire.
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Rêverie and Woodland Wine Merchant have carefully selected activities and experiences that we believe represent the best of the region and our own expertise, aiming to provide an optimal experience for the participants.
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Eating and drinking are communal! You’ll have the opportunity to cook food, taste wines and learn from experienced teachers. We can’t wait to welcome you for our workshops!
your guest hosts
Get to know:
woodland wine merchant
We couldn’t be happier to partner with the folks over at Woodland Wine Merchant! They have been a true gem in the Nashville community, and are a favorite of wine lovers not only in our city, but across the country. Read more about the owner and founder, Will Motley, below.
Woodland Wine Merchant opened its doors in the summer of 2007 and added a second location in the Sylvan Park neighborhood in late 2020.
Woodland Wine Merchant has been voted Nashville’s Best Wine Shop by the readers of the Nashville Scene 15 years in a row, named one of the best wine stores in America by Food and Wine, and listed among the Southeast’s top wine shops in Garden and Gun magazine.
Meet your hosts!
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WIll Motley
Will Motley opened Woodland Wine Merchant in East Nashville after almost 15 years of experience in the wine industry. Will moved to Nashville in 1994 after graduating college in North Carolina and began his career in wine working at Nashville Wine and Spirits. After several years of studying wine and learning the retail side of the industry, Will’s wine journey continued in Sonoma, California where he spent three years on the winemaking team at Kenwood Vineyards.
Will returned to Nashville in 2002 and joined the sales team at one of Nashville’s fine wine distributors and spent 5 years learning the wholesale wine business while continuing to expand his knowledge of wine. While selling wine to many of Nashville’s top retailers and restaurants, Will saw an opening to bring a tidy, curated wine shop to Nashville focused on smaller, quality-driven producers from around the world.
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Jami Reid
Jami has worked for Woodland Wine Merchant for over a decade. Her love for the shop runs deep and she counts Will as a true mentor. She enjoys being a neighborhood “constant” and invites customers to discover new worlds through wine. In 2019, she moved to Chicago. She worked as a buyer and maître d’ at Red & White Wine and the attached bar Noisette. Then, during the early years of the pandemic, she worked as an assistant to industry titan Craig Perman.
She loves spending time in France and can’t wait to revisit the Loire as it holds a dear place in heart. To her, wine is about food and friends and she can’t wait to make both with you.
YOUR ITINERARY
*Please note that changes to the itinerary may occur between now and your retreat start date*
DAY ONE
sunday 5.4.25
We will pick you up from the Angers Saint-Laud train station and escort you to the stunning Château de Jalesnes where you’ll be welcomed with a bubbly cocktail and smiles all around. After some time to settle into your castle room to unpack your bags, we’ll see you in the grand dining hall for our first dinner together. Bienvenue en France baby!
DAY two
monday 5.5.25
After a fanciful breakfast feast, Will and Jami of Woodland Wine Merchant will guide you in an introduction to the wonders of wine in the Loire Valley. You’ll gain an understanding of what to expect as we taste our way through the region, learn about the terrain, and a little bit of history while we’re at it. After a casual lunch and a little down time, you’ll join the Reverie team in the kitchen for a traditional French dessert workshop - red wine poached pears! Cocktails will be poured after your workshop, and we’ll meet you in the gardens for dinner.
DAY three
tuesday 5.6.25
Today we’ll venture out from our cozy château to go - that’s right - taste some wines! We’ll head east to the Touraine region for a tour of some vineyards and cellars, followed by a tasting. After our visit, we will stop in the gorgeous little town of Blois for lunch next to the Loire River. We’ll leave lunch and have time for a little post-meal nap in the vans as we head to visit another Woodland favorite on our way back. We’ll head back to our château home for apéritif, dinner, and a relaxing evening.
DAY four
wednesday 5.7.25
This morning, your new friends from WWM will guide in you a workshop about perfecting your palate, complete with tasting practice. After an outdoor lunch on the lawns, our drivers will take you to the charming city of Saumur, rising up out of the Loire River. Here, you’ll have a chance to explore the city, do some shopping, or take a tour of the castle. We’ll meet in the afternoon for a tour of the Combier distillery, and then walk together to one of our favorite wine bars and bottle shops, La Tonnelle, for an evening of incredible natural wines and tasty regional snacks. Digestifs await at the château before heading off for a good night’s rest.
DAY five
thursday 5.8.25
After our usual decadent French breakfast buffet, you’ll have the morning to relax at the château. You can take this time to sleep in til lunch (yum!!), take a long walk around the Jalesnes woods and the moat, or dare for a dip in the pool. Then, once you’ve had a moment to digest your Loire Valley luncheon, Will and Jami will team up with Rêverie to talk wine pairings. We’ll have all kinds of options on the table and bites to pair with. You’ll be pumping out 6 course dinners with paired wines in no time! In the evening, we’ll host a grill party on the lawns. We’ll play pétanque - that’s French for bocci ball! We’ll dance, if ya wanna. And we’ll just have a good ol’ time as we enjoy our last evening at the Château de Jalesnes.
DAY six
friday 5.9.25
Our last full day together - oh no! It’s a good one though…Today we go to Angers for a day of exploring and an exquisite evening on the town. But first, we’ll make a stop at one more Woodland Wine Loire Valley favorite for a visit and tasting on-site. Once our palates are tickled by the sophisticated Loire Valley wines, we’re off to the city for an afternoon of exploration, shops, and leisurely cafés. There’s even a stunning, medieval château that you can tour (the tapestries are wild!!). We’ll meet for apéritif bottles at Le Cercle Rouge, Julie’s favorite wine bar in the whole world, followed by dinner at Gribiche, a local favorite with a wine list you’ll drool over.
DAY seven
saturday 5.10.25
You’ll enjoy one last breakfast in the Château de Jalesnes dining hall before we all say our goodbyes. Our drivers will take you back in the morning to the Angers Saint Laud train station. May you leave inspired, refreshed, and filled to the brim with wine and pastries!
WORKSHOPS
Guests will be introduced to benchmark examples of Loire wines from just around the area we’ll be staying. The Rêverie chefs will serve up small bites to help talk about the proper way to taste wine in general - aiming to give guests an overview of technique and lingo. The focus for our tastings will be comparing soil types and winemaking styles - we’ll start out a bit casual as a “welcome”, and then, with a useful notebook we’ll provide you, we’ll grow to a bit more formal tastings with a sharper eye on appellation. From here, we will cover wines from Vouvray, Montlouis & Chinon - providing a beautiful hand drawn map and worksheets for a more in-depth reach.
Then, we’ll address the question everyone asks: how to pair wine with food. The Rêverie team will collaborate on a fun and inspired menu for our guests specifically to discuss how to develop a menu and event around wines. Here, we’ll be utilizing some of the friendliest wines of the Loire and even jump into how great French cheese plays into a wonderful night of thoughtful hospitality.
By the end of the week, all of the workshops will culminate in celebrating what we’ve learned together in a semi-formal, intimate wine salon. We’ll be bringing out the hits of the week, and maybe even get to celebrate with a few of the new wine friends of the region we’ve met. A true send-off for a remarkable week!
WORKSHOPS
Terroir and the Wines of Saumur and the Anjou Regions
Terroir and Wines of the Touraine Region
Intro to Muscadet and Sancerre
Combier in Cocktails
The Art of Aperitif
* Due to the nature of the experience we wish to provide, we can accommodate vegetarians, but will be unable to accommodate any further dietary restrictions. If you have a question about this, please reach out to us at info@reverieforever.com
EXPLORE
We can’t wait to show you around! We’ll visit as many winemakers and wine bars as we can fit into one week (don’t worry - you’ll have breaks if you want them!). We’ll take you down the backroad of the region to discover what the Loire Valley is all about. You’ll have time to visit the sweet little city of Saumur, a natural wine hub, and to visit it’s famous Combier Distillery that’s been around since 1834! La Tonnelle Wine Bar will welcome us for a bountiful taste of their incredible wine menu alongside local cheese and charcuterie boards. We’ll also spend a full day in the buzzing city of Angers, where you’ll have plenty of time for visiting the shops, bakeries, and the medieval château if you so desire. What a week we will have!
OUTINGS
Enjoy incredible wines at wine bars like La Tonnelle in Saumur and Le Cercle Rouge in Angers
Visit local wineries in the Loire Valley with the Woodland Wine team
Tour the intimate Combier Distillery in Saumur
Exclusive tours and tastings with some of Woodland’s favorite winemakers in the region!
WHAT’S INCLUDED
Everything! Well, everything except for your airfare and train to the Angers Saint Laud train station. But once you arrive, we got you.
Private coach transfers to and from the Angers Saint Laud train station (Gare d’Angers Saint Laud) to and from the Château de Jalesnes.
Workshops and all necessary materials
Recipes galore !
All meals (unless you go rogue)
All wine and beverages for the week, unless you wanna buy your own for an after hours party ;)
Private transportation while on retreat for all scheduled outings and transfers
All scheduled tours and events during our week
Ultra-luxe Château lodging, naturally !
GETTING HERE
*Cost of airfare to the closest regional airport or train station to our Château is not included in the cost of your reservation. Please let us know if we can offer any moral support or guidance with your travel plans - we’re happy to help! Our expertise is included in your Rêverie purchase.
Airplane
Guests will fly into Paris (Charles de Gaulle airport - CDG). From there, guests can take a train directly from the CDG airport in Terminal 2 to the Angers Saint Laud train station, or from the Gare Montparnasse in the Paris city center. We will arrange for pick up at the Angers Saint Laud train station on May 4, 2025 at 2:30 PM. For a fee, we can arrange private transport directly from the Charles de Gaulle airport or from your hotel in Paris to the Château de Jalesnes.
Our departure shuttle from the Château back to the Angers Saint Laud train station will leave at 10:00 am on May 10, 2025 (1 hour drive). To be certain you have ample time to catch your train, please book a train for no earlier than 11:30 am on May 10, 2025.
If you need to arrive later or depart earlier than our scheduled shuttles, we would be happy to arrange your private transportation for an additional fee.
Car
The Château de Jalesnes is about a 3-4 hour drive from the Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport in Paris. For those comfortable using a GPS and driving out of big cities, this could be a great way for you to get around and have a little more freedom during your stay with us. If you allow for extra time, you can even take the back roads and enjoy that incredible scenery as you follow along the Loire River. Please let us know if you do decide to rent a car so that we may inform our car service.
Train
A few direct trains are available from the Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport to the Angers Saint Laud train stations, and several trains leave the Paris Montparnasse train station every day to Angers. If you’d like to travel by train but are unfamiliar with the system, we would be happy to help you book your ticket. We will arrange for pick up at the Angers Saint Laud train station on May 4, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Travel Reservation
If you would like guidance with booking your travel to the Château de Jalesnes, please reach out! We are happy to help make this part of your trip as easy as possible.
If you would like to extend your stay in France, we are delighted to partner with The French Travel, a locally owned and operated trip designer based in Paris. They are true experts who will help you perfectly plan your before and/or after Rêverie experience. Check them out for more info!
Our friends at Coucou offer some incredible online French language classes - whether you’re looking to brush up on your high school French or looking to learn a few phrases to feel more comfortable with travel, Coucou is the way! Check out their website for more information.