Tuffeau Cave Cellars of the Indre Valley
Beneath the soft white cliffs lining the Indre valley between Azay-le-Rideau and Villaines-les-Rochers, an extraordinary network of hand-carved tuffeau caves has been used for millennia as wine cellars, mushroom farms and even homes. Visiting them is one of the most distinctive and least touristy experiences in the entire Loire Valley.
Villaines-les-Rochers: the basket-weaving village
Just 6 km south of Azay-le-Rideau, Villaines-les-Rochers is famous for two things: its troglodyte cave dwellings still inhabited today, and the Coopérative de Vannerie de Villaines, a basket-weaving cooperative founded in 1849. Willow basketry has been made here for centuries, using osier willows grown in the damp Indre meadows, and the cooperative's showroom sells everything from bread baskets to designer furniture.
The village itself is a slow, quiet revelation — cave-front houses with chimneys emerging from the cliff top, vegetable gardens planted on the rock ledges, and cats sleeping in doorways carved directly into the stone. Walk the main street and the Rue des Caves for the best examples.
Wine caves and mushroom farms
Several independent wine producers in the Azay-le-Rideau AOC age their Chenin Blanc and Grolleau rosé in tuffeau caves that maintain a natural 12°C regardless of the season outside — ask at the tourist office on Place de l'Europe for a current list of domaines offering cave tastings. Domaine de la Chevalerie and smaller local producers occasionally open their cellars to walk-in visitors.
Some caves have been converted into champignonnières — mushroom-growing operations producing oyster, shiitake and the prized Paris mushroom (button mushroom) in the cool, humid dark. A handful offer guided tours where you walk through the growing tunnels with a headtorch before buying a bag of freshly harvested fungi at the exit.
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