La Tonnelle Bar a vin - Saumur

The place was quite busy. Not enough floor staff.. Food was mediocre and wine overpriced. Disappointed would not return.

You can buy decent wine by the glass here and have a few nibbles. Not a full meal but enough for a hearty snack.

This is not really a full blown restaurant but somewhere where you can have a selection of wine and the possibility of a range of platters. The food was excellent, reasonably priced and there was an excellent selection of wine. I read in some other reviews that some felt it was over priced the wine was good quality and by the bottle you are looking at circa 16 25 euros, with some more expensive wines also available, and by the glass 3.50 4.50 or so, for the most part. It is slightly more to buy by the glass but not much more. They do have both indoor and outdoor seating. Nice atmosphere, good service... they missed off one platter but quickly arranged for that to be made up. Plenty of bread so if you want a bread based, hams, rillettes, cheese etc combination for lunch then this place would suit. Located fairly centrally as well, with good parking nearby.

We visited here recently and had a meat and cheese platter and a few glasses of excellent local wines. The service was great and we managed to spend a couple of hours here without any problem

A friend remarked that La Tonnelle is "dangerous" because the wines are so well selected and so reasonably priced that you can get in plenty of trouble there. Well, it's true, but you don't have to go all out. Just know that you have been warned.This casual, but efficient and professional, wine bar has a stunningly good list, and the wines are complimented by really delicious platters. A nice twist is that in addition to charcuterie and cheese, they also have a seafood and "sashimi" plate that is an excellent and a lovely match against the Loire Valley white wines.The decor is sparse and minimal, but recently (May 2017) featured local artists and photographers that are definitely a notch up. There is an upstairs lounge and a massive patio in addition to the dining room, so you can pick and chose your vibe. It is energatic but not overly loud, and the music is lovingly curated.Etienne, the owner and host, is certainly well connected in the local wine scene and if you are even the least bit curious, he has lots of "unpublished" bottles that are not on the list. Just ask, and then review paragraph one above. The night that we were there, plenty of local winemakers were in the house, and it became clear that La Tonnelle is a real hub for the trade.We had an amazing time, but know that even if you don't scratch deeply here, the food and wine are of the highest quality from start to finish. It's as casual or high end as you want it to be. Bravo!