Loire Valley Wines

How much do you know about Loire Valley wines? Chances are, not much, but serious wine lovers appreciate them for their diversity, due to the wide range of soils and microclimates along this great river system that cuts France in half and divides the cool north from the warm south.

Vouvray wines.

The history of the Loire Valley wines is intimately linked to the broader history of the valley itself. Wine was first grown in the Loire Valley near Nantes two thousand years ago by the Romans, and from the 5th century in vineyards further inland in the Touraine.

La Cave, a wine boutique in Amboise, madly packing a big order of local wines for export.

However, vineyards didn't really develop until the Benedictine and Augustinian monks got involved in the 9th century. They took advantage of the network of Roman roads already established and with an eye to profit started making and selling wine.

 

 Prize winning Touraine sauvignon blanc wine.

The Loire river itself also influenced the development of the wine trade. The river was a major trade route, and much safer and smoother than the badly maintained overland routes which were plagued by bandits. It was the ideal way to distribute wine widely.

A Touraine red wine made from a blend of grape varieties.

There are 43 000 hectares of vineyards in the Loire Valley, in 14 départements (counties) stretching from the Vendée in the Atlantic coastal lowlands to the Puy-de-Dôme in the eastern Massif Central uplands. It's the third biggest wine producing area in France and includes over 60 different appellations (designated geographically defined protected names that wines may be sold under).

 

A red wine from Chinon, made from cabernet franc grapes.

The wines of the Central Loire (around Orléans) include Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé, Pouilly-sur-Loire, Menetou-Salon, Quincy, Reuilly, Coteaux du Giennois, Chateaumeillant,  Cotes de la Charité, and Coteaux de Tannay. Sancerre is by far the best known of these appellations, covering an area of 2600 hectares, with soils ranging from flinty or chalky to clay or sandy. The average age of the vines in Sancerre is 25 years, primarily the white sauvignon blanc variety.

 

 A Touraine winemaker has the quality and character of his wine checked by an oenologist.

In Loir-et-Cher the appellations include Cheverny and Cour-Cheverny. The latter is a tiny appellation of just 50 hectares, working solely with a rare white grape variety called Romorantin, found nowhere else. I always think the wines of Loir-et-Cher are some of the best kept secrets of France, as not even the French are very familiar with them. They are extremely good value for very good wines as a result.

Old vines in the Chinon appellation.

In Indre-et-Loire, where we live, we have the wines of the Touraine. The main appellations are Chinon, Bourgueil, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, Vouvray, Montlouis-sur-Loire and Touraine. The reds are light and fruity, the whites dry and floral, or fruity with a nice acidic finish, depending on grape variety.

A wine boutique in Loches.

In the west there are the wines of Anjou and the Loire-Atlantique. Extending around Layon, the Aubance and the Loire, the vineyards of Anjou and Saumur include at least 27 appellations. Primarily they are growing chenin blanc and making dry whites, but there are also sweet wines like the famous Coteaux du Layon, and some lovely dry peachy coloured rosés.

 

A troglodyte cave cellar in the Vouvray appellation.

Closer to the coast a selection of marvellous muscadets that are ideal for apéritifs is emblematic of the area, perfect for combining with all the seafood. 

 

 Visitors enjoying a wine tasting at a wine maker's cellars.

Along the Loire there are about 400 caves touristiques where visitors can taste a range of red, white, rosé and sparkling wines in cellars presenting local wines.

 

 Some wine boutiques offer tastings delivered by self serve controlled doses.