Loire

Characterised by an extraordinary diversity of wine types and grape varieties, the Loire Valley is not easy to summarise. This important vineyard, which originated in Roman colonisation, is in fact the largest in France, stretching for almost a thousand kilometres from southern Brittany to the Massif Central. To better understand it, it is useful to divide it into its main regions, along the Loire, from the north-west to the south-east.La Pays NantaisIt was Roman legions who brought the vine here two thousand years ago, at the crossroads of Brittany, the Vendée, the Loire and the Ocean. After a terrible winter in 1709 when the sea froze along the coast, the vineyard was completely destroyed, then reconstituted mainly with plants of the melon variety from Burgundy. The production area today covers 16,000 hectares on sunny hillsides exposed to oceanic influences. The soils are made up of ancient soils intermingled with eruptive rocks. The white counterpart of Beaujolais, the potential of Muscadet PDO wines is underestimated, the best of them being able to benefit from ageing for twenty years or more. On this subject, 10 strictly cadastral communal crus whose pedology was identified are resellable today, by the producers of point.L'Anjou Most of the great French vineyards producing wines of guard are resulting from argilo-calcareous grounds. Anjou's most original opportunity is to have a vineyard mainly cultivated on schist or volcanic soils. In addition to the very large Anjou appellation, which produces dry wines from Chenin or Cabernet Franc, there are a number of "sweet" appellations such as Coteaux du Layon, de l'Aubance, Bonnezeaux, Chaume and Quarts de Chaume, which are unfortunately tending to disappear as the public for these wines has dwindled to nothing!In dry wine, Savennières remains the most prestigious vineyard and is by far the greatest provider of wines for ageing in the region, the one that can compete with Burgundy. The vineyard is composed of four slopes perpendicular to the Loire, with characteristic schistose soils. The best exposure is by far that of the Clos de la Coulée de Serrant. Adjacent to the latter, La Roche aux Moines produces wines that are almost as full-bodied, with a strong minerality, which justifies a unique status within the appellation and higher prices.Le Saumurois Situated between Anjou and Touraine, the Saumurois, with its characteristic chalky tuffeau soils, is the up-and-coming vineyard. It is full of great talents, young or more experienced. It is a source of very fine dry chenins for ageing and a Cabernet Franc red that has become famous, Saumur-Champigny, which has contributed greatly to the reputation of this region, thanks in particular to the aura of some famous producers. The range of wines is wide, from the most diaphanous of thirst-quenchers to the greatest reds for ageing, lasting more than 30 years.La Touraine Here we are in the very heart of the Loire Valley. "Touraine" is a vast, protean appellation and its many grape varieties give rise to a large number of refreshing white wines made from sauvignon, chardonnay, chenin, pineau, romorantin, etc. But also rosés and crisp reds. But also rosés and reds made from gamay, cabernet, côt, pineau d'Aunis, etc. The other appellations, communal, have many assets. Both in chenin (Jasnières, Vouvray and Montlouis) and in cabernet franc (Coteaux du Loir, Chinon, Bourgueil and St-Nicolas de Bourgueil), the wines from these historic hillside terroirs reveal a real identity and a significant ageing potential. Cheverny is similar to the Touraine appellation in that it allows for many grape varieties, while Cour-Cheverny is strictly centred on the rare Romorantin, which produces wines with a strong identity.but let's return to Vouvray, located on a plateau and made up of two types of clay-limestone soils: aubuis and perruches. The vineyard gives birth to very interesting dry, dry-tender, semi-dry, sweet, syrupy or effervescent (sparkling by ancestral or traditional method) white wines - whose capacity to improve with time is, for some of them, legendary, not to say proverbial.As for the reds from the region of St-Nicolas de Bourgueil, Bourgueil or Chinon, they illustrate, depending on the geological origin and the producer, both the fruity and fruity style and the great red wine made for aging. In this respect, tasting a great Bourgueil or Chinon, after a few years in the cellar, is a form of apotheosis of the Loire Cabernet.Le Centre Its vineyards include the emblematic appellations Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé; and other lesser-known ones (Reuilly, Menetou-Salon, Quincy) which are also worthy of the interest of the wine lover. On these clay-limestone soils, which modulate the different Jurassic levels (Kimmeridgian, Oxfordian, Portlandian), a semi-continental climate prevails. It is here that the Sauvignon grape flourishes and, on the best exposures and soils, acquires an inimitable elegance, finesse and character. Let us not forget to mention the pinot noir which, on certain terroirs of Sancerre, has nothing to envy to certain very beautiful Burgundian expressions.