Definition: Breton Chinon

Chinon Breton or Chinon Véron

For a long time, it was believed that Chinon, nicknamed "Breton", was a wine from Brittany. It was not until the 16th century that Rabelais, born near Chinon, put an end to the legend that Abbé Breton had flooded the region with this grape variety, leaving it his name. Chinon grows well in the "good land of Véron", at the confluence of the Vienne and Loire rivers, the land of the "Dive bouteille" (fine wine) whose merits were praised by Balzac himself in his Contes drolatiques.
Today, the appellation covers 2,000 hectares cultivated by two hundred winegrowers. The gravelly terraces produce soft, fruity wines that can be enjoyed as early as May following the harvest. The clay-siliceous or limestone slopes, on the other hand, produce full-bodied, well-structured wines that are suitable for ageing, even long ageing.
Among the leading names in the appellation are the Bernard Baudry (Les Granges, Les Grézeaux) and Philippe Alliet (Coteaux de Noiré) estates. Finally, the reds cannot completely overshadow Chinon's very fruity rosés. And its elegant white wines with intense floral aromas, of which the Chanteaux from the Couly-Dutheil estate, one of the appellation's leading merchants, is one of the finest examples.