Loire Wines

Over a distance of 60 miles, there is a great variety of geology and climates, and the white wines of the Loire may be dry, semi-sweet, or sweet. 

The grapes most associated with the Loire are Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc. At best they have the fresh light appeal of gooseberries, black currants and crunchy raw vegetables. The reds, made from the Cabernet grape, have the fruitiness and grape-like taste of Beaujolais but are a little drier.

Aside from the Champagne region, the best sparkling wines come from the Loire


                                                                    Tasting Notes

Anjou wines are 1/3 white with rosé accounting for much of the remaining wine. Whites are dry, fresh and fruity, with a slight smoothness. However, Anjou is most associated with a sugary rosé. In fact Rosé d'Anjou may represent nearly half the wine produced in Anjou. Cabernet d'Anjou, a finer rosé, is the longest lived rosé in the world 

Bourgueil and St. Nicolas-de-Bourgueil are some of the finest Cabernet Franc-based reds in the Loire. The reds are fragrant and medium-bodied 

Chinon is a medium-bodied, black curranty wine, often aged in small oak barrels. It is nearly identical to Bourgueil, which is produced on the opposite side of the Loire 

Good Menetou-Salon competes with the better known Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé which lie to the east. Most Menetou-Salon reds are light, fruity and best drunk young. Menetou-Salon whites are typical of the Sauvignon Blanc but tend to lose their floral appeal quickly and are best drunk young 

Muscadet is a grape, not a place. It is a variety that can survive the cold weather in the vineyards around Nantes. Muscadet produces the pale, light, refreshing seaside wines of Loire. Unlike Chardonnay or Sauvignons, this is not fruity or oaky but instead is non-aromatic. The Muscadet vine is sometimes called Melon de Bourgogne. This steely, dry wine, considered the vin du pays of Brittany, is the perfect partner for seafood. It is at its best served fresh and young. The tradition is to bottle it sur lie, while still in contact with its sediment, giving it a slight spritz and yeasty roundness. Today it can be bought sur lie or not 

The delicious, dry white Pouilly-Fumé (fumé meaning smoky) is produced in the Upper Loire. Most of the grapes used are Sauvignon Blanc, the same grape that contributes to the superb white Bordeaux. The pale-coloured Pouilly-Fumé has a strong scent of gun flint, rich aromas and a distinctive flavour. It is very dry, light in alcohol, and generally drunk young, often in the first year. It is often hard to tell apart from Sancerre which is produced on the opposite bank of the Loire 

Pouilly-Fumé is wine grown at Pouilly-sur-Loire from the grape called Blanc-Fumé (Sauvignon Blanc). Pouilly-sur-Loire wine is made in the same area but using the sweet table grape Chasselas 

The vineyards of Quincy are planted exclusively with Sauvignon Blanc grapes. Lightly oaked, crisp, dry whites are worth buying but some Quincy are green and acidic 

Sancerre produces some of the finest Sauvignon Blanc wines in the world. Sancerre white wine is very dry, with a robust aroma, delicately lively and pure, though more fruity than Pouilly-Fumé. The most favoured vineyards are Bue, Chavignol, and Menetreol. King Henri IV declared the wine from the village of Chavignol, a few miles east, was the best he had ever drunk and that its general consumption would bring an end to the then raging religious wars. (That wine was almost certainly red. The first mention of Sancerre white wine was 1816)


Saumur is sometimes known as the "pearl of Anjou." The cool climate and chalky soil make it ideal for sparkling wines. Although Saumur produces red, white and rosé wines as well as dry and racy sparkling whites and rosés, the name is most associated with an aromatic, appley, nutty, sparkling wine that can be a good inexpensive alternative to Champagne. Saumur is mainly red and rosé but also produces a white wine from Chenin Blanc. Reds are light and fruity Beaujolais-style wines 

Touraine produces a wide variety of wines including light, often fruity reds; light, dry whites; dry or medium rosés; and sparkling reds, whites and rosés. In Touraine, the predominant grape variety is Chenin Blanc, and the better known wines are the Vouvray and the Montlouis. They are generally smooth, fruity and fresh. Touraine is also the homeland of the best red Loire wines, Bourgueil and Chinon, produced mainly from Cabernet Franc grapes 

Vouvray showcases the versatility of the Chenin Blanc grape, making medium, dry-sweet, still white wine, dry sparkling whites, and dry-sweet semi-sparkling whites. The sweet wines are the most seductive and long-lived. The semi-dry and dry wines walk the tightrope between richness and acidity. Full of floral and nutty flavours, they are often strong and can age well. There is no indication on the label of their level of sweetness