| Only an hour’s train ride from Paris, the Loire Valley remains among the most popular wine regions in the world with tourists. Lined with dramatic, chateau-flanking rivers, the sheer beauty of the region is reason enough to make it a stop on your tour of France. But what of the wines that originate from this vast and historic land? Do they measure up, or are the wineries that produce them simply sponging off tourists and a multitude of convenient Parisian cafés? Unfortunately, the short answer is, both. The traditional and opportune market in Paris makes it easy for large producers to skimp on quality and produce mediocre wines that sell easily in the nearby capital. But there remains a core of focused and dedicated winemakers crafting some of France’s finest wines, despite what is becoming an indifferent international clientele. While strong local sales keep the Loire flowing, the rest of the world seems to have little use for these wines that rely on elegance and finesse rather than sheer power.
The Loire is a vast region spread over 966 kilometres and divided into four distinct areas. The majority of production is white, and as one of the most northerly sites in France, its wines tend to be on the racy, nervy end rather than the fat and rich side. As in many of France’s traditional regions, the grape variety is rarely stated on the label, making it difficult for North American consumers to identify with, not to mention the complex system of appellations governing the wines.
The Loire River spills out into the Atlantic west of Nantes where the classic wine Muscadet is produced. This is perhaps the most austere and in many ways most typical wine of the entire region. Muscadet is made with the obscure melon grape, a lean, tart grape exhibiting aromas of lemon and wet stone. So tart is Muscadet, that the most popular method of production involves leaving the wine on its lees (dead yeast cells and other solid matter), which softens and fills out its aggressive and hollow nature. Although a large region and well-known throughout the world, Muscadet is slowly losing popularity with modern consumers in favour of fatter, easier styles of wine. Few young wine drinkers today know the pleasure of a well-chilled Muscadet served on the patio with a plate of fresh shellfish.
As we trace the river upstream we arrive at the complex and diverse region of the Anjou-Saumur. Here every style of wine is represented, from fresh rosé, to sweet, lush whites and lean, spicy reds. Some of the world’s greatest sweet wines are made here from the neighbouring sites Quarts-de-Chaume and Bonnezeaux. These luscious whites are made from chenin blanc, the white grape responsible for all the Anjou-Saumur’s great wines. Another notable here is Savennieres, known for its profound dry whites, the best rivalling anything that comes out of Burgundy or Alsace. At the bottom end lie the basic appellation controls (ACs) from Saumur and Anjou, that sadly produce few interesting wines that make it to our part of the world.
As France’s longest river continues, we happen upon the Touraine, where the Loire’s finest red wines are made. The noteworthy red producers of Chinon, Bourgueil and St. Nicolas de Bourgueil fashion spicy, sometimes lean wines from the unfashionable cabernet franc. When compared with modern styles of Shiraz or Merlot these can be confusing wines, but well-aged examples paired with a roast chicken or pheasant provide a genuine and unmatchable experience. Vouvray, too, is produced here in all styles from bone-dry to richly-sweet and even sparkling – while sometimes pricey, the sweeter versions are among the best in France.
Further upstream comes perhaps the Loire’s most well-known region. Simply called the Upper Loire, it is home to the twins-across-the-river Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume. Everything changes here, from the soil to the grape variety and, in fact, the region more closely resembles Chablis in Burgundy than any other in the Loire. The grape here is sauvignon blanc. The wines it produces provided the inspiration for the highly-successful examples we now know from the New World most notably New Zealand. But the wines deliver more than the characteristic gooseberry and herbaceous aromas found in the new world examples. The best of these wines display an unmatched minerality derived from the unique Kimmeridgian limestone which lies deep beneath the soil of the Upper Loire. Although its full potential has not been realized, this is perhaps the only region of the Loire that has not been left behind in the wake of the international wine revolution.
There is no doubt that the Loire is a complex and varied growing region with challenges both intrinsic and external, but it remains a land of great interest and reward; a place where winemakers struggle each year for every degree of sugar, and endure to produce wines that speak eloquently of the land they come from. In a wine world that has become a shouting match of the biggest and loudest, these quiet gems deliver a profound whisper to anyone willing to listen. |
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