Loire Valley Wine

The Loire Valley is one of France’s most prestigious wine regions. Stretching nearly 500 miles along the Loire River, it’s dotted with scenic vineyards, fruit orchards and majestic châteaux. The region is renowned for a wide variety of wines, from crisp whites like Muscadet and Sancerre to elegant reds made from Cabernet Franc. It’s also known for exceptional sweet and sparkling wines. The cool climate and diverse terroir across its four sub-regions—Pays Nantais, Anjou-Saumur, Touraine and the Central Vineyards—ensure distinctive wines that are highly regarded worldwide.

The Romans are believed to have planted the first vines in the region in the 1st century A.D. Winemaking continued to flourish in the Loire Valley, and by the 11th century, the region’s reputation for high-quality wines was established across Europe.

Several red and white wine grape varieties are grown the Loire Valley, including:

• Chenin Blanc: Also known as Plant d’Anjou, Chenin Blanc is a versatile white grape that is widely planted in the Loire Valley, particularly in the appellations of Vouvray, Savennières and Anjou. It produces wines that range from bone-dry to lusciously sweet, with flavors of baked apples, beeswax and dried flowers.
• Sauvignon Blanc: This grape is the star of the Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé appellations in the eastern Loire, where it produces wines that are often crisp, mineral-driven and full of ripe green fruit and grassy, floral flavors.
• Cabernet Franc: This cool-climate-loving grape variety produces light- to medium-bodied red wines with tangy acidity and flavors of juicy red fruits, cedar and herbs. In the Loire Valley, this variety is known as Breton and thrives in areas with limestone soil, like Touraine and Saumur.
• Melon de Bourgogne: Melon de Bourgogne is a white wine grape found growing in the western regions of the Loire Valley, where it’s also known by a more familiar name—Muscadet. Renowned for its citrusy flavors, bone-dry style and high acidity, this is a wine for those who enjoy the subtler things in life.
• Gamay: Although originating from Burgundy, Gamay is a red grape variety with strong roots in the Loire Valley. Similar to Pinot Noir, Gamay produces light-bodied red wines with soft tannins and medium-high acidity, with flavors of raspberry, black currant and violet.

The Loire Valley can be split into four regions—Pays Nantais, Anjou-Saumur, Touraine and the Central Vineyards.

• Pays Nantais: This region of the Loire Valley has vineyards planted adjacent to the Atlantic coast of Brittany, near the city of Nantes. The area is best known for its crisp, light white wine style, produced from the Melon de Bourgogne grape variety—the most famous of which is Muscadet.
• Anjou-Saumur: One of the Loire’s most diverse regions, Anjou-Saumur is known for producing both dry and sweet white wines primarily from the Chenin Blanc grape. It also produces red wines from the Cabernet Franc grape. The region includes notable appellations like Savennières (known for dry white wines) and Coteaux du Layon (known for sweet white wines).
• Touraine: This region is known for growing a diverse array of grape varieties—although its best-known grape varieties are Cabernet Franc (red and rosé wines) and Chenin Blanc (white and sparkling wines). The region includes the Vouvray appellation, which is famous for both dry and sweet white wines made from Chenin Blanc, and the Bourgueil and Chinon appellations, which are known for red wines made from Cabernet Franc.
• Central Vineyards: Situated at the center of France, this region is famous for its Sauvignon Blanc wines, particularly from the appellations of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé. Sancerre also produces high-quality red and rosé using Pinot Noir grapes.