The different kinds of Loire wines
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Discover the wines of the Loire
Wines from the Loire are particularly popular with aperitifs and special occasions . There is a great embarrassment of choice when it comes to Loire wines, and they are the subject of several open houses each year. Discover in this article the best Loire wines.
Loire wine: vineyards of the Loire Valley
Also called the Loire Valley vineyard, the Loire Valley is very famous for its excellent wine. This valley is a vast area of French wine production, bringing together several wine regions.
Many Loire Valley wines are made from a single grape variety . Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Saumur Sauvignon, Cabernet, Pineau d'Aunis, Folle Blanche are essential grape varieties found in this wine region.
Third largest wine region in France, it is the leading producer of AOC sparkling wines , and the second region of AOC rosés. This region is also a very large producer of dry white wines .
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Many events take place in the region, to highlight the wines produced, we can have tastings and exchanges. Indeed, the wines produced in the Loire Valley are of exceptional quality.
For an aperitif, do not hesitate to choose Loire wine, such as Montlouis sur Loire wine . This wine is planted on stony soils in order to capture as much sunlight as possible. For its only cultivated grape variety, Chenin, also called Pineau de la Loire, gives still, dry, semi-dry or sweet wines. This varies according to weather conditions.
This appellation also has the particularity of producing sparkling wines using traditional methods. It also produces sparkling wines. This wine can be kept for up to 5 years for dry wine, while for Montlouis sur Loire with the particularity of being soft, it can be kept for up to 10 years.
Its sparkling is to be drunk young for more taste. Indeed, the Loire Valley vineyard extends over almost 1000 kilometres, it follows the Loire from its source to its estuary: from the Massif Central to Nantes.
These wines which from the 10th century knew a great success in the kingdom of France, but also in that of England.
The Loire vineyard produces wines of all kinds: red, rosé and dry white, sparkling, sweet. Among the wines enjoying great notoriety we can mention Chinon, Bourgueil, Pouilly-Fumé, Bonnezeaux and Menetou-Salon Pouilly sur Loire, Saint Pourçain.
Loire wine: wine from the Anjou Saumur sub-region
First of all, we find in the region of Anjou Saumur a variety of prestigious and above all famous wines . It is a wine region very famous for its dry and sweet white wines, as well as its exquisite red wines. This region has the particularity of having a characteristic schistose and sandstone soil, favoring the quality of the wine.
The noble rot and the typicality of Chenin together form a wonderful bouquet to give a unique taste to its wines. All made with the same noble Chenin grape variety, the result is exquisite. It has been present in the Loire since antiquity.
There are several wines of great renown in this region. We can distinguish the white Foussy, the Jean Paul Balland Sancerre, really excellent, as well as Eric Louis Pouilly-fumé Cuvée les Affaubertis.
One of the most famous wines is Chateau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac. It is a still red wine. It is ranked among the best according to Bettane Desseauve for its unique taste.
One of the appellations of the sub-region is the Coteaux du Layon appellation. These white wines are dressed in an intense golden color with green shimmers, unctuous, with a rich nose of honey and long aromas of flowers.
Another appellation is the Coteaux du Loir appellation, with a fairly large production. The majority of the production declines more towards the red than towards the white and the rest goes to the rosé. The aromas of the whites tend towards aromas of dried fruit, flowers and honey. The red and rosé wines are rather aromatic and light.
Another very famous Loire wine that you absolutely have to know is the Quarts de Chaume wine. This white wine has rather a color tending towards gold. Quarts de Chaume has aromas of white flowers, candied fruit, exotic fruit and honey.
Its young wine has a fat character, with a very fruity, moderately spicy note and a medium acidity note. It can be kept for 2 to 25 years. It is an exquisite sweet wine in the Anjou region . Indeed, this wine is perfect for an accompaniment during an aperitif and during a dinner.
Loire wine: wine from the Saumurois sub-region
In the case of the Maine-et-Loire region, the region's wines have inherited the Saumur Champigny appellation, which is a town located near the Chinon areas.
The Champigny terroir is famous for its red wines, fleshy and elegant, with intense and supple tannins. Their red wines are produced in several communes, from Cabernet Franc , most often supplemented by Cabernet Sauvignon. These wines are matured in tufa cellars. These are the most famous reds.
These wines are dressed in a bright red. They have the distinction of being full-bodied, structured wines with a rich nose . These aromas are aromas of empyreus, spices and flowers. These wines have a note of aroma of red fruits, its finish is harmonious.
While the whites of Saumur Champigny are said to be nervous. Another wine appellation from the Saumur sub-region is Cabernet de Saumur . The AOC Cabernet Saumur also comes from the Anjou sub-region. These are dry and semi-dry rosé wines produced by two grape varieties only. These grape varieties are Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.
The Saumur region also produces exquisite sparkling wine. Another appellation is sparkling Saumur . Sparkling Saumur being an appellation of Saumurois is a favorable wine in areas where the climate is temperate. This vineyard covers 1500 hectares. These wines can be white or rosé. They take advantage of a limestone soil, and are made with different grape varieties.
Saumur, an appellation from the Saumur region, is a wine produced by a scattered vineyard. It extends over 1100 hectares with an annual production of 69000 hectoliters. The vineyard is installed on intermediate slopes of tufa, on soils called Anjou blanc.
The wine produced in this area is remarkably delicious and exhibits quite a unique note due to its conditions. The Coteaux de Saumur appellation is reserved for rosé wines produced from Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Its production covers only 10 hectares of the Saumur region and reaches 580 hectoliters annually.
Wines from the Touraine sub-region
This region of Touraine belongs to the production area of the Loire Valley. It is a wine region with the particularity of being frequently redefined. Indeed, its climate and its soil are variable, causing quite specific and original wines from each other.
Their subsoils are composed of white tufa chalk, clay-limestone or aubois soils and tuffs. This soil characteristic favors a late terroir. The wines produced in this region are ample and also powerful.
The grape variety generally used for red wines and rosé wines is Gamay. It is then completed with Cabernet Franc and Pinot noir . While the whites are vinified from Chenin and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Dry white wines are generally light and fresh, while red wines are light and fruity . And rosé wines are medium. An appellation of Touraine wines is the Bourgueil appellation which is located on the banks of the Loire. It produces 14,000 hectares of fatty and sticky freestone each year. Cheverny is an appellation from Touraine. The vineyard is located south of the city of Blois and extends over 525 hectares. Soils of sand on clay with flint protected by the Sologne forest adorn and decorate the south of the region. And to the north, you can find a landscape of hills.
The Chinon appellation from the Touraine sub-region is a wine-growing region that extends over 40km . Its climate, oceanic in the west, has a strong continental influence in the east. This condition strongly influences the production of wines in this wine region of Touraine. The production of wines is original and incredibly specific.
Each year, 112,000 hectoliters of juice are produced on 2,350 hectares of vineyard. The Coteaux de Vendômois appellation borders the two banks of the Loir between Vendôme and Montoire . Each year, its production reaches 4800 hectoliters for the 150 hectares. This production rate is due to its soil composed of silt from stony plateaus on a clay-limestone base.
Located in the Cher department in the Centre-Val-de-Loire region, Sancerre is a very welcoming French town for tourists, whether they are lovers of beautiful landscapes, wine or cheese lovers.
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