The Loire Valley

Muscadet

Muscadet is made from Melon Blanc (also called Melon de Bourgogne, or just Melon), a grape grown almost nowhere else in France. It is early-ripening and frost-resistant, which suits this cool, damp corner near the Atlantic; nearly all of it grows south of the Loire. On its own, Melon produces lean, neutral wine. What transforms it is the technique of sur lie ageing: leaving the wine on its fine lees (dead yeast cells) through the winter after fermentation.

What sur lie does: The lees release compounds that add body, texture, and a subtle bready or creamy character to the wine. Sur lie Muscadet has more weight and complexity than wine racked off its lees immediately. A wine labelled "sur lie" (most often "Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur lie", the most common and best sub-appellation) stays on its lees over the winter and is bottled the year after the harvest, with minimal handling in between.

Style: All Muscadet is dry, light-bodied and high in acidity, about 12% alcohol, with subtle green fruit (lemon, green apple) and sometimes a slightly saline, mineral character. Drink it young. The classic pairing is with oysters and other shellfish, the wine's acidity and salinity mirror the flavours of the sea.

Chenin Blanc in Anjou-Saumur

Chenin Blanc is one of the most versatile grapes in the world, and Anjou-Saumur is where it reaches its highest expression. The grape is non-aromatic with naturally very high acidity, which is preserved in the Loire's cool climate. This acidity means it can support significant residual sugar without tasting cloying, which is why it works across the entire spectrum from dry to sweet.

Ripeness drives the style. Chenin's berries ripen unevenly, even within one bunch, so growers make several picking passes through the vineyard to avoid green, under-ripe flavours. Barely-ripe fruit (enough sugar for roughly 10–11% alcohol) goes into sparkling wine. Riper fruit makes dry wine. Fruit left to shrivel on the vine or to develop noble rot makes the off-dry and sweet wines. The current trend in dry Chenin is towards riper fruit, giving higher alcohol and a few grams of residual sugar.

Flavour profile: From green apple through to tropical fruit depending on ripeness. Dry wines can be steely and smoky; sweet wines show apricot and citrus peel. With age, Chenin develops honey, toast and hay, along with beeswax, marzipan and dried apricot. Botrytis-affected sweet versions add marmalade and candied fruit notes.

Savennières

A small appellation producing full-bodied, typically dry Chenin Blanc of exceptional intensity and ageing potential. Savennières sits in the relatively warm, dry western part of Anjou-Saumur, so the wines are fuller and less floral than those from Touraine. Good air circulation here keeps noble rot away, but it allows the grapes to hang late for concentrated dry wines. The wines are full-bodied, dry, and tightly wound in youth, with mineral, quince, and chamomile character. They often need several years to open up and can age for decades. Within Savennières, two single-vineyard appellations, Coulée de Serrant and La Roche aux Moines: are considered Grand Cru quality.

Coteaux du Layon

The most important sweet wine appellation in the Loire. Sweet Chenin Blanc made from grapes affected by noble rot (botrytis cinerea), which develops well in this sheltered valley; in some years very ripe grapes left to shrivel on the vine play a part too. Rich, honeyed, with apricot, quince, and marmalade flavours balanced by Chenin's trademark acidity. Elsewhere in Anjou, dry Chenin is also made, sometimes with new oak.

Within Coteaux du Layon, two sub-appellations produce the finest sweet wines:

• Bonnezeaux: a Grand Cru for sweet Chenin Blanc. Rich, concentrated, and long-lived.
• Quarts de Chaume: another Grand Cru. Even more concentrated and prestigious. Tiny production.

Saumur and Saumur-Champigny

Saumur produces dry white Chenin Blanc (sometimes blended with Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc) and is also the base for Saumur Mousseux and Crémant de Loire: traditional-method sparkling wines that represent excellent value compared to Champagne.

Saumur-Champigny is the top red appellation in Anjou-Saumur, producing Cabernet Franc reds. Many are light to medium-bodied, with bright red cherry and raspberry fruit, a floral (violet) note, distinctive pencil-shaving and leafy herb character, and fresh acidity; these are best drunk young and are often served lightly chilled. But many producers now make fuller, more structured, age-worthy styles as well, so do not assume every bottle is a light one.

Rosé de Loire, Rosé d'Anjou and Cabernet d'Anjou

Three rosé appellations, and the exam point is the sweetness order. Rosé de Loire is always dry; it can be made in Anjou-Saumur or Touraine but mostly comes from Anjou. Cabernet d'Anjou is the sweetest of the three: medium-dry to medium-sweet, made from Cabernet Franc and/or Cabernet Sauvignon. Rosé d'Anjou sits in between: less sweet than Cabernet d'Anjou, made mainly from Grolleau, a high-yielding local black grape. It is simple and commercial. The rosés are made by direct pressing or a short maceration.

Elsewhere in the valley, Touraine rosés are dry, and Sancerre rosé must be Pinot Noir, pale and dry. The lesson for the exam: Loire rosés are not always dry, so check the appellation.

Gamay in the Loire

Easy to forget, but Gamay is the Loire's second most planted black grape after Cabernet Franc. It is grown mainly in Touraine and Anjou and makes fruity, early-drinking reds. A little Pinot Noir is also grown, mostly in the Central Vineyards, usually in a light style.

Vouvray

Vouvray is perhaps the ultimate expression of Chenin Blanc's versatility. From a single appellation, producers make wines in four distinct styles:

• Sec: dry. Crisp, apple, and mineral.
• Demi-sec: off-dry. Slightly sweet, with honey and pear notes. The residual sugar balances the high acidity beautifully.
• Moelleux: sweet. Made from botrytis-affected or very ripe grapes. Honey, quince, dried apricot.
• Pétillant / Mousseux: sparkling. Traditional-method Chenin Blanc with apple, brioche, and honeyed notes.

The style produced in any given year depends heavily on the vintage: in warm years, grapes ripen fully and sweet wines are made; in cooler years, the focus shifts to dry and sparkling. Vouvray lies just east of Tours. Its cool climate and clay soils (clay and limestone over tuffeau bedrock, the soft local limestone) give light to medium-bodied wines that are fresh, fruity and floral, and rarely see new oak. The tuffeau also houses the cellars and caves where the sparkling wines are aged.

Chinon

Chinon is the most important and best-known appellation for Cabernet Franc in the Loire, and arguably the best expression of this grape as a single-variety wine anywhere in the world. The wines are light to medium-bodied with red cherry, raspberry, green bell pepper, pencil shavings, and a distinctive herbal, leafy quality.

Chinon lies south of the Loire and has diverse soils: sandy and gravelly terraces near the river produce lighter, fruitier wines for early drinking, while the south-facing limestone and clay slopes (côteaux) produce fuller, more tannic, age-worthy reds.

Bourgueil and Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil

North of the Loire, across the river from Chinon, producing similar Cabernet Franc reds. Bourgueil can be slightly more structured and tannic than Chinon. Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, a sub-appellation within Bourgueil, tends to be lighter and more approachable.

Sancerre

Sancerre is the French benchmark for Sauvignon Blanc. The soils are stony, well-drained and limestone-based. The wines are dry, with high acidity, and intensely aromatic, with gooseberry, citrus, green apple, grassy/herbaceous notes, and a distinctive wet-stone character. The village of Chavignol and the Les Monts Damnés vineyard have particular reputations (beyond L3, but you will see them on labels).

Soils matter here: Sancerre has three main soil types, each producing a subtly different style:

• Silex (flint): produces the most mineral, flinty, long-lived wines
• Kimmeridgian limestone/marl (terres blanches): produces fuller, rounder wines with good structure
• Caillottes (stony limestone): produces lighter, more immediately fruity wines

Sancerre also produces a small amount of red and rosé wine from Pinot Noir. These are light-bodied and cherry-scented, pleasant but not the main attraction.

Pouilly-Fumé

Directly across the river from Sancerre. Also 100% Sauvignon Blanc. The name "fumé" (smoky) refers to a subtle smoky, gunflint quality the wines are said to have, often attributed to the flint-rich soils, though that link is claimed more than it is proven. The style is similar to Sancerre but often considered slightly more full-bodied and mineral.

Important distinction: Do not confuse Pouilly-Fumé (Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire) with Pouilly-Fuissé (Chardonnay from Burgundy). This is a classic exam trap, they sound similar but are completely different wines from different regions.

Menetou-Salon, Quincy, and Reuilly

Three smaller Central Vineyard appellations producing Sauvignon Blanc in a similar style to Sancerre, often at lower prices. Menetou-Salon, just south-west of Sancerre, is the main one; it also produces some Pinot Noir red. These are "value" alternatives to Sancerre and worth knowing as budget-friendly study wines.

Touraine (white) / Sauvignon de Touraine

Not in the Central Vineyards, but this is where most Loire Sauvignon Blanc actually comes from. White Touraine, often labelled Sauvignon de Touraine, is simpler and less concentrated than Sancerre, made for early drinking and priced accordingly.