Loire Valley
Discover this spectacular French region and its stellar wines
IT SEEMED LIKE a good idea at the time – a four-day wine trip (read: whirlwind), taking in views of France’s longest river, the Loire, starting on the the east coast and ending up in the region’s most famous appellation, Sancerre, which is home to its most recognisable variety, sauvignon blanc. The end result? Intensive and rewarding.
But if you’re yet to appreciate the beauty of the Loire Valley, more time is required, which is why I recently revisited the region that spans 800 square kilometres and is abundant with vineyards, cherry orchards, forests and darling villages dotted with castles – hundreds, actually. This is partly why UNESCO added the area between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes to its World Heritage Sites list in 2000. I also came back for the wine.
The key regions of Nantes, Anjou/Saumur, Touraine and CentreLoire, which take in Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, each deserves its own story, thanks to the dedicated vignerons and diversity of soils, climate and grape varieties. These include cabernet franc, sauvignon blanc, muscadet, chenin blanc and pinot noir, plus rosé and sparkling styles. Okay, each one would fill several volumes so, instead, let me offer a few of my favourite things, starting in Nantes, about 50 kilometres from where the Loire
River enters the Atlantic Ocean.
NANTES
Once the capital of Brittany, Nantes is a great place to start a Loire trip as it has an international airport, and the town encourages plenty of that most French of pastimes – flaneuring, or leisurely strolling. Book a table at La Cigale (4 Place Graslin), an art nouveau brasserie built in 1895, famed for its colourful ceramics. Soak up the atmosphere with a crisp and fresh muscadet, an ancient variety also known as melon de Bourgogne, with DNA links to pinot noir and chardonnay. Nantes is 95 per cent white wine territory and dominated by this ultra-dry variety, with most grown in the Muscadet Sevre-et-Maine appellation.
Armed with an appointment – advisable for any winery visit in France – my first stop is Domaines Landron (La Haye-Fouassiere) offering a suite of terrific muscadets crafted by second-generation vigneron Jo Landron. A young muscadet called Amphibolite, made in stainless steel tanks to retain its vivacity, is refreshing, with hints of iodine and lemon salts, and it is floral and linear. More complex is Le Fief du Breil, which Jo recognises as a cru because it comes off a single, stony vineyard planted to 40-yearold vines.
Allow time for lunch at Auberge Chez Pipette (13 impasse Tournebride) with its hearty fare and good wine list, but not for too long because next up is Domaine de L’Ecu (20 La Bretonniere, Le Landreau), once owned by the legendary Guy Bossard. Frederic Niger learned from the muscadet master before taking over the estate in 2012. The wines are compelling and detailed, each a gateway to the vineyard where the fruit grows, and they will change any perception about muscadet being only a cheap and cheerful wine.
SAUMUR/CHINON
Along the roads here, the limestone cliffs of Saumur loom large, carved into some ancient cave dwellings. The Troglodyte Village of Rochemenier (troglodyte.fr) is now a museum revealing an insight into how people lived in such proximity, from the 13th century to the 1930s.
It’s worth noting that the Loire comprises 44 per cent white wine, 24 per cent rosé, 19 per cent reds, and 13 per cent sparkling. Outside of Champagne, the Loire is the biggest producer of bubbles, and Saumur is the spot for a glass or two. Saumur brut can be pink or white, and there’s cremant de Loire aplenty at Ackerman (19 rue Leopold Palustre, Saint-Hilaire-Saint-Florent). Tuffeau, or porous limestone, was quarried to make many of the chateaux, and what was left behind is seven kilometres of caves forming the cool cellars of Ackerman, founded in 1811 and now part of the largest Loire negociant with a new name – Orchidées, Maisons de Vin. While the tasting room is modern, a guided tour of the old cellars is essential. Everything has been set out brilliantly with video links, art works and historical paraphernalia.
Head 40 kilometres east to Chinon, perched above the Vienne
River – a town dripping with history. It’s also home to beautiful and fragrant cabernet franc. A visit at Domaine Bernard Baudry
Fundamental to the Loire’s landscape is its disparate soils – schist and slate, granite and gneiss, clay and limestone, plus flint, which is known as silex.
(9 Coteau de Sonnay, Cravant les Coteaux) turns out to be one of the best, thanks to Bernard’s vigneron son, Matthieu. While he has worked in California and Australia, his heart is firmly in Chinon, where the domaine produces 90 per cent cabernet franc with 10 per cent chenin blanc. With each wine displayed on glass boxes filled with the soils of the vineyard, Matthieu talks about the influence of each one, such as Les Clos Guillot on clay and limestone, and La Croix Boissée off white chalk soils. Both are wonderful and distinct expressions of cabernet franc.
Mattieu produces a gorgeous red wine from the grolleau grape, called Franc de Pied. It’s a tiny production and unlikely to be found outside of Chinon. Savour it at the very cool wine bar La Cabane a Vin (23 place du General de Gaulle). While Matthieu helped establish the bar, Quebec-born Emilie Riopel runs this gem, which
is housed in a 15th-century building. Simple local fare matches brilliantly with the diverse range of wines, such as country terrines with cornichons, fat white asparagus and goat’s cheese.
For floral beauty, two chateaux vie for attention. The gardens of the renaissance palace, Chateau de Villandry, are justifiably famous. The 16th-century chateau on the banks of the Loire features geometric terraces, formal structures and a spectacular ornamental kitchen garden that will ensure an artistic appreciation of cabbages (chateauvillandry.fr/en). Then there’s Chateau de Chenonceau. While its original medieval dungeons survive, the stately castle that today crosses the Cher river was finished in 1517 and has a fascinating history centred on women, including former Queen of France, Catherine de’ Medici (chenonceau.com).
SANCERRE/POUILLY
Fundamental to the Loire’s landscape is its disparate soils – schist and slate, granite and gneiss, clay and limestone, plus flint, known as silex. The latter three form the unmistakable hills of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, planted to its distinctive sauvignon blanc. There may be plenty of uninspiring bottles produced, but if you’ve come here to be enlightened, you will be. Some wines are breathtaking in their complexity and detail, with a sheen of acidity that keeps them energised and long-lived.
On the right bank of the river, the Pouilly-Fumé appellation and Domaine Didier Dagueneau (Le Bourg, Saint-Andelain) go hand in hand. It is now run by son Louis-Benjamin, following Didier’s untimely death in 2008. Didier put a spotlight not on sauvignon
blanc, but his patch of soil, his low-yielding vineyards and what they reveal. This is all part of terroir, which the best producers embrace. Five minutes away is Domaine Jonathan et Didier Pabiot (1 Rue Saint-Vincent), an organic farmer making excellent terroir-driven wines, such as Predeliction. This is a wine made from the best parcels that Jonathan hand-harvests, and there’s not much of it.
All these wines make me hungry, so lunch beckons at Le Petit
Berry (6 rue des Ponts), a bistro next to the Loire River. In summer, be sure to take a garden seat. The food is rustic, regional and appropriately seasonal.
As for the medieval town of Sancerre, it is magnificent. Built atop a 312-metre hill, the panorama across vineyards and woods is breathtaking. Its wine appellation has many highlights. The vineyards are strewn with fossilised shells and sea creatures – a reminder this area was once an ocean. Such sites form the basis of some distinguished terroir, and three of the finest exponents are Alphonse Mellot (Domaine de La Moussiere), Domaine Vacheron (rue du Puits Poulton), and Francois Cotat (Chavignol Bourg). Cotat produces tiny quantities of flavoursome, breathtaking Sancerre that ages superbly. Vacheron’s Sancerres are thrilling; as fine and pure as any great white Burgundy. And Alphonse Mellot produces wines that are all about elegance and drinking pleasure. It’s no wonder leaving Sancerre and the wider Loire Valley proves so difficult.
Jane Faulkner travelled to the Loire as a guest of Loire Valley Wines
(vinsvaldeloire.fr/en), and again last year of her own accord.
Most featured producers are available in Australia.
It’s worth noting that the Loire comprises 44 per cent white wine, 24 per cent rosé, 19 per cent red, and 13 per cent sparkling. Outside of Champagne, the Loire is the biggest producer of bubbles, and Saumur is the spot for a glass or two.