Loire Valley
Cool maritime to continental
France's longest river valley: a cool-climate garden of Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Franc and Melon de Bourgogne, from the Atlantic to the heart of France.
Overview
About Loire Valley
The Loire is France's longest river, and its wine region follows it inland from the Atlantic near Nantes to the hills of Sancerre and Pouilly-sur-Loire. From west to east the main zones are the Pays Nantais (Muscadet), Anjou-Saumur, Touraine and the Central Vineyards, and each has a different signature: Melon de Bourgogne, Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc respectively.
Because the climate is cool, acidity is the region's common thread. It makes dry whites, rosés, reds, sparkling wines (Crémant de Loire, Vouvray, Saumur) and some of France's finest sweet wines from Chenin Blanc, all at prices that are often modest for their quality.
Where is a grape grown?
Hover a marker to see what's grown there, and click it to open that place. On a touch screen, tap once to preview and again to open. Bigger markers have more grapes linked to them.
France
Shaded: Loire-Atlantique, Maine-et-Loire, Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher, Cher, Nièvre. Map units are states, provinces or départements, so a smaller place appears as the larger area that contains it.
The land
Climate & terroir
Climate
Cool maritime to continental
Cool throughout. The Atlantic keeps the western end mild and damp, while upriver toward Sancerre the climate turns more continental, with colder winters and warmer summers. Ripening varies markedly by vintage, which is why high natural acidity is the regional hallmark.
Terroir & soils
What the vines grow in
Varied by stretch: schist and granite in the west (Muscadet, Anjou), tuffeau — soft, chalky limestone quarried to build the valley's châteaux, and hollowed out for its wine cellars — in Saumur and Touraine, and clay-flint (silex) and Kimmeridgian limestone marl around Sancerre and Pouilly.
Side by side
West to east along the Loire
West
Pays Nantais
- Soil
- Schist, gneiss and granite
- Dominant grapes
- Melon de Bourgogne
- Typical style
- Bone-dry, light and saline; the classic seafood white
Middle
Touraine
- Soil
- Tuffeau limestone, clay-flint, and sand and gravel terraces
- Dominant grapes
- Cabernet Franc, Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc
- Typical style
- A wide range: fresh reds, dry to sweet whites and sparkling
East
Central Vineyards
- Soil
- Kimmeridgian limestone marl, limestone pebbles and flint
- Dominant grapes
- Sauvignon Blanc, with some Pinot Noir
- Typical style
- Sharp, flinty and mineral whites; light red Sancerre
Go deeper
Rules, years & producers
The Loire has dozens of appellations, most named for a town or district. The key to the label is knowing which grape and style each place means.
Regional appellations
Anjou, Saumur, Touraine and the wider Val de Loire IGP, covering a lot of everyday wine.
Village appellations
Names such as Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé, Chinon, Bourgueil, Vouvray and Muscadet Sèvre et Maine, each tied to a grape and style.
Sweet-wine appellations
Coteaux du Layon, Bonnezeaux and Quarts de Chaume, a Grand Cru appellation, all from botrytis-affected Chenin Blanc.
Crémant de Loire
Traditional-method sparkling wine, and Vouvray and Saumur also make sparkling wines.
Within Loire Valley
Subregions
Anjou-Saumur
The Loire's Chenin Blanc heartland, with dry Savennières, sweet Coteaux du Layon and Quarts de Chaume, and the Cabernet Franc reds and sparkling wines of Saumur.
Central Vineyards
The upper Loire around Sancerre and Pouilly, where flinty, mineral Sauvignon Blanc is at its most precise.
Pays Nantais
The Atlantic end of the Loire around Nantes, home of Muscadet: bone-dry, saline Melon de Bourgogne made for shellfish.
Touraine
The historic heart of the middle Loire around Tours, home of Cabernet Franc reds from Chinon and Bourgueil and Chenin Blanc from Vouvray and Montlouis.
What's grown here
Grapes
Grapes linked to Loire Valley or to a place within it. Each grape's page links back here.
Gouais Blanc
A handful of growers keep small plantings alive, mostly for historical interest.
Cabernet Franc
Grown in Bourgueil and Chinon.
Chenin Blanc
Grown in Anjou-Saumur and Touraine.
Melon de Bourgogne
Grown in Pays Nantais and Muscadet Sèvre et Maine.
Sauvignon Blanc
Grown in Pouilly-Fumé and Sancerre.