64 LEXPERT MAGAZINE
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SEPTEMBER
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OCTOBER 2018
PHOTO:
SHUTTERSTOCK
WINE
OF ALL THE MAJOR wine regions of France, the Loire Valley
is, arguably, the most fascinating.
Unlike Burgundy, Bordeaux and the Rhône, the Loire is a lateral
region, stretching 280 kilometers from the city of Nantes, inland
from the Atlantic coast, to the centre of France. It's known as the
Garden of France for its abundance of fruit orchards and fields of
artichokes and asparagus.
e Loire Valley has been inhabited since the Old Stone Age as
evidenced by the troglodyte caves along the river bank at what is
today the town of Vouvray. (Now a UNESCO World Heritage site,
I stayed there in a luxury hotel whose rooms had been carved out of
the chalk cliffs.)
But the twin glories of the region are its wines and its royal châ-
teaux that are strung along the banks of the river like great grey
pearls: Blois, Amboise, Chenonceau, Chambord, Villandry and
Azay-le-Rideau. Each one is different in architecture and worth
exploring. (If you have time to see only one, make it Chenonceau,
pictured above, which is built like a bridge across the River Cher.)
Wine has been made in the Loire Valley since the first century. So
diverse are the region's microclimates and soils that there are 87 dif-
ferent wine appellations. e Loire produces more white wine than
any other region in France and is second only to Champagne in the
production of sparkling wines. e winemakers here also produce
rosé and red wines from Cabernet Franc, Gamay, Cabernet Sauvi-
gnon and Pinot Noir.
e best way to discover the wines of the Loire is to start in the
west and work your way east along the river.
Pays Nantais, stretching from the city of Nantes, is the most
westerly region. In this cool, damp, maritime climate, they grow
the Melon de Bourgogne — originally a Burgundian grape variety
— which, once fermented and bottled, appears as the white wine
Muscadet. It may have the term sur lie on the label, which means
the wine has been aged over the winter on the lees — the dead yeast
cells and fragments of grape skins — to add complexity of flavour
and texture.
ey also grow a grape called Gros Plant here, which goes by the
name of Folle Blanche and produces a wine similar in style to Mus-
cadet but more rustic. is is the same grape distillers use to make
Cognac and Armagnac.
e next appellation you hit driving east is Anjou-Saumur, the
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The Garden of France
The twin glories of the Loire Valley are its châteaux and its wines
