Favorite Loire wines?

Hello-

We are in the midst of planning a driving trip in the Loire next month (with the possibility of also seeing a bit of Bordeaux). I'd like to familiarize myself as much as possible with some of the wines of the region before we go. I am more familiar with the whites of the region - Sancerres and Vouvrays, but would like to hear about any favorites that you might have. I also need to educate myself on the reds from the area - I think we have a bit of tasting to do before we go!

I've read through some of the older threads, but didn't see much in the way of specifics - forgive me if I've missed something.

Thanks for your help-
Tracey

We spent a few days in the Loire over Thanksgiving week last fall...the run-away hit of the trip was Chinon. I never would have thought that a red would be the most memorable of the trip, but the wines there really captivated both my wife and I. They are almost exclusively 100% Cab Franc, vegetal on the nose and with good deal of minerality on the palate. Since returning I've found the selection of Chinon at local stores to be somewhat lacking, but I have had several bargain bottles of Bourgueil which fit into the same general category, if frequently a good deal bolder than Chinon.

We also have a soft spot for sparkling Vouvray that made a stop at the Marc Brédif tasting room worthwhile. They produce some excellent Crémant de Loire.

Are you planning to see the châteaux as well? We saw about half a dozen, all quite interesting in their way. I quite enjoyed Chambord and Chenonceau...Blois and Chinon were neat in a historical sense.

I second the Chinon recommendation. A good one will be $20+, but Wine Discount Center has a couple for around $10 that will give you an idea of what they are like. I stayed in Chinon almost 20 years ago, and it is a pretty town. You may want to spend some time away from the main tourist filled chateaus in the region and see some smaller towns like Chinon. For the whites, I prefer the sauvignon blanc based ones, like sancerre. If you like rose, the sancerre roses, made from pinot noir (I think) are tough to find here, but can be quite good.

-Will

kl1191 wrote:I never would have thought that a red would be the most memorable of the trip, but the wines there really captivated both my wife and I. They are almost exclusively 100% Cab Franc, vegetal on the nose and with good deal of minerality on the palate.

Loire is one of the best places to sample Cab Franc. In addition to the minerality, I think there's a lot of licorice that comes through, and I love the velvety texture. Cab Franc gets bashed a lot, but I don't think anyone would be disappointed with a Cab France from Loire.

In the Eastern part of the Loire Valley, just West of the city of Bourges, where one of the most beautiful cathedrals of France must abolutely be visited, you should consider besides the better-known Sancerre and Pouilly, the very fragrant and delicate whites from Reuilly (Claude lafond) and Quincy (Jacques Rouzé), also made rom Sauvignon Blanc. And make a stop North of Bourges in the small village of Menetou-Salon where a few producers offer not only very dry but aromatic Sauvignon Blancs, but also great fruity reds made exclusively from Pinot noir. Some good producers: Jean-marc Roger, Domaine de Chatenoy, and Henri Pellé, .
In the Chinon area a visit to the fabulous Couly-Dutheil is a must not only from their Chenin Blanc based whites, but also for a truly spectacular Rosé made from Cabernet Franc.
Speaking of chenin Blanc, if you would like a sweet but totally original white, do not miss the at the same time very mineral and slightly pungent wines from Savennnières in the Anjou area (a Domaine de Baumard would be a good choice). Try and locate local appelations such as Coulée de Serrant and Roche aux Moines. Also from the same area, near the very pleasant Côteaux du Layon
(Chateau de la Genaiserie is a safe choice in C du L ) , and still made from Chenin Blanc, you`ve got to secure a bottle of Quarts de Chaume, I also would suggest a Domaine de Baumard.
And if you stop around Saumur, try the Cabernet-Franc from Saumur-Champigny. Delicious and lively reds that age pretty well.

I would also recommend Montlouis for chenin blanc based wines. I've enjoyed a number of terrific bottles from Chidaine.

I've always wanted to visit with this wacky loire winemaker.
The wines are really interesting.
EARL Nicolas Joly
Castle of La Roche aux Moines
49170 Savennières – France

Phone : 0033 (0)2 41 72 22 32
Fax : 0033 (0)2 41 72 28 68
http://www.coulee-de-serrant.com

And some of my favorite Lorie whites come from
Domaine des Baumard
8, rue de l'Abbaye BP 11
49190 Rochefort-sur-Loire - France
Tél. 02 41 78 70 03 - Fax 02 41 78 83 82 - Mail : info@baumard.fr

Luneau-Papin for Muscadet. This is a very small, artisan producer. He makes several different bottlings based upon the micro-terroir of his vineyard. This is, in my humble opinion, the epitome of Muscadet. A bottle of one of his wines and a plate of fresh oysters is one of the world's great food and wine pairings.

http://louisdressner.com/Luneau/

Howard's on Belmont often has a nice diversity of Loire wines. Certainly I've seen more Loire reds there than I have anywhere else.

Thank you all so much for your replies! I'll be taking all of your recommendations along with us and plan to search for as many of the wines/producers/wineries that I can. We also plan on looking for a few of these wines (or at least these varieties) at some of our local shops in the next few weeks so we can start the tasting early! We've done wine tasting many times in the Sonoma/Napa/Russian River area, but I admit, I am completed intimidated by doing tasting in France. I feel so uneducated about the wines, so I look forward to doing a bit of research on all of your suggestions.

Thanks also for the suggestions on not-to-be missed sites - the cathedrals and chateaux.

Cheers!
Tracey