Loire Valley

Subregions: Muscadet, Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé, Vouvray, Saumur, Chinon
The wine regions are located along the Loire River from the Muscadet region near the city of Nantes on the Atlantic coast to the region of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé just southeast of the city of Orléans in north central France
The majority of production is white wine from the Chenin blanc, Sauvignon blanc and Melon de Bourgogne grapes
There are red wines made (especially around the Chinon region) from Cabernet Franc
Rosé, sparkling and dessert wines are also produced
It is the second largest sparkling wine producer in France after Champagne (called Crémant outside of Champagne)
Winemaking in the Loire is characterized by a general avoidance of barrel aging and malolactic fermentation
Chaptalization is permitted here and can help wine makers compensate for the under ripeness of the grapes in some years
For red wines there has been more emphasis on extending the maceration time of skin contact in order to bring out more color and tannins into the wine
Temperature control is also an important consideration with the cold autumn weather sometimes requiring that the must to be heated in order to complete fermentation fully

Loire Valley is divided into three sections:

The Upper Loire :

Includes Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé (Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir)
Pouilly-Fumé only produces white wines while Sancerre produces red, white and rosé wines

The Middle Loire:

Includes Touraine, Saumur, Chinon and Vouvray (Chenin blanc and Cabernet franc wines)
Anjou region of the Middle Loire is situated around the town of Angers and is known primarily for the rosé wines based on the Cabernet franc
White wine made from the Chenin blanc is known as Anjou Blanc while Anjou Rouge is often made from Gamay
Saumur is the third largest sparkling wine appellation and is made from Chenin Blanc grape
Vouvray is the premier appellation for Chenin blanc (but Sauvignon blanc and Chardonnay are also planted to a smaller extent)
For red wines around Vouvray, the main grape is Cabernet franc with some smaller plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Gamay and Malbec
The area around Chinon, Bourgueil and St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil produces the majority of the Loire Valley’s red wine based on the Cabernet franc grape (called Cabernet Breton here)
Chinon wine is considered some of the best expression of the Cabernet franc grape

The Lower Loire :

Leads to the mouth of the river’s entrance to the Atlantic goes through the Muscadet region (wines of the Melon de Bourgogne grape)
Located at the westernmost edge of the Loire Valley near the city of Nantes
Under French AOC regulations, the maximum alcohol content of a Muscadet must be no more than 12% (after chaptalization)-making it the only unfortified French wine to have a maximum alcohol content stipulation