Follow the Loire from its centre to the sea and you pass through four distinct wine worlds: the Sauvignon Blanc of the Centre-Loire, the Chenin Blanc of Anjou and Touraine in every style from bone dry to nobly sweet, the Cabernet Franc of Chinon and Bourgueil, and finally Melon de Bourgogne on the Atlantic coast. Cool climate throughout means acidity, transparency and low alcohol.
Appellations to know
For each one: the bottle that defines it, and the bottle that over-delivers. Indicative retail prices, not an offer to sell.
Sancerre
Flinty, taut Sauvignon Blanc with a smoky edge
Best wine
€250
Didier Dagueneau Silex
Technically Pouilly-Fumé; the flint-driven benchmark of the Centre-Loire.
Best value
€28
Domaine Vacheron Sancerre Blanc
Biodynamic, taut and smoky; the classic value Sancerre.
Vouvray
Chenin in every register, from sec to moelleux
Best wine
€120
Domaine Huet Le Mont Moelleux
Quince, honey and racing acidity that outlives most reds.
Best value
€18
Domaine Champalou Vouvray Sec
Pure Chenin cut with chalk; astonishing at the price.
Chinon
Cabernet Franc: graphite, raspberry, crushed leaf
Best wine
€45
Charles Joguet Clos de la Dioterie
Old-vine Cabernet Franc; graphite, raspberry and fine tannin.
Best value
€16
Bernard Baudry Les Granges
Sandy-soil Chinon for the carafe, from a benchmark family.
Savennières
Dry Chenin of extraordinary density and longevity
Best wine
€90
Nicolas Joly Coulée de Serrant
A 7-hectare monopole; dense, waxy, contemplative dry Chenin.
Best value
€22
Domaine du Closel La Jalousie
Fresh, floral Savennières that drinks young.
Muscadet Sèvre et Maine
Sur lie ageing, saline and razor-clean
Best wine
€22
Domaine de la Pépière Clos des Briords
Old-vine sur lie from granite; saline and long-lived.
Best value
€16
Domaine Luneau-Papin Le L d'Or
Decades-old vines, ten months on lees, four-figure quality for two figures.
The most expensive areas
Typical retail
Where land, scarcity and reputation push prices highest in Vallée de la Loire. Indicative bottle prices for benchmark producers, not an offer to sell.
- 01
Savennières Coulée de Serrant
€80–200
A 7-hectare monopole; the Loire's most expensive dry white.
- 02
Sancerre (Dagueneau, Cotat)
€60–300
Cult growers on Les Monts Damnés and Silex.
- 03
Vouvray moelleux (Huet)
€60–400
Great sweet vintages from Le Mont and Clos du Bourg.
- 04
Chinon Clos de l’Écho / Bourgueil old vines
€40–120
Top tuffeau parcels of Cabernet Franc.
What's produced
At the table
- Goat cheese (Crottin de Chavignol)
- Pike quenelles
- Shellfish platter
- Rillettes