Best New Wines from the Central Loire

Perhaps no area in France resists categorization more stubbornly than the central Loire Valley. Encompassing almost 50 different appellations (I say “almost” because new AOCs continue to pop up), this region extends roughly from just east of the Atlantic coast city of Nantes to Reuilly, which lies just south and west of Sancerre. The entire Loire Valley wine region stretches nearly 250 miles from east to west as the crow flies (and a lot farther than that if you follow the river), and the appellations that comprise the central Loire account for more than half of that distance.

Most casual wine lovers are familiar with the off-dry wines of Vouvray, this region’s most famous appellation, but in a given vintage Vouvray produces 100%-chenin blanc wines that range from bone-dry sparkling wines that can sometimes rival Champagne in quality, to dry still wines that can rattle the teeth as well as any Muscadet or Chablis, to late-harvested, nectar-like sweet wines that are richer than anything made in Sauternes or Alsace. This area is also home to Chinon and Bourgueil, whose red wines are made from cabernet franc. Until the early ‘90s, too many of the examples that made their way to the U.S. were underripe, showing more weedy and vegetal character than sweet fruit. Today there are dozens of these wines in national distribution that defy that stereotype.

The Central Loire’s most historically important AOC for bone-dry white wines is Savennières, but most producers are small, and strong domestic demand absorbs a good portion of these wines. Fortunately, small quantities of wines from the best producers are available here, even if they often require a little sleuthing to find. Just south of Savennières are the relatively well-known (among wine geeks) sweet wine-producing appellations of Coteaux du Layon and Chaume, whose wines are available here spottily, but not usually found at the typical booze and beer emporium.