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The Loire Valley is the third largest wine region in France, yet it is also one of the country’s least well known. It follows the broad sweep of the Loire River for nearly 1,000 kilometers, from the mountains of the Massif Central in the center of France to the wild Atlantic coast in the northwest. The Loire and its tributaries are home to more than 50 appellations. Most are populated by small family winegrowers, many of whom have been farming the same land for centuries.
More famous for its châteaux than its wine, the Loire is a region of evident history, but it is a region of experimentation and discovery as well, where respect for the past and a spirit of innovation exist side by side.
The Roman officer and historian Pliny the Elder completed his Natural History in 77 CE, reflecting the world he knew in the first century, including its vineyards and wines. In this text, he mentioned that vines were growing on the banks of the Loire, evidence that this region has a vinous history spanning at least two millennia. But it was not until the sixth century that Grégoire, the bishop of Tours, made the first reference to the vineyards in the local region of Touraine, which today includes Chinon and Vouvray. He also confirmed that vineyards were growing in the Sancerre area, writing, “In the year 582, a late frost scorched the vines.” The church was a driving force in the development of the Loire’s vineyards and wine production, as it was in other parts of France and Europe, until the French Revolution.
The Loire River and its tributaries have long provided a route to market for the region’s wines. On the western coast, close to the mouth of the river, Nantes has been an important trading hub for centuries. There is even a theory that in the 19th century, the local white wine, now known as Muscadet, acquired its name from Dutch traders looking for a neutral, high-acid white wine that they could add to the botanical noix de muscade (nutmeg) prior to distillation.
In the 15th century, the Loire, rather than Paris, was the location of the French royal court. While the monarchs shifted back to Paris in the middle of the 16th century, the Loire continued to be the summer getaway of the nobility and the wealthy, hence the region’s abundance of ornate châteaux and a love of Loire wine among the aristocracy. Charles VII (1403–1461) was one of the kings who set up court in the Loire Valley. During the Hundred Years’ War, Joan of Arc famously went to see him in Chinon to ask for an army before defeating the king of England during the siege of Orléans.
There were other prominent Loire residents who brought fame to the local wines, including François Rabelais. Born in Chinon in the late 15th century, he was most famous for his satirical work Gargantua and Pantagruel, although he also had a stint as both a religious man and a doctor. Some of his wine-related commentary includes the advice that Sauvignon Blanc is good for constipation and the saying “Always drink, never die.” Around the same time that Rabelais was upsetting the establishment with his scathing and comedic writing, the artist Leonardo da Vinci made the Loire his home. In 1516, at age 64, he crossed the Alps on a mule after being invited by François I to be his royal painter. In his luggage were several paintings, including the Mona Lisa. He died in the Loire in 1519 and is buried in the town of Amboise, in the Touraine region.
Touraine was one of the main areas to benefit from the 1577 law by the Parlement de Paris that prohibited Parisians from purchasing wines made within a 20-league (around 88-kilometer) radius of the capital, but over the centuries the Parisian market didn’t want to pay a high price for quality. As Xavier de Planhol explains in An Historical Geography of France, this eventually led to a deterioration in the quality of wines produced in areas that were easily reached by river or the canal from Paris. “By the beginning of the seventeenth century, Orléans wine was already banned from the royal table and it lost the last shreds of its reputation over the decades that followed.” The increasing urbanization of the French population called for everyday, low-priced wines. As the railways developed in the 19th century, the regions that had benefited from their waterway connections with Paris became pitted against the low-cost wine producers of the south.
It was around this time that phylloxera arrived in the Loire. It is estimated that when the louse was first identified, in 1877, half the population in the Loire depended in some form on the vine for income. At first, the local phylloxera committees were adamant that they wouldn’t use American rootstocks and would instead inject the soil with carbon disulfide, but it soon became clear that grafting was necessary. The replanting that followed marked a change in the flavors of the Loire: Sancerre switched from Pinot Noir to Sauvignon Blanc, while Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc gained popularity in Anjou-Saumur.
During World War II, the Loire Valley’s wine regions were occupied by the Germans. Saumur was a center of resistance: weapons and documents were hidden in casks that crossed the line between free and occupied France, which was situated south of the river. But many men in the region became prisoners of war, including Gaston Huet, who returned to his native Vouvray having lost one-third of his body weight. Vineyards fell into disrepair, with no one to work in them, and without fungicides or pesticides to control the spread of disease. Following the war, many young people left the countryside to work in cities, while those who stayed began bottling their own wines or organized themselves into cooperatives and started selling their wines in the bistros of Paris.
Vines were part of farmers’ income, not their sole income, until the 1960s and 1970s, when goats, cattle, and crops started giving way to vines—and a greater focus on quality winemaking. The 1980s brought major advances in the cellar, with better presses, stainless steel, and temperature control making their debut. Today, the Loire Valley’s wine industry is focused on improving the quality of the raw material: the grapes. There’s also increasing concern regarding the effects of climate change, whether frost, drought, or unpredictable weather events. This is paired with a greener approach; about 30% of Loire Valley vineyards are now either sustainably or organically farmed.
Loire Valley wines are subject to the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) system, initially established throughout France in the 1930s in response to the chaos that ensued after the phylloxera crisis, which largely destroyed the country’s vineyards. This loss of crops led to a surge in fraudulent practices, and soon the market was awash with low-quality wine produced to fulfill demand. In the absence of legal regulations, grapes and wines were routinely blended, often from different origins both within and outside France, and adulterated in numerous ways to stretch volumes further. The appellation system was an effective means of regulating production and ensuring that wines from a particular origin conformed to certain expected criteria.
Many of the best-known Loire appellations were defined in 1936, in the earliest days of AOC regulation, including Muscadet, Vouvray, Bourgueil, Chinon, and Saumur. Today, 78% of the Loire Valley’s production is designated AOC and there are 53 separate AOCs. Some winemakers choose to operate outside the system, producing wines that can carry only the basic country designation of Vin de France (VdF). As is the case in other countries with similarly restrictive regulations, most of these wines are of basic quality, but some are of the highest quality, made by producers who wish to make the wines they want to make, even if they do not meet the requirements for appellation status. Wines without geographical indication account for 12% of total Loire production.
Vin gris refers to very pale rosé wines. While most rosé is macerated, vin gris is usually made without any intentional skin contact. Instead, it is produced like a white wine, with the grapes directly pressed. Vin gris is typically made from red- or pink-skinned varieties.
Between AOC and VdF lies a third quality designation: Indication Géographique Protégée (IGP). IGPs are subject to similar but less strict regulations compared with AOCs. They usually cover a wider area than the AOCs, and there is typically greater flexibility on yield levels and the grape varieties that can be grown. The Loire has five IGPs for wine (and one for Calvados), of which the most important by far is Val de Loire. This covers 4,600 hectares spread over a vast growing area that encompasses 13 different administrative departments and dozens of grape varieties. Reds, whites, rosés, and vins gris are made under the Val de Loire banner, and almost all are single-variety wines. Permitted yields are 90 hectoliters per hectare, and the wines are light and early drinking in style. Nearly 300,000 hectoliters are made annually under this IGP, which accounts for 9% of all the Loire’s production. The Loire’s other IGPs are Côtes de la Charité, Coteaux de Tannay, Coteaux du Cher et de l’Arnon, and Puy de Dôme. Collectively, they account for a mere 0.2% of the region’s total production.
The Loire Valley is the third largest winegrowing area in France by hectarage, after Bordeaux and the Rhône. It is not easy to visit the Loire Valley in one trip—the drive from Muscadet to Sancerre takes more than four hours. Getting to know its growers takes time, too. There are 3,600 growers cultivating 56,900 hectares of vines, an area larger than the entire Austrian or New Zealand vineyard.
Sales figures for 2020 show that close to three-quarters of all Loire wine, equivalent to 210 million bottles, is sold in France. Within France, supermarkets are the most important outlet for Loire Valley wines, particularly those in a low-price, négociant-dominant market, such as Muscadet and the rosé categories Rosé de Loire and Cabernet d’Anjou. For those appellations held in higher esteem, such as the sweet grand cru–designated wines of Quarts de Chaume or the steely dry whites of Savennières, the independent retail sector and on-trade are the key markets.
The Loire Valley wine association reports that 26% of all wines, equivalent to 70 million bottles, were shipped overseas in 2020. The five most important export markets (both by value and volume) for the Loire Valley’s wine producers are, in order of sales, the US, the UK, Germany, Belgium, and Canada. Region-wide figures, however, hide the huge variability from one appellation to another. For example, exports account for 62% of Sancerre sales and 64% of Crémant de Loire, which has enjoyed a strong period of growth as part of a wider thirst for French crémant styles both at home and abroad. In the UK, for example, sales increased fivefold from 2012 to 2020. But just 4% of all Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil and 14% of Menetou-Salon went overseas.
White wines take the lead in export markets, accounting for 57% of all wine shipped by volume. Reds and rosé represent 23%, and sparkling 20%. Sancerre is by far the most successful appellation internationally, particularly when it comes to value, while Muscadet, Vouvray, and the Touraine appellation (thanks to Sauvignon Blanc) have healthy volume sales, although value lags.
The cost of a vineyard in each of the appellations reflects the market’s appetite for its wines. For example, the average price of a hectare of vineyard land is €7,000 in Muscadet, €26,000 in Vouvray, and €210,000 in Sancerre, according to figures from SAFER, the French rural land agency. This has implications for young winemakers wishing to start a business. In Sancerre, it is difficult to begin unless you are a member of a winegrowing family or a large wine business. The Anjou area, where a hectare costs around €18,000, has become a hotbed of talent and innovation. Here, many are making minimal-intervention wines and trialing unusual blends.
The Loire Valley is the most sprawling of French wine regions, perhaps unsurprising since it follows the flow of the country’s longest river. The geology of the vineyards is highly diverse and often immediately visible. The soil is considered a crucial part of the identity of each place and the starting point for defining an appellation. Visit any Loire winegrowers and they will most likely talk about what is under the ground before anything else.
The oldest rocks in the Loire Valley—and in all of France—are found in the far west. This is the Armorican Massif (Massif Armoricain), which covers all of northwestern France. It is the remains of the giant Hercynian range of mountains from the Precambrian era. Looking at the landscape today, it is hard to believe that mountains were once here, as the land is low-lying, with only gentle slopes. But 600 million years of weathering have resulted in soils of enormous complexity. These old rocks form the basis of the soils of Muscadet and other appellations of the Nantais region and the western half of Anjou, including Savennières. This area is known as the Anjou Noir (or Black Anjou) because of the dark soils that characterize the Armorican Massif. Granite, gneiss, multicolored schist, slate, and pudding stones are found here.
The dividing line between the Anjou Noir and the Anjou Blanc runs from north to south, starting southeast of Angers. The Anjou Blanc (White Anjou) marks the beginning of the Paris Basin, a low-lying area in northern France that was covered by the sea during the Cretaceous and Jurassic periods (67 to 195 million years ago). The more recent, shallow seas that receded to leave soils based on soft, chalky Cretaceous limestone are easily visible today in the houses, castles, and cellars of the lower Loire. These are the soils of eastern Anjou and Touraine. Further eastward, the Paris Basin continues to be the bedrock of the vineyards of the Central Vineyards, around Sancerre. The seas were deeper here, however, and these older soils (from the Jurassic period) are frequently characterized by the presence of tiny fossils. The Kimmeridgian clays found in Sancerre continue to the vineyards of Chablis. A fault runs through the town of Sancerre, adding complexity to the range of soils and defining the appellations of the Central Vineyards. These include islands of flint, for example around Saint-Andelain in Pouilly-Fumé.
To the south, back toward the source of the Loire River, the vineyards of the Auvergne have younger soils based on the decomposed volcanoes of the Massif Central. Schists and granite predominate, and Gamay is the red grape that thrives, as it does on the granite soils of Beaujolais.
The vineyards of the Loire cover an area that extends more than 800 kilometers across France, but the climate of the region is dictated primarily by its northern latitude. The great majority of the vineyards lie on the 47th parallel; only the Alsace and Champagne wine regions are further north in France. The growing environment for red wines is marginal, and even for whites it is far from reliable. But beyond the simple commonality of latitude, there is considerable climatic variation both between and within the different appellations, which explains the enormous diversity of grapes and styles produced in the Loire Valley.
Altitude rarely has a significant impact on the climate of the vineyards of the Loire. Most are at or close to sea level. In Muscadet, the viewpoint of Butte de la Roche gives an extensive 360-degree view across the vineyards at less than 50 meters above sea level. Elsewhere, most vineyards are below 100 meters in altitude. There are a few exceptions, however. In Sancerre, the famed slopes of Les Monts Damnés vineyard rise to 436 meters, and many of the vines in the appellation grow between 250 and 350 meters above sea level. Another outlier is the upper Loire, where the vineyards are situated in the Massif Central. These appellations are several hundred kilometers south of the Central Vineyards region, geographically detached from the main vineyard area. Here, the latitude is more like that of southern Burgundy, but the climate is influenced by the altitude of the vines, which are situated between 200 and 600 meters above sea level. The climate is semicontinental, with cold winters and hot summers, and little precipitation. A major climatic influence is the foehn, a warm wind that descends from the mountains to the vineyards.
The overall climate is maritime for the Nantais region, where the Muscadet vineyards lie, becoming more temperate-oceanic in the adjoining Anjou region immediately east. Further eastward, the Atlantic influence diminishes from Saumur toward the warmer red-wine heartland of Touraine, the vineyards of Chinon and Bourgueil. Further east from there, the climate becomes more continental in the premier Sauvignon Blanc growing areas in the Central Vineyards, where there are wider temperature variations between summer and winter. This is also the case for the vineyards of the upper Loire, situated south of the Central Vineyards.
Frost is a regular hazard in this part of the world, and crop losses in recent years—notably 2021, but also 2019, 2017, and 2016—have been dramatic. Beyond frosts, there are multiple other risks to the health and quality of the harvest that are climate related, including hail, autumn rain, and the constant threat of mildew during the growing season. Throughout the appellations of the Loire, vintage variation is significant from year to year, which is one reason for the strength of the Loire sparkling wine industry, second in volume only to Champagne in France. When the weather is challenging during the growing season, it has always been useful to be able to fall back on fizz to make the best of grapes that achieve less than ideal ripeness (in Vouvray, for example). Likewise, in semisweet Anjou rosé, sugar can compensate for underripe fruit.
No Loire vine is far from a river, and these rivers play a key role in determining the temperature, humidity, and airflow of the growing environment. Many of the best vineyards are on south-facing slopes next to a river—if not the Loire itself, then one of its many tributaries: the Maine, Sèvre, Vienne, Indre, Allier, Loir, Layon, Thouet, or Cher. The great sweet wines of Vouvray and Quarts de Chaume are only possible thanks to the vineyards’ proximity to the Loire and Layon Rivers, which create the autumn mists necessary for the development of botrytis in favorable years.
Temperatures have measurably increased in the Loire Valley since the 1940s. According to the Huglin index, the climate in the Loire Valley cities of Nantes, Angers, Tours, and Bourges moved from cold to temperate during the 60-year period to 2010. The average temperature over this period increased by 1.35 degrees Celsius, and an ongoing study notes that average Loire temperatures have increased by 3 degrees Celsius in the last 30 years.
There have also been rises in the minimum temperature (1.4 degrees Celsius) and the maximum (1.3 degrees Celsius) over this period. Researchers have observed that the regions east of Saumur experienced higher rises in maximum temperatures because of the decreasing oceanic influence. The Atlantic serves to lower maximum temperatures in the Nantais region thanks to the presence of cloud cover, which mitigates very high temperatures but correspondingly raises minimum temperatures at night, because the continued presence of cloud is more likely to prevent heat escaping at night.
Climate change has had several consequences, both positive and negative. The Loire was historically a region where grapes often failed to achieve full ripeness. Warmer temperatures and increased levels of photosynthesis have yielded better-quality wines, especially the reds. Today, there are far fewer examples of green and leafy Cabernet Franc; Pinot Noir wines have acquired a sensual richness; Gamay wines are plump and juicy. For whites, too, more reliable ripening has been welcome. The negative effect of higher temperatures is the risk that the wines are unbalanced. Grapes show higher levels of sugar—and therefore alcohol—and lower acidity. The typical profile of the wines has undoubtedly changed. That this is related to climate change is highly probable. But changes in viticultural practices have also allowed grapegrowers to achieve higher levels of ripeness in their fruit through bunch thinning and leaf removal, methods that have benefits for plant health as well.
Viticulture has become more challenging with a changing climate. With higher temperatures early in the season, the vine’s growing cycle has shifted, so budbreak is earlier. As a result, when the spring frosts strike—as they have always done, to a greater or lesser extent—the vine is far more advanced than it would have been in years past and the losses more consequent. The annual fight against frost is a major concern. When frost is forecast, candles are used in the vineyards at night, although some ecologically minded growers are increasingly reluctant to resort to this practice. Using water-spraying at night is an effective solution, but few can access the quantity of water required. Frost fans are often employed as well. The surest solution seems to be using heated electric wires positioned along the training wires in the canopy, but this requires substantial investment. Most growers are seeking adaptations to their working practices, principally by pruning later, pruning longer, pruning twice, or any combination of these. Such adaptations are expensive and time consuming but appear to mitigate losses, at least in part.
At the other end of the scale, heat and drought associated with climate change are problematic, especially in a region where irrigation is forbidden under AOC legislation. At temperatures much over 30 degrees Celsius, photosynthesis decreases, and eventually the vine shuts down and blocks maturation of the grapes. In 2022, early season drought and heat in May were followed by a heat wave and further drought in July, a situation that had never been seen before.
Sauvignon Blanc: The Loire Valley is the birthplace of Sauvignon Blanc and home to around one-third of France’s Sauvignon Blanc vineyard area. The grape’s home is in the eastern part of the Touraine region and further east in the Central Vineyards, an area that includes Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé and sits around 450 kilometers from the Atlantic coast.
Sauvignon Blanc was first mentioned in 1534 by François Rabelais in Gargantua and Pantagruel, where he referred to the grape as Fiers. It wasn’t until almost 200 years later that Sauvignon Blanc’s existence in Bordeaux, the country’s other main Sauvignon Blanc–producing area, was recorded. Around that time, in 1783, Sauvignon Blanc was also mentioned in Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, but it didn’t become the grape of choice until after phylloxera.
Sauvignon Blanc is a fertile variety that can produce large quantities of fruit as well as large canopies. As a result, low vigor soils or low vigor rootstocks, or both, are recommended. Most Sauvignon Blanc growers in the Loire battle powdery mildew each year, and this is becoming a greater issue with increasingly warm, humid weather. Sauvignon Blanc’s naturally small-berried, tightly packed bunches make it susceptible to botrytis, and wood diseases including Eutypa dieback and esca are also common challenges.
The Loire Valley typically yields more restrained examples of Sauvignon Blanc compared with those of New Zealand. The two regions show some similarities in terms of growing season temperatures and annual rainfall. But the sunlight is more intense and there are more sunshine hours in New Zealand compared with the Loire. Henri Bourgeois has properties in both Marlborough and Sancerre and has found that the intensity of light in New Zealand means that extra leaf protection is crucial. The greater sunlight and higher ultraviolet light exposure may play a part in the exuberance of Sauvignon Blanc in New Zealand, while in the Loire the aromas are less overt and less tropical, often including gooseberry, elderflower, nettle, and citrus flavors. In warmer seasons, however, such as 2018, 2019, and 2020, ripeness levels were unprecedented, with ripe orchard fruit, lower acids, and high alcohol commonly found in the wines.
The classic Loire Sauvignon Blanc style is dry, unoaked, and fresh. Grapes are often machine harvested and fermented relatively cool in stainless steel tanks to preserve aromatic freshness. Malolactic fermentation is typically blocked, and a short period on lees ensues before bottling. But there are many prestige and single-vineyard cuvées that are hand-picked, whole-bunch pressed, and fermented wild in barrel (typically used barrels of varying sizes). Experimentation has also increased, with a range of fermentation vessels and different techniques (such as brief skin contact, extended lees aging, and lees stirring) used.
10,094 hectares in 2020
There is a growing preference for drier styles of still Chenin Blanc. Because of climate change, producers can make wines with riper phenolics and lower acidity levels that don’t need residual sugar as a counterpoint. But there is a concern that consumer demand for dry styles is prompting producers to make dry wines even when they would be better balanced with residual sugar. The preference for drier styles is also affecting the demi-sec category, with residual sugar levels edging lower, while the sec tendre category offers an option between sec and demi-sec.
In the historic and prestigious sweet wine appellations of the Loire, several producers have shifted from producing sweet wines because of financial pressure and are now making dry wines in the appellation of Quarts de Chaume. These wines cannot be labeled with the appellation name, however, as it is a designation for sweet wine only; instead they must be labeled as Anjou AOC Blanc or Vin de France.
Chenin Blanc: The Loire Valley produces 93% of France’s Chenin Blanc. The grape plays a key role in Anjou-Saumur, where its best-known incarnation is in the small but significant appellation of Savennières, and in the eastern slice of the Touraine region, where the Vouvray and Montlouis-sur-Loire appellations champion this versatile variety.
It seems that Chenin Blanc is a Loire native, tracing its roots back at least 1,000 years, when it was referred to as Plant d’Anjou. In the early 16th century, an abbot and his finance minister brother-in-law, Thomas Bohier, undertook trials with different varieties from around France on the grounds of the Montchenin monastery, south of Tours. The grape now known as Chenin Blanc flourished, perhaps taking its name from the monastery—but there are various theories on the development of the name. There remain around 60 synonyms for Chenin Blanc, with Pineau d’Anjou and Pineau de la Loire the most common in the Loire Valley. The local historian Henri Galinié discovered that Plant d’Anjou and Pineau de la Loire were the most used names until the 1800s, although the peasant growers were commonly using Chenin in the fields. With the standardization of the modern French language followed by the development of the field of ampelography in the early 19th century, there was a need to remove the confusion between Pineau and Pinot. In an 1875 dictionary, Chenin Blanc appeared as a synonym for Pineau and eventually became the more common name.
Chenin Blanc is not easy to grow. It is an early budding variety, and milder winters are leading to an earlier budbreak. This, in combination with more frequent and harder frosts, puts the vine at risk in early spring. Late pruning and investment in frost protection have become common across the valley. Chenin Blanc is a vigorous variety, and growers who wish to produce quality wine must manage crop loads through removing unwanted shoots and crop thinning, which also help promote aeration in the battle against powdery mildew and bunch rot. While Chenin Blanc is a mid-ripener, traditionally maturing in early to mid-October, the harvests are coming earlier. Highly sensitive to botrytis, it is the variety behind the famed sweet wines of Quarts de Chaume and Bonnezeaux within the Coteaux du Layon.
Used for sparkling styles as well as dry, demi-sec, and fully botrytized wines, Chenin Blanc is one of the finest, most versatile grapes. Depending on the season or the demands of the market, producers may opt to make dry or sweet styles—or, in some cases, different sweetness levels from the same vineyard, undertaking multiple tries (passes), to obtain the ripeness they desire. Typically, a cooler season lends itself to sparkling and taut, dry styles. Riper seasons with dry autumns allow fully mature, dry expressions and sweeter styles to be produced.
9,540 hectares in 2020
Melon B: Melon B is inextricably associated with Muscadet and is planted almost exclusively in the Nantais region. It is often referred to as Melon de Bourgogne because it originated in Burgundy, although it was rejected by its homeland many years ago. The variety has been planted in the Nantais since the 1600s, but for centuries it lived in the shadow of Folle Blanche because of the latter’s prolific production destined for eau-de-vie. Melon B was always recognized as a superior variety for making wine, however, and it is now the dominant variety. It is well-suited to this cool region because it can withstand low winter temperatures.
The Melon B planted in the Nantais accounts for 99.9% of all the plantings of the variety in France. The great majority of this is planted in the Muscadet appellation, where it constitutes the largest concentration of a single variety anywhere in the Loire Valley. Basic wines made from Melon B are typically pale, light in alcohol, unoaked, neutral in flavor, and a good match for the local oysters. To give the wines more aroma and body (and often a slight spritz of carbon dioxide), the traditional practice of aging on lees until the spring following the harvest is widespread in the Muscadet region. Many producers are now taking this practice further, identifying the best sites and limiting yields to create a system of cru wines. With limited yields and extended lees aging, Melon B wines can become serious contenders for some of the best white wines from the Loire. A smaller amount of Melon B (around 18%) is blended with other varieties or made into still or sparkling wines under the Vin de France label.
8,327 hectares in 2020
Chardonnay: For a grape variety that is so ubiquitous, Chardonnay is a minor player in the Loire and rarely seen bottled as a varietal wine. Less important quantitatively and qualitatively than Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, or Melon B, it is more often used as blending material to soften the sometimes hard edges of the more acidic Melon B or Chenin Blanc, usually for more basic wines. It also has appeal in sparkling blends with Chenin Blanc. The only place where Chardonnay takes a lead role is in the whites of the Auvergne, which must be 100% Chardonnay. It is also found in blends in the wines of Saint-Pourçain. It is the sixth most planted grape variety in the Loire.
2,902 hectares in 2020