The land

The Loire is the longest river in France and the wine region named for it covers a 600-mile arc from central France out to the Atlantic coast. The region is geologically diverse: Kimmeridgian limestone in the east (Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé — geologically continuous with Chablis), tuffeau limestone in the middle (Touraine, Saumur, Vouvray), schist and gneiss in Anjou, and granite-and-gneiss at the river’s mouth (Muscadet). The Loire is one of the coolest fine-wine regions in France and produces some of the country’s most distinctive whites.

The sub-regions

Upper Loire (Centre-Val de Loire): Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé (the Sauvignon Blanc references), Menetou-Salon, Quincy, Reuilly. Touraine: Vouvray, Montlouis, Chinon, Bourgueil, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil — the great Chenin and Cabernet Franc zones. Anjou-Saumur: Savennières (dry Chenin), Coteaux du Layon, Bonnezeaux, Quarts de Chaume (sweet Chenin), Saumur-Champigny (Cab Franc), Crémant de Loire. Pays Nantais: Muscadet (around Nantes, near the Atlantic coast).

Style of the wines

Whites dominate: Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé show high-acid Sauvignon Blanc with a flinty mineral edge. Vouvray and Montlouis show Chenin Blanc at every sweetness level from bone-dry to deeply sweet. Savennières is austere dry Chenin from a single hill in Anjou. Muscadet is low-alcohol, saline, oyster-loving white from Melon de Bourgogne. Reds: Chinon, Bourgueil, and Saumur-Champigny make serious Cabernet Franc; Sancerre rouge makes lighter Pinot Noir.

Vintages to know

2022 — concentrated. 2020 — outstanding. 2019 — superb. 2018 — generous. 2017 — fine for whites, frost-damaged in many red zones. 2015 — exceptional for sweet Chenin.

Producers we know

Domaine Huet (Vouvray), François Chidaine (Montlouis-Vouvray), Coulée de Serrant (Savennières), Charles Joguet, Bernard Baudry, Olga Raffault (Chinon), Clos Rougeard (Saumur-Champigny), Didier Dagueneau (Pouilly-Fumé — the late master and his heirs at Silex and Pur Sang), Domaine Vacheron (Sancerre), Henri Bourgeois (Sancerre), Domaine de la Pépière, Domaine Luneau-Papin (Muscadet).