Loire Valley Flashcards
What is the principle grape used for rosé production in the Middle Loire?
Grolleau
What style of wine is made in the Cabernet d’Anjou AOC?
Off-dry to sweet rosé made from both Cabernets
What two grapes dominate the Middle Loire?
Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc
The Gros Plant grape is also known as:
Folle Blanche
What is the principal white grape of the Centre Loire?
Sauvignon Blanc
What grape variety is used in the Cour-Cheverny AOC?
Romorantin
What is the primary red grape of Touraine?
Cabernet Franc
What three AOCs in the Centre Loire make white wine only?
Pouilly Fumé, Pouilly-Sur-Loire, Quincy
What Loire winegrowing region is known for Kimmeridgean limestone?
The Centre Loire
What style of wine is made in the Anjou Coteaux de la Loire AOC?
Sweet, botrytized dessert wine
What are the three crus of the Muscadet Sèvre et Maine AOC?
Clisson, Gorges and Le Pallet
What are the primary grapes of the Sancerre AOC?
Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir
What three white grapes are grown in the Lower Loire?
Muscadet (Melon de Bourgogne), Folle Blanche (Gros Plant), Pinot Gris
What style of wine is Anjou Coteaux de Saumur AOC?
Sweet, botrytized dessert wines
What style of wine is made in the Chaume and Quarts de Chaume AOCs?
Sweet, botrytized dessert wines
What is the primary white grape of the Centre Loire?
Sauvignon Blanc
What is “passerillage”?
The technique of allowing grapes to wither and dry on the vine
What soil type gives wine a unique gunflint/smoky finish?
Silex (flint)
What is a Loire synonym for Cabernet Franc?
Breton
What are the three distinct soil types of the Centre Loire?
Terres blanches, caillottes, silex
What is “tuffeau”?
A porous chalk/limestone soil found in parts of the Middle Loire
What style of wine is made in the Savennières AOC?
Dry, age-worthy whites from Chenin Blanc
What is the difference between Cabernet d’Anjou AOC and Cabernet de Saumur AOC?
Cabernet d’Anjou is sweeter. It must contain a minimum of 1% sugar, while Cabernet de Saumur can contain no more than 1% sugar.
What style of wine is made in the Vouvray AOC?
Dry, off-dry and sweet whites from Chenin Blanc
Which sweet wine-producing sub-region lies within the Anjou zone of production?
Layon
What style of wine is made in the Rosé d’Anjou AOC?
Off-dry rosé made primarily from Grolleau
What Loire wine is frequently aged sur lie?
Muscadet
What grape is used to make sweet wine in the Middle Loire?
Chenin Blanc
Where is Vouvray located?
Touraine (Middle Loire)
What style of wine is made in the Rosé de Loire AOC?
Dry rosé made anywhere in the Middle Loire
How long must Loire crémant spend aging on its lees?
12 months (versus 9 months in most other French regions)
What style of wine is made in the Coteaux du Layon AOC?
Sweet, botrytized dessert wine
What Loire sub-region has a wholly continental climate?
The Centre and Upper Loire
What are the primary grapes of the Chinon AOC?
Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc
Which Middle Loire AOC is a monopole?
Savennières Coulée de Serrant
What defines the term “fines bulles”?
It translates as “fine bubbles” and is a general term for sparkling Loire wines
What defines “Mousseux”?
The term means frothy or bubbly. These are méthode traditionelle wines with at least 3 atms of pressure
What defines “caillottes”?
Little limestone pebbles; one of the three soil types of the Centre Loire
What is Touraine Primeur?
A wine made from Gamay using semi-carbonic maceration
What is Touraine Noble Joué?
A vin gris made primarily from Pinot Meunier
In which Loire sub-region is the Pays Nantais located?
Lower Loire
The Pineau de la Loire grape is more commonly known as:
Chenin Blanc
Other than the Loire River, what are the two other primary rivers of the Lower Loire?
Le Sèvre Nantaise and La Petite Maine
What style of wine is made in the Bonnezeaux AOC?
Sweet, botrytized dessert wines
For what style of wine is Saumur best known?
Sparkling
What defines “Pétillant”?
The term means “fizzy.” These are méthode traditionelle wines with 1-2.5 atms of pressure
What two Centre Loire AOCs are located on the Cher River?
Quincy and Reuilly
What Centre Loire AOC produces wines from Chasselas?
Pouilly-Sur-Loire
What defines “terres blanches”?
A marl that is rich in oyster fossils, one of the three soil types in the Centre Loire
The term “silex” refers to:
Flint soils found in the centre Loire
What are the primary red grapes of the Upper Loire?
Pinot Noir and Gamay
What area of the Loire has volcanic soils?
The Lower Loire: gneiss dominates the top soils, igneous rocks the sub-soils
The Muscadet grape is also known as:
Melon de Bourgogne
What category of Loire sparking wine does not have an aging requirement?
Pétillant
What style of wine is produced in Layon?
Sweet wines affected by noble rot
What is the principle grape used for rosé production in the Middle Loire?
Grolleau
What style of wine is made in the Cabernet d’Anjou AOC?
Off-dry to sweet rosé made from both Cabernets
What makes the Loire unique?
- It covers a huge chunk of earth through the heart of france (some 620 from the centre of France to the Bay of Biscay)
- 4 distinct wine regions with different climates and grape varieties
- Lower Loire, Muscadette= Melon de Bourgogne
- Chenin, dry, sparkling, sweet or botrytised wines
The Loire River and the Loire wine region have both……
Played huge roles in shaping what became of France
During the Roman occupation of the Loire why did viticulture take off?
The river was a crossroad of France and the due to the wide nature of climates different varieties could flourish
During the Middle Ages what did the Loire act as?
It was a bridge between the Latin South and the Celtic/ Germanic North. The Loire eventually helped to bring these areas both together in language and culture.
After the English were driven out of France in the 15th Century what started to pop up through the Loire Valley?
Luxurious castles were built in the 14th, 15th and 16th Centuries
Due to the influence of Dutch merchants what became popular in Loire valley?
Brandewein or French Brandy
The railway expansion of the 1800s helped and disadvantaged the Loire, why?
It meant that there wines could be transported all over the country, but so could other areas. This meant that Loire wines had to compete more.
The Loire was one of the last areas to be struck by Phylloxera and was also….
One of the last to be revived
AOC History of Loire?
- 1935 was introduced
- Quincy, Anjou, Muscadet, Sancerre and Vouvray= 1936
- Today, approx. 70 different AOCs in the Loire encompassing 125,000 acres/ 50,000 ha of vineyard land
Introduction- Loire Valley
- 620 miles/ 1000 km from its headwaters in Central France to its delta in Nantes
- Loire is: North: Of Cognac South: Of Normandy West: Of Bourgogne and Massif Central East: Of the Atlantic Ocean
What is a huge factor in helping to warm the vineyards of the Loire?
The River Effect
What helps form cooling breezes in the Loire Valley?
The Gulf Stream, which funnels coastal breezes from the coast all the way up to Orleans
What are the four regions of the Loire and their climates?
Pays Nantais/ Lower Loire: Maritime Climate
Anjou, Saumur and Touraine/ Middle Loire: Maritime with Continental Influences
Centre and Upper Loire: Continental Climate
Lower Loire?
- Westernmost Loire sub region
- Located near the city of Nantes
- Is is known as the Pays Nantais
Middle Loire?
- Vineyards surrounding the cities of Angers and Tours
- Anjou and Tourraine are the names of the wine producing areas surrounding these two cities
Centre Loire?
- Produces probably the most famous of the Loire’s wines Sancerre and Pouilly Fume
Upper Loire?
- Produces some of the rarest and most obscure bottlings
- Rarely seen outside their zone of production
Manual Harvesting in the Loire is required……
for late harvest wines and for cremant. All other occasions are okay for machine
Many wineries in the Loire practice organic or bio dynamic practices. Why is this unique?
Because the Loire is a cooler region with a lot more humidity and rain
Loire- Dry Whites
- All about structural balance and retaining acidity
- In most wineries it is about a low tech approach
- Chaptalisation is allowed under AOC laws, but only in certain years and under certain conditions
Sweet Wines: Vin Liquoreux- Loire
- Chenin Blanc for all dessert wines
- Grapes must be either infected with botrytis cinerea or dried and concentrated by passerillage
- Must is slowly fermented at low temperatures. Finishes naturally with RS
- Very little new oak