Loire Valley- Sparkling

Question 1

Loire Valley (Sparkling)- Location

Answer 1

Largely centred around Samur and Eastern Touraine, The Cremant de Loire appellation covers Anjou, Saumur and Touraine.

Question 2

Loire Valley (Sparkling)- Climate

Answer 2

Maritime in Saumur to semi continental in Touraine.

Question 3

Loire Valley (Sparkling)- Soils

Answer 3

Mainly clay/ limestone. Some granite, schist and slate.

Question 4

Loire Valley (Sparkling)- Vineyard

Answer 4

The most favourable sites are reserved for still wines
- Saumur: mechanical harvesting permitted.
- Vouvray: mechanical harvesting permitted.
- Cremant de Loire: hand- harvesting only.
Minimum alcohol permitted is 9% abv.

Question 5

Loire Valley (Sparkling)- Grape Varieties:

Answer 5

Saumur:
Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pineau d’ Aunis, Sauvignon Blanc, Grolleau Gris, Gamay, Pinot Noir
White: minimum 60% Chenin Blanc
Rose: minimum 60% Cabernet Franc

Vouvray:
Chenin Blanc

Cremant de Loire:
Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pineau d’ Aunis, Grolleau Gris, Arbois, Pinot Noir
Pineau d’ Aunis and/ or Cabernet Sauvignon- maximum 30%

Question 6

Loire Valley (Sparkling)- Winery

Answer 6

All wines must be made by traditional method:
Saumur:
Maximum juice yield- 100L/ 130kg, 9 month on lees.

Vouvray:
Maximum juice yield- 100L/ 130kg, 9 months on lees.

Cremant de Loire:
Maximum juice yield- 100L/ 150kg, 12 months on lees (Vin de Loire specify a minimum of 12 months on lees is required for this appellation, however, the INAO specify that only 9 months are required)

Question 7

Loire Valley (Sparkling)- Styles

Answer 7

The most frequently seen styles are:
Saumur:
Brut and Rose

Vouvray
Brut and Petillant

Cremant de Loire
Brut, Rose, Non- does

Question 8

Loire Valley (Sparkling)- Important Trade Structures

Answer 8

The leading houses are now in mixed ownership with only Ackerman in local hands. There are also a number of smaller growers and co-ops making some sparkling wine as part of their product range.

Question 9

Montlouis

Answer 9

Overshadowed white wine appellation in the touraine district of the Loire that exists across the river from the much larger and more famous vouvray, although it has its own characteristics. As in Vouvray, the chenin blanc grape is grown exclusively for Montlouis, which is made in all degrees of sweetness and fizziness, according to each vintage’s peculiarities. An increasing proportion of still wine is bone dry and aged in oak. Although tuffeau also forms a base from which many a house and cellar is hewn, topsoils here on the south bank just downstream of Touraine-Amboise are lighter and sandier than in Vouvray, and the wines are less sharply defined, tending to mature considerably earlier (which can be a great advantage). About a third of the wine produced from Montlouis’s 400 ha/1,000 acres of Chenin Blanc is the usefully sturdy and characterful Montlouis Mousseux, or Montlouis Pétillant Naturel, the first aoc for a gently sparkling, fruity pétillant naturel wine made by the méthode ancestrale.