Vouvray, the most important individual white wine appellation in the touraine district of the Loire. The wines of Vouvray vary enormously in quality, thereby offering a true representation of the grape variety from which Vouvray is exclusively made. Vouvray is chenin blanc and, to a certain extent, Chenin Blanc is Vouvray (although up to 5% menu pineau grapes are theoretically allowed into Vouvray too). No other wine made only from this long-lived middle Loire grape, often called Pineau de la Loire, is made in such quantity, from more than 2,000 ha/5,000 acres of vineyard. (The proportion of sparkling wine produced increased during the 1990s.) Only Coteaux du layon can begin to rival Vouvray for the total area of Chenin Blanc planted.
