Depth and Delicacy from the Loire

Appears in

Published 1988

About

The Loire river winds its way from the mountains of southern Auvergne, in the Ardèche, a stone’s throw from Provence and the Rhône valley, up through the western part of the province of Burgundy and across the north-western half of France to its mouth at Nantes and the southern border of Brittany. It encompasses several regions and dozens of wines.

At the heart of France, halfway between the source and the mouth of the Loire, before it veers to the west, Sancerre and Pouilly Blanc Fumé (from Pouilly-sur-Loire, unrelated to Burgundy’s Pouilly-Fuissé) are made from the Sauvignon grape, known in the region as blanc fumé because of the slightly smoky taste of the wines (Sancerre also makes a small amount of red from Pinot noir and the village of Pouilly-sur-Loire lends its name to a slight, thirst-quenching white made from the Chasselas grape). Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé are best drunk young in the full exultation of their fresh Sauvignon fruit.