Ep. 967 Map 12 Loire | Jumbo Shrimp Maps

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This episode, we'll be looking at the Loire Valley. The Loire Valley is centered around the longest river in France. And whilst it's overall a cool climate, we really can't talk in broad strokes about the law because it changes as you get away from the Atlantic Ocean and the sea influence and further into the center France. Fortunately, that makes it much easier to study because instead of thinking of the law as one region, it's much better to break it down into four separate regions and really focus on the great varieties, the climates, and the influences in each individual region. No matter where you are, however, it is this river that plays a key part in what's going on, whether that's because you can use it for warmth, face your vineyards towards it to gain more reflection and more sunlight, or perhaps it's giving moisture and humidity All of these things are vital for the various Appalachian you'll find across the loire valley. We're at what used to be considered the northern limit of where grapes ripen here. Although, as I said, this is changing due to climate change, And there is a huge variation in weather patterns, not just the proximity to the coast is important, but also soil influence. Because there is this huge variation in what's going on because the loire is so large, There is actually no regional appylation here, so there is no lua appylation control a. It's much more focused on the individual areas. And we'll dive into that as we get to them. But first, Let's take a look at some of the great varieties you'll be expecting to find as we move through the Loire Valley. First up, let's talk about the white varieties as these do tend to dominate the planting. Remember, you can do this logical connection here between cool climate difficulty of ripening and really think that perhaps white varieties might be a little bit easier to grow here because you don't have the consideration of tannin ripeness. So we have sauvignon blanc. We've already seen this in some other appylations in France. Dry, high acidity, lots of green apple and wet stones here. Often not reaching ripeness that would allow it to produce the tropical flavors and aromas you might experience elsewhere in the world. The best wines from sauvignon blanc, we will find in Soncer and Puyfumet in the central valleys. Next up, we have Shenin blanc. This is a high acidity non aromatic grape variety, actually considered semi aromatic, and it ripens unevenly. So you can have some herbaceous aromas in the most unripe grapes. What's fantastic about Shen in Blanc is you have so many options for harvesting. It's similar to riesling in that it's profile changes as it goes through ripening. And you can leave it on the vine for extra ripening and for very sweet styles plus retrita styles You can have everything from Shannon from very dry, fresh light wines, too much fuller, to off dry, still sparkling sweet. It can do everything. It's also really suitable for aging, not only in dry and sweet wines, but also sparkling wines, giving aromas of toast and honey, and the acidity always giving that freshness. Finally, we have melon blanc, AKA, the grape of Muscadae, sometimes called Melanda bourgogne, ripens early and is frost resistant, so it suits this cool climate. Now it's mostly grown in this first Appalachian we're going to talk about the Nantes, this area closest to the Atlantic Ocean, traditionally fermented in very large oak. So no oak influence actually on the flavor, but that softening of the acidity through oxygen contact, we also see Lee's use here. So this resting on the leaves with Melon blanc to increase flavors and a little bit the structure of the wine. In terms of black, great varieties in the law, one of the key focuses is cabernet franc, flowers and ripens early and can be made in a range of styles according to soil and climate. Key thing here is being able to find sites where you can really ripen the tannins and also give enough fruit so the wines don't just taste a little bit insipid or green. Game is our number two grown black grape variety here, much in the terrain and jus area for fruity early drinking, often used with cabernet franc in Rosay blends. And finally, in the central vineyard, so the warmest areas, you often get some pinot noir, but it's very low volume light in style found particularly in the area of sunset. While we're talking about black, great varieties, let's pause a moment and think about rose styles in the loire. This is a little bit of a focus, especially for your WSTT level three, thinking about blends in rose styles and production method, So most of the rose in the loire is produced in, the rose de loire is a dry wine and must have a minimum thirty percent of carbonate franc, and you do find some carbonate sauvignon in the blend. What's interesting here is, obviously, the cabernet sauvignon quite difficult to ripen, so can add a real herbaceous character to the wines. Possibly, the most famous Rosay wine of Anjou Sumeir is cabernet Donjou. This is actually a medium sweet blend of cabernet, Frank, and cabernet, sovignon, tends to be higher quality than the Rosier de Loire. We also see Rosier, which is adding other great varieties into the blend and tends to be less sweet. There are also Rose wines made in Turen, mostly from a blend of black grape varieties often focused on carbonate, Frank, fresh, fruity, simple, good value for money, Rose, And then in Sancerre, we have Rosier wines that must be made from Peno noir. He's a very pale, light, dry wines with a strong strawberry cherry focused. Wine making techniques here are direct pressing or short maceration on the skins, and usually fermented in temperature controlled environments just focusing on that fruit flavor rather than energy influence from winemaking techniques such as oak. Now let's move through the different Appalachian of the law from west to east, thinking about the key influences in each area, and the great focus that you find here. Italian wine podcast, part of the mama jumbo shrimp family. First up, we have the Nantes. So this is the area in close proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. It's a cool maritime climate here. Have lots of issues with rain and wet risk of rot. Melon blanc is the key variety here, early ripening and frost resistant. We have couple of key styles of wine here. The first is muscadae, which is just simple light wines with green flavors, kind of a generic appellation wine here. However, we do have a appellation of muscadet, so this specific area. And in addition to this, you will often see on the label muscadet, so sir Lee. So these are wines that spend the winter on the leaves adding more texture, but not enough time on the leaves to add flavor, so they're still delicate and fresh. So heading slowly eastwards, through the La WAN Valley. Next up, we come to the area of Anjou Somma. We've already talked about this a little bit in connection to Rosay, but this is, by all means, not the only thing produced here. We have many appylations. It's protected from the sea and the cold by a mountain range. It has steep slopes with stony soils, which help heat up the vineyard keeping it warm overnight and extending the growing season. Because there's no sea influence, there's this protection here. It's very dry. There's less rot. The air circulation is good, making it perfect for sweet wines, and also for picking at different times in the vineyard. So hand selection. Really, it's all about hang time here and when you pick the grapes. So picking early for lighter bodied or sparkling wines, picking later for full bodied wines, and then picking very late for sweet wines. So thinking about a couple of our key appallations here, we have Sumer, which is famous for sparkling wines, often made from Shannon Blanc. We have Sevenir, full bodied, dry Shannon Blanc, because the airflow impedes rot here, and cotto de Leon, which are long lived sweet Shannon wines, lots of influence of its proximity to the river, so humidity, so suitable for noble rot. In fact, you have two smaller appylations here that are famous for some of the world's best sweet wines made from Shennip. It's worth noting that Soma and Soma Champignot are also well known for light fruity cabinet franc. Lots of floral notes here can often be served chilled because they're so delicate. Right next to, as we head east, is Now it's next to on, but it's totally different. It's not actually protected from the mountains. The mountain influence fades here, so it tends to be cooler and wetter. It also has clay soils which we've already encountered in the right bank of Bordeaux. It's the thing that makes it difficult to grow carbonate because it's a soil that's very dense, retains water, and it's cold for a long period. Vouvre is our key appylation here for Shenin Blanc, for both still and sparkling wines because it's a cooler climate here. There is lighter body in these wines, higher acidity, hence a lot of sparkling. Then we have some key appylations for red wines particularly made from cabernet franc. You begin to see a little bit more ripeness here. The real key here for cabernet franc production is facing the river south facing steep slopes and planting where there's a blend of limestone and clay, so helping the soil to keep warm. So we have Bogyle and Xinon, two key appallations for slightly richer so full of bodied, but still quite tannic, cabernet franc with some suitability for aging. Always here, they tend to have this combination of ripe strawberry and slightly green tomato leaf or black current leaf notes. There is an overall Afelacian of Touan, which is really well known for sauvignon blanc in simple, fruity, variety labeled style, trying to capitalize a little bit again on the new world popularity of sovignon from other areas such as New Zealand and Chile. And finally, towards the end of the valley, the easternmost part of the loire, we have ironically called the central vineyards, not actually in the center of the loire, but in the center of this northern area of France, hence the name. Here, the climate is still cool, but it's continental. We've lost all influence from the sea, so it's warmer and drier. Plantings tend to be on the best sites, the mid slopes facing the river. Serignon Blanc is an early ripening variety, which is great for continental climates with potentially shorter growing seasons, and the aromatics are kept thanks to the cool climate. We have three key appylations here for Servignon blanc, We'll start with Puyfume. So this is sauvignon blanc from a very small appelastion where the soils here give a subtle smoky character to the wines. Next up, we have Soncer, much larger appalachian, and really the the change here, you still have these dry, highly acidic citrus grassy characters, but instead of the smoke of Prefume, you tend to have a wet stone mineral flint character. It's worth noting that Sancerre is not just a white wine, Apolasion, you can also have Sancerre Rosay made from Pineau noir or Sancerre rouge made from Pineau noir. Finally, there's an area of Menatou salon, which is flatter and a little bit larger. And you get very moderately priced sauvignon blanc in similar styles to Soncer and Puyfume. For me really echoing the Sancerre style with this lovely flinty minerality. So less fruity than the Sancerre wines of the Touirene, Napelacian, more focused on this flint wet stone grass character. So that's it for the loire. Really best to think about it, not as one big area, but of four separate areas in each of which you have very specific things going on, really focusing on soils, on coastal influence, on river influence, on great variety, hang times, all of these things to consider when you are thinking about the great varieties that are planted and the styles of wines produced. Some questions I've seen come up about the loire do also focus on these Rosay wines and the blends, this use of sweetness to balance acidity and getting you to think about the different production styles of Rosay. So what differs between direct pressing and short maceration and what considerations there are for these depending on the great variety you are using. Thanks for listening to this episode of Italian wine podcast brought to you by Italian wine Academy, offering WSET levels one, two, and three in English. 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