Wine with Leslie: Wines from the Loire - including a cut-price Rosé
A view over the Loire river in Nantes, France. Pic: Franck Tomps/LVAN.
Let’s start with a challenge — which wine region is the most diverse? There's just one region I can think of that offers quality sparkling wine, rosé, dry whites, demi-sec and sweet whites as well as complex reds. The region is also the closest quality wine region to Ireland, and is of course the Loire.
I visited for a week in April thanks to InterLoire (Vinsvaldeloire.fr) which promotes the region and covers a huge area from Muscadet south of Nantes to Anjou and Saumur to the east, to Touraine and Vouvray near Tours, and south to Haut-Poitou near Poitiers. And that’s just a few of the Loire's 31 appellations which grow 24 different grape varieties.
This week I am focusing on Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc and will cover Muscadet and the reds and sparklers another time. Sauvignon is Ireland’s most popular grape and it probably originates in the Loire (Bordeaux also makes a claim), so this week I recommend a couple of inexpensive Loire Sauvignons from Touraine and Haut-Poitou.
This is Rosé season so I’ve included a dry rosé made from Cabernet Franc and Gamay, the two red grapes you will most often encounter in the region. If you like richer sweeter rosé watch out for Rosé d’Anjou which works well with strawberries.
For me, the most exciting grape of the Loire is Chenin Blanc which is responsible for the long-lived and brilliantly complex dry and sweet wines of Vouvray and for the whites of Anjou and Saumur and the dry wines of Savennières.
Chenin is a late ripener and has a brilliant balance between sweet fruit and acidity meaning its wines can age for decades. I have sweet Bonnezeaux, Coteaux du Layon and Vouvray in my cellar dating to the 1990s and I’m not in a hurry to drink them. I recently tasted a sweet Dom. Baumard Quarts de Chaume from 1967 that held its own with dried apple complexity and I’ve tasted layered complex 20 year old dry Savennières.
Suggestions this week are mainly whites, I’ll cover the crunchy red fruit delights of Loire reds from meaty Chinon to supple elegant Bourgeuil and Anjou villages soon.
I’ve mentioned this producer before but not this Rosé which is reduced from €15 for the next few weeks. A blend of typical Touraine red grapes - Cabernet Franc and Gamay - this has red fruit aromas particularly cranberry and soft fruits, focused and juicy on the palate with citrus zing and balancing acidity and freshness.
From one of the many good co-ops in the Loire Valley this is what you need in a summer Sauvignon. Lime and lemon aromas mixed with apple and a touch of gooseberry, lively and crisp on the palate, taut on the finish and with a pleasing lightness of touch.
The Haut-Poitou is north of Poitiers (south of Tours), and you will find a number of supremely quaffable Poitou sauvignons in various independents (e.g. O’Donovans, O’Driscolls, Whelehans). This might be my favourite - citrus, gooseberry and apple fruits, zingy and fresh with tropical touches and lingering lemon zest.
Domaine Huet are benchmark Vouvray producers - I’m recommending the Sec today do take a risk on the demi-sec sometime, it’s creamy pear richness is the perfect wine for cheese. This also has pears and orange zest aromas, layered, mineral and complex, bone-dry, yet somehow also honeyed and textured. Delicious.
This estate has been making wines since at least the 16th Century and has been organic since 2008. Surely one of the best value Savennières in the country. Stony citrus aromas with a touch of honeysuckle, bright dry and lively with a honeyed citrus tang on the finish. Perfect seafood wine.
I’ve long been a fan of Baumard and visited the estate more than once. This has layered aromas of lime, pears and river stones - lively white and green fruits on the palate, beautifully pure and delicate, taut and clean, mineral and fresh. Enjoy its taut complexity now or cellar it for a decade.
Keeper’s Heart launched in late March this year - a new idea, blending Irish and American styles of Whiskey. Based in Minneapolis, but crucially the juice was created by Cork Man Brian Nation, formerly Master Distiller in Midleton.
The Irish & Bourbon blend has classic honey and vanilla aromas, sweet spicy toffee on the palate and a lingering golden syrup finish with the bourbon slightly dominating the Irish.
I slightly preferred the Irish & American (pictured) which is a blend of American Rye with Irish Whiskey - floral grassy aromas mixed with spice and caramel, ginger and lemon on the palate with demerara sugar, and black pepper and spice on the finish.
