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Loire Valley
The Loire Valley is a key wine region in western France. It follows the course of the Loire river on its long journey through the heart of France, from the inland hills of Auvergne to the plains on the French Atlantic coast near Nantes (Muscadet country).
As the third-largest appellation in France (after Bordeaux and Burgundy), the Loire Valley is highly significant in terms of both quantity and quality wine production. The region generates vast quantities (around four hundred million liters each year) of everyday wines, as well as some of France's very finest and highest quality bottles.
Diversity is another of the region's key strengths. The wine styles made here range from the light, tart Muscadet and sweet, honeyed Bonnezeaux to the sparkling whites of Vouvray and juicy, tannic reds of Chinon and Saumur. It is quite telling that this brief sketch of the region's wines does not even make reference to the two most famous Loire Valley wines of all – Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé.
