GRAPE VARIETIES
The main grape is the Cabernet Franc also called "Breton". Touraine is the only region of France which produces wines from this only grape.
Cabernet Sauvignon is little spread and gives here common wines.
Côt or Malbec from Bordeaux area is introduced for a long time in Touraine.
Gamay which produces light and fruity wines.
Grolleau, which would be native of the region, could be convert into red wine, white and rosé, especially for sparkling wines. It produces nice wines without tannin and aggressive acidity.
Pineau d' Aunis is a rather aromatic grape.
We also find, in small quantities, the Pinot noir, the Pinot gris and the Pinot Meunier.
White wines
The Chenin Blanc also called Pineau de Loire, and Sauvignon.
The more usefull is Chenin, which showcases the versatility and longevity of this grape. Chenin can produce every type of white wine, from the dryest to the sweetest one, and also sparkling. It's native from the Loire Valley region.
Sauvignon produces dry and aromatic wines, with musky and blackcurrant bud flavours.
Chardonnay, from Burgundy area, which is mixed with other kind of white grapes from the Loire Valley; especially when it's used for Crémant de Loire and sparkling Saumur.
Malvoisie (local name for Pinot Gris) coming from Greece, is used for some wines from Ancenis.
We can also find some Chasselas and Romorantin grapes, this last grape is only used for wines from Cheverny area.
Sparkling wines
For sparkling wines, we will find the same grapes which are used for white and red wines :
Chenin Blanc for Vouvray & Montlouis, mixed with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon et Pineau d'Aunis for the Crémants de Loire.
We will obtain dry, round and tender wines.
THE HISTORY OF THE LOIRE VALLEY
Built between the 13th and 16th centuries, the many magnificent Châteaux of the Loire Valley served as fortresses, and later as luxurious palaces, for the kings of France. With royal patronage and easy access to the foreign markets of England and the Netherlands, the region, and particularly townd as such as Tours and Angers, grew rich on the profitable wine trade.
No one knows for sure how wine making first began in the Loire Valley, but it seems very likely that grapes vines were brought here from the areas now known as Bordeaux to the south and Burgundy to the east. The Romans occupied the area for the first four centuries AD, leaving their mark in the form of place names such as Pouilly-sur-Loire derived from the words Paulica villa or the villa of Paulus. Likewise, the red wine "appellation" of Saumur Champigny may take its name from the Latin campus ignis, or the fiery field, while the Porte César in Sancerre is named after the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar.
Evidence that the Romans brought their wine-making technology here exists in the form of excavated kilns (used for firing terracotta wine amphorae) dating from the first century.
By the 12th century, the red wine of Anjou was being shipped to England by the merchants of Angers, while large quantities of red and white wines were also exported from various parts of the region to the prosperous independent principality of Flanders. A vigorous Loire Valley wine trade continued until the middle of the 20th century, boosted by the region's proximity to Paris, as well as to the Atlantic coast and overseas markets.
(Source : "French wines" by Robert Joseph, Dorling Kindersley Editions).
