This Touraine guide is our Fast Facts feature is designed to give you an introduction to the wine region and wines of this area in the Loire valley, France. Our Touraine guide includes: the essentials of terroir (the soil types, climate, average temperatures, rainfall, longitude and latitude, and altitude); the main grape varieties used for different wine varieties; the viticultural methods, age of vineyards and vine training systems; the winemaking techniques, wine styles and tasting notes; and the production area in size and number of producers.
Map: Touraine official tourism website
Where is it?
Touraine is the Loire sub-region between Anjou-Saumur and Central Loire and it marks the transition point between those sub-regions in terms of climate, terroir, grape varieties and wine styles. So to the west, it continues the Anjou-Saumur trend of white whites made with Chenin Blanc, as well as reds based primarily on Cabernet Franc, while to the east, it makes Sauvignon Blanc wines in the Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé style.
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The Essentials of Terroir
Climate & Landscape
Touraine is further from the sea than its westerly neighbour Anjou-Saumur and there are hills that protect it from the winds blowing in from the west, further reducing the maritime influence and making for a more continental climate.
Temperatures
Pleasant summers with maximum temperatures of 23°C to 25°C. Winters are cool with an average temperature of 2.2°C.
Rainfall
634mm per year, spread throughout the year but heaviest in autumn and winter.
Other Climate Notes
1800 hours of sunshine on average.
Soils
- In western Touraine, the subsoil is mainly chalky marl from the Paris Basin, and features “perruches” (argillosiliceous) and “aubuis” (argilocalcareous on chalk base) soil.
- To the east, the soil is sand over clay.
- The terraces on the banks of the Loire River are sand and gravel.
Longitude
0.68˚E
Latitude
47.4˚N
Viticulture Facts & Vineyard Management
As with the rest of the Loire, this is an area of many small vineyard holdings where management techniques can vary. Many small producers adhere to biodynamic and/or organic techniques. Bernard Baudry is one example, an organic producer of Cabernet Franc in Chinon and the source of the photo below and the snowy vineyard scene above.
Maximum yields
These vary, for instance:
- Chinon rouge has a maximum yield of 55hl/ha
- Whites from Montlouis-sur-Loire have a maximum yield of 52hl/ha
- Touraine reds and rosés 60 hl/ha
- Touraine whites and sparkling wines 65 hl/ha
Vine Training systems
Some vines are trained in the gobelet style but Guyot is the most common training system.
Touraine guide: Grape Varieties
White varieties in Touraine
Chenin Blanc (also known as Pineau de La Loire). One of the world’s most versatile varieties of wine grape, Chenin Blanc is prized for its high acidity, which brings freshness to any wine, even from hot regions. It can be made into any style of white wine from dry to luscious and can be still or sparkling. It is also an obliging vine that will produce huge yields of grapes if that is what the grower wants and this is part of the reason why this variety is so under-appreciated. Overcrop and badly handle this grape and you get a boring wine. However, when the yields are controlled and the wine is skillfully made, this grape can be made into fantastic wines.
Chenin Blanc tends to have more body and texture than Sauvignon Blanc, plus similar levels of fresh acidity. When it is young, dry Chenin Blanc has aromas of green apples, greengages, angelica and it can have a mineral note. Some young dry Chenins can be a little austere. But they can age for decades and develop aromas and flavours of brioche, honey, acacia and quince. The grape can be left extra-long on the vine and harvested late or even partially raisined and the resulting wines will have some level of sweetness (which is balanced by that acidity). And, when the conditions are right – as can happen in some parts of Anjou – the grapes can become botrytised, making for even more complex aromas and flavours (think marzipan, peaches, molasses, quince and pineapple).
Sauvignon Blanc. One of the world’s favourite white varieties with zesty acidity, light body and either herbaceous or citrus aromas, depending on the level of ripeness when the grapes were picked. In the Loire, it tends to offer aromas and flavours of gooseberries, grassy or elderflower type notes and, these days, sometimes a riper peachy/pineapple note, but the fruity aromas will always be more subtle than a New World Sauvignon Blanc.
Menu Pineau. Very little of this variety is still planted. It produces a softer, more subtle wine than Chenin Blanc.
Chardonnay. Another very well-known and highly versatile variety but here it has a minor role in blends, offering a light, mineral and lean profile.
Sauvignon Gris. Pink-skinned and less aromatic than Sauvignon Blanc. Used in blends for Touraine Blanc.
Red varieties in Touraine
Grolleau. A black variety with high acidity and little else to recommend it.
Cabernet Franc is the parent of flashier offspring Cabernet Sauvignon. The Loire is one of the few areas that takes this variety seriously and it produces some beguiling and food-friendly wines from it. Cabernet Franc tends to be lighter in colour, tannins and body than Cabernet Sauvignon but makes up for this with delicious aromas of red fruits, like raspberries, a note of pencil shavings and fresh, elegant texture.
Gamay. In the Touraine, Gamay flourishes on flinty, silex soil, producing light, peppery wines.
Cabernet Sauvignon. The world’s most planted variety needs little introduction. In Touraine, however, it doesn’t have a starring role and is just added in small quantities to Cabernet Franc-based wines to give them a bit of extra oomph.
Pineau d’Aunis. A black variety with good fruitiness that brings a peppery note to blends.
Cot (Malbec). When it ripens fully, this variety makes seductive, velvety wines with black fruit flavours. However, it tends not to achieve full ripeness in the cool Loire.
Pinot Meunier, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir. Very small amounts are grown in Touraine-Noble Joué and blended to make rosé wine.
Touraine Guide: Wine Varieties & Winemaking Styles
White wines made from Chenin Blanc
As in Anjou-Saumur, Chenin Blanc is grown in a lot of Touraine and made into every possible style – still, sparkling, dry through to sweet wines. The most notable areas are Vouvray and Montlouis.
- Vouvray has very high production of Chenin Blanc and quality can vary a lot. For dry whites, up to 5% of the wine can be Menu Pineau grapes.
- Vouvray moelleux is a sweet wine, sometimes made from nobly rotten grapes.
- Montlouis, or Montlouis-sur-Loire is on the other side of the river from big brother Vouvray. Here Chenin Blanc is also made into wines with all degrees of sweetness and fizziness. Some still wine is bone dry and aged in oak.
- Touraine-Amboise’s white wines are usually dry to medium dry and made exclusively from Chenin Blanc.
- Touraine-Azay-le-Rideau, Touraine-Mesland and Chinon also make crisp dry whites from Chenin Blanc.
Sparkling wines
- Touraine Mousseux can be made from Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc (Pineau de la Loire), Pinot Noir, Grolleau Gris, Orbois, Grolleau, Cabernet-Franc or Pineau d’Aunis
- Vouvray Mousseux are weighty, flavoursome sparkling wines with the honeyed aromas of Chenin Blanc.
- Montlouis Mousseux, or Montlouis Pétillant Naturel both made from Chenin Blanc
White wines from Sauvignon Blanc
- White Touraine must be made substantially from Sauvignon Blanc and only Sauvignon Gris can be added (up to a maximum of 20%). The best White Touraine wines can provide a less expensive alternative to Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé.
- Touraine–Chenonceaux and Touraine–Oisly also produce Sauvignon Blanc wines.
Red and rosé wines from Cabernet Franc
- Bourgueil, Chinon and St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil produce some of the most prestigious reds from the Loire. These are medium-bodied reds made from at least 90% Cabernet Franc with up to 10% Cabernet Sauvignon.
- The Bourgeuil wines are generally regarded as the finest, with a more powerful aroma (raspberries, pencil shavings) and slightly more noticeable tannins than some Chinon wines, as well as longer ageing potential.
- Bourgueil also makes a small amount of dry rosé.
- Chinon wines can either resemble Bourgueil, having more body and being intended for longer ageing or they can be lighter and earlier-maturing, in the style of St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil.
Red and rosé wines from Gamay
- Touraine-Mesland produces reds and rosés from Gamay with some Cot (Malbec) and Cabernet Franc.
- Touraine-Amboise produces mainly rosé wines from Gamay, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cot (Malbec).
Red and rosé blends
- Touraine Rouge should be based on Cot (Malbec) and Cabernet Franc, with the latter being more common in the westernmost part of Touraine – the heartland of Cabernet Franc. Gamay is also allowed in the Touraine appellation, especially for primeur wines.
- Touraine–Chenonceaux reds are made from Cabernet Franc and Cot.
- Touraine Rosés are blends made with any of the dark-skinned grapes from the region.
Rosé wines from other grapes
- Touraine-Azay-le-Rideau produces light rosés mainly from Grolleau.
- Touraine-Noble Joué makes rosés from at least 40% Pinot Meunier with Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir.
Traditional Wine Pairing
- Cabernet Franc reds are flexible and pair well with white meats, braised beef and mushroom-based dishes
- Rosés and whites based on Chenin Blanc are excellent companions for charcuterie, grilled fish, crab cakes and quiche.
- Sparkling wine with goat’s cheese tartlets, fresh oysters or clams, sashimi
Production Area
10,500 ha
Number of Producers
- Producers: 1,400
- Cooperative wineries: 12
- Négociants (merchants): 150
Annual Production (2016)
460,000hl
Appellations
- Bourgueil
- Chinon
- Crémant de Loire (Touraine)
- Montlouis-sur-Loire
- St Nicolas de Bourgueil
- Touraine
- Touraine Cot
- Touraine Amboise
- Touraine Azay-le Rideau
- Touraine Mesland
- Touraine Mousseux
- Touraine Noble Joué
- Vouvray
Interesting Facts
Chinon is not just home to excellent red wines; it is also the location of the Royal Fortress of Chinon, an imposing building on a strategically-located outcrop of rock which has played an important – and at times bloody – role in French history. It was home to King Henry II of England, who was also Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou by virtue of marrying Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152. During his reign, King Henry had a significant influence on the growth of viticulture in the Loire and served wines from the region at Court.
The Royal Fortress was also used to imprison members of the Templar Order in 1308 before they were burned at the stake in Paris. And it was here that Joan of Arc met with King Charles VII in 1429. She claimed to hear heavenly voices that said Charles would grant her an army to relieve the siege of Orléans. Some months later, Charles granted her supplies and sent her to join the army at Orléans and the rest, as they say, is history…
Sources of information
Loire Valley Wines (source of the statistics used in this post)
Loire Valley Wine (US site)
Clarke, O. & Rand, M. Grapes and Wines. 2015 edition. London: Pavilion.
Robinson, J., 2015. The Oxford Companion to Wine. 4th Ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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