The Centre-Loire sub-region is located in the Loire Valley region, southeast of the Paris Basin. Its surface area is difficult to determine and the vineyards are made up of plots that vary in Size and are isolated, but also of plots of several hundred hectares. On a limestone base, the Centre-Loire has at least four types of soil: the terres blanches, Deep brown calcareous soils, which give the wines firmness, vivacity and fullness; the caillotes, Hard limestone soils, which give the wines pleasure, tenderness in their youth and a characteristic fruitiness; the grillotes, of friable limestone from which the wines take notes of candied fruits and honey; and the chailloux, siliceous with fine and coarse elements (clays, silts and sands, gravels, and pebbles), giving the wines firmness, persistent aromas, a Spicy nuance and a note of gunflint The caillotes and grillottes are shallow, stony soils, which Warm up quickly in the spring and have good rainwater Runoff, resulting in early ripening of the grapes for the production of fine, Soft, fruity wines. The semi-continental climate with microclimatic variations is ideal for the Sauvignon grape variety which gives white wines a rare harmony and perfection, and also ideal for the Pinot Noir which produces little known but no less surprising red wines.
The Centre-Loire region has nine appellations but is particularly well known for its AOC Sancerre, Quincy, Reuilly and Menetou-Salon. These appellations include those from the Auvergne vineyards (Saint-Pourçain, Côte-Roannaise and Côtes-du-Forez).
Cabernet Franc is one of the oldest red grape varieties in Bordeaux. The Libourne region is its terroir where it develops best. The terroirs of Saint-Emilion and Fronsac allow it to mature and develop its best range of aromas. It is also the majority in many blends. The very famous Château Cheval Blanc, for example, uses 60% Cabernet Franc. The wines produced with Cabernet Franc are medium in colour with fine tannins and subtle aromas of small red fruits and spices. When blended with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, it brings complexity and a bouquet of aromas to the wine. It produces fruity wines that can be drunk quite quickly, but whose great vintages can be kept for a long time. It is an earlier grape variety than Cabernet Sauvignon, which means that it is planted as far north as the Loire Valley. In Anjou, it is also used to make sweet rosé wines. Cabernet Franc is now used in some twenty countries in Europe and throughout the world.
red wines from the region of Centre Loire go well with generally quite well with dishes of beef, pork or game (deer, venison) such as recipes of sloth pork loin, spaghetti squash with cream and bacon or duck breast with peaches and spices.
On the nose in the region of Centre Loire often reveals types of flavors of cherry, mint or cream and sometimes also flavors of dark chocolate, red currant or anise. In the mouth in the region of Centre Loire is a with a nice freshness.
It is always reassuring to find flourishing examples of family continuity in French wine estates. At the famous Domaine Zind-Humbrecht in Alsace, Pierre-Emile Humbrecht is the latest to join the family business. In preparation, he studied at the Changins School of Viticulture and Enology in Switzerland and then completed internships at wine estates, beginning with Thérèse Chappaz in that same country for 18 months, followed by a six-month period at Domaine Tissot in the Jura and then nearly eigh ...
Despite the lowest number of barrels going under the hammer in 15 years, the 2021 Hospices de Beaune charity auction broke per-barrel price records, reaching an impressive total sales figure of €12.5m (£10.48m/$14.09m), excluding buyer premiums. The total was not too far behind last year’s high tally – close to €13.44 million – where almost double the number of barrels were sold. This year’s sale, with 362 lots, including seven barrels of spirits, reached an average price per lot of €34,980 (£29 ...
Château Batailley 2021 was released en primeur this week at around €26.5 per bottle ex-Bordeaux, level with the debut price of the 2020-vintage release. Batailley 2021 was being offered by international merchants at £330 per 12 bottles in bond, said Liv-ex, which described it as ‘one of the best value [Batailley] wines on the market today’. Some analysts and merchants suggested the Pauillac estate had set a relatively positive tone for the Bordeaux en primeur campaign over the next f ...
