Haute Loire is an unofficial name for the wine-producing communes of the Loire Valley located upstream (South and east) from Touraine. It includes two of the Loire's most famous appellations - Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume - along with a number of lesser known appellations such as Orléans, Valencay, Quincy and Côtes du Forez. The concept of a "Haute Loire" sub-region is necessary because the appellations that make it up are not grouped by an administrative or historical region; their main commonality is their proximity to the Loire River. Most other French wine regions correspond closely to an administrative region or department (e.
g. Alsace, Burgundy, Champagne, Provence). There is indeed a department of the Loire, but it is hundreds of miles upstream from the heart of the Loire Vineyard. Ironically, it is home to two of the least known appellations in the Loire Valley: Côte Roannaise and Côtes du Forez.
Like nowhere else on the Loire, these two regions specialize in red and rosé wines made from Gamay. Their style of wine and their sandy, granitic soils mean that they have more in common with Beaujolais (just 50 km to the east) than with any other Loire appellation.
Grenache noir is a grape variety that originated in Spain. It produces a variety of grape specially used for the elaboration of wine. It is rare to find this grape to eat on our tables. This variety of grape is characterized by medium to large bunches, and grapes of medium size. Grenache noir can be found in many vineyards: South West, Cognac, Bordeaux, Provence & Corsica, Languedoc & Roussillon, Rhone Valley, Loire Valley, Savoie & Bugey, Beaujolais.
white wines from the region of Haute Loire go well with generally quite well with dishes of pork, shellfish or spicy food such as recipes of white cabbage with bacon, scallops with coconut cream or chicken with maroilles.
On the nose in the region of Haute Loire often reveals types of flavors of earth, jasmine or nectarine and sometimes also flavors of dried fruit, cigar or bell pepper. In the mouth in the region of Haute Loire is a with a nice freshness.
In the last board meeting of 2021 for the regulatory council of DO Terra Alta, in Catalunya, Spain, a long list of changes was approved. The most prominent was the making of a very strict certification system for wines that are 100% Garnatxa Blanca given that it’s their flagship grape variety. But perhaps the most interesting item is a bit further down the list that allows certification for a type of wines that in Catalan are called “vins brisats”. The name refers to white wine ...
After a two-year hiatus due to Covid, the UK Sommelier of the Year competition was back with a bang and saw Arnese bag the highly-respected title on Monday 18th July 2022. He pipped this year’s runner-up Agnieszka Swiecka (The Five Fields Restaurant) and 2019 runner-up Gareth Ferreira (Core by Clare Smyth) to the post. The competition is organised by The Caterer in partnership with the UK Sommelier Academy (UKSA) – a new non-profit organisation, officially launched yesterday – which provid ...
Of all the columns I’ve written this year, this one should have been the easiest to write: open my tasting notes file, sort by year 2021, sort by score, select the top ten highest scoring wines, copy and paste. Go to the pub. But it’s not that simple. Some wines are technically perfect and undeniably excellent, wines I respect greatly that deserve their high scores – but on a personal level, they leave me a little cold. Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for Matt Walls’ top ...
