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.
Romorantin is a white grape variety named after the town in the Loir-et-Cher region where it originated. It was François 1er who planted the first Romorantin vines here in 1519, and it has gradually been replaced by Sauvignon, considered more aromatic, and is only planted in the Loir-et-Cher region, where it is the source of the Cour-Cheverny AOC. Its bunches of small white berries, which turn pink when ripe, are resistant to grey rot. Cour-Cheverny wines are fruity white wines with aromas of white flowers, citrus fruit and honey. Their lively, full-bodied character means they can be enjoyed after a few years' storage.
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 pork colombo, shrimp, coconut and ginger soup or roast doe in the oven.
On the nose in the region of Haute Loire often reveals types of flavors of pineapple, strawberries or hay and sometimes also flavors of nectarine, slate or saline. In the mouth in the region of Haute Loire is a with a nice freshness.
On 16 November 2021, the Denomination of Origin Penedès in Catalunya (DO Penedès) announced an extensive roadmap up to 2030, taking into account sustainability and establishing the region as a high-quality wine producer in Spain. Most immediately, all grapes for DO Penedès wines must be from fully-certified organic vineyards by 2025. While it’s an aggressive timeline, DO Penedès president Joan Huguet told Decanter, ‘Currently around 60% of the vineyards are already certified and our ...
The 11 producers within the group saw total sales reach 2.3 million bottles for 2021 which erased the general 23% contraction in sales during 2020 and surpassed 2019’s 2.2 million bottles sold. What’s more, the per bottle price rose 2% from 2020 to an average of 17.35€. This is an important distinction in a country where sparkling wines are regularly found in supermarkets for 2€ a bottle or even less. The Corpinnat producers admit that this rise in price will unfortunately be offset ...
Sealwood Cottage Farm in Derbyshire, central England, has been put up for sale with a guide price of £1.4m ($1.66m). A five-bedroom, Grade II-listed cottage is the focal point for the 8.68-hectare (21.44 acres) estate, but it also features a vineyard of around 1.6ha established by the current owners, John and Elisabeth Goodall. Listing agent Fisher German said the Swadlincote-based estate’s guide price doesn’t include ‘any apportionment of the [wine] business’, but the owners would be ‘open to s ...
