The best wines of Haute Loire

Discover the best wines of Haute Loire of Loire Valley as well as the best winemakers of Haute Loire and estates of Haute Loire to visit. Explore the popular grape varieties of Haute Loire and the best vintages to taste in this region.

Top wines of Haute Loire by region

Looking for a good wine of Haute Loire of Loire Valley among the top wines in the region? Check out our tops of the best red, white or effervescent wines of Haute Loire. Also find some food and wine pairings that may be appropriate with these exceptional wines. Learn more about the region and the wines of Haute Loire with technical and enological descriptions.

Great red wines of Haute Loire

See the top 100 best red wines of Haute Loire

Want to buy a red wine of Haute Loire cheap or sell a red wine of Haute Loire at the best price on the market? Find out which ones are popular and which ones to keep in your cellar for a few more years.

Food and wine pairing with a red wine of Haute Loire

Red wines from the region of Haute Loire go well with generally quite well with dishes of veal, game (deer, venison) or poultry such as recipes of stuffed squid in the sétoise sauce, venison stew or bresse chicken with yellow wine and morels.

Organoleptic analysis of red wine of Haute Loire

On the nose the red wine of the region of Haute Loire. often reveals types of flavors of cherry, smoke or red fruit and sometimes also flavors of strawberries, raspberry or cheese. In the mouth the red wine of the region of Haute Loire. is a with a nice freshness.

The best vintages in red wine of Haute Loire

  • 2007With an average score of 4.40/5
  • 2009With an average score of 4.30/5
  • 2019With an average score of 4.10/5
  • 2023With an average score of 4.10/5
  • 2022With an average score of 4.10/5
  • 2021With an average score of 4.10/5

The most used grape varieties in red wine of Haute Loire

  • Pinot Noir
  • Cabernet Franc
  • Gamay

The best wineries and winemakers for red wine of Haute Loire

A wine route planned in the region of Haute Loire? Here are the wineries to visit and the winemakers to meet during your trip in search of the best red wine of Haute Loire.

Discovering the wine region of Haute Loire

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.

Great white wines of Haute Loire

See the top 100 best white wines of Haute Loire

Want to buy a white wine of Haute Loire cheap or sell a white wine of Haute Loire at the best price on the market? Find out which ones are popular and which ones to keep in your cellar for a few more years.

Food and wine pairing with a white wine of Haute Loire

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 light stuffed tomatoes, carri of shrimps with chillies or island grouper.

Organoleptic analysis of white wine of Haute Loire

On the nose the white wine of the region of Haute Loire. often reveals types of flavors of citrus, minerality or pear and sometimes also flavors of earth, tree fruit or citrus fruit. In the mouth the white wine of the region of Haute Loire. is a with a nice freshness.

The best vintages in white wine of Haute Loire

  • 2007With an average score of 4.30/5
  • 2020With an average score of 4.20/5
  • 2006With an average score of 4.20/5
  • 2022With an average score of 4.10/5
  • 2021With an average score of 4.10/5
  • 2010With an average score of 4.09/5

The most used grape varieties in white wine of Haute Loire

  • Sauvignon Blanc
  • Fumé Blanc
  • Cabernet Franc

The best wineries and winemakers for white wine of Haute Loire

A wine route planned in the region of Haute Loire? Here are the wineries to visit and the winemakers to meet during your trip in search of the best white wine of Haute Loire.

Discover the grape variety: Cabernet franc

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.

Great sparkling wines of Haute Loire

See the top 100 best sparkling wines of Haute Loire

Want to buy a sparkling wine of Haute Loire cheap or sell a sparkling wine of Haute Loire at the best price on the market? Find out which ones are popular and which ones to keep in your cellar for a few more years.

Food and wine pairing with a sparkling wine of Haute Loire

Sparkling wines from the region of Haute Loire go well with generally quite well with dishes of shellfish, poultry or appetizers and snacks such as recipes of quick crayfish chicken, chicken breast with cream and mushrooms or verrine of beetroot and lump roe.

The best vintages in sparkling wine of Haute Loire

  • 0With an average score of 3.30/5
  • 2008With an average score of 3.20/5

The most used grape varieties in sparkling wine of Haute Loire

  • Chardonnay
  • Pinot Noir
  • Chenin Blanc
  • Sauvignon Blanc
  • Pineau D'Aunis
  • Pinenc

The best wineries and winemakers for sparkling wine of Haute Loire

A wine route planned in the region of Haute Loire? Here are the wineries to visit and the winemakers to meet during your trip in search of the best sparkling wine of Haute Loire.

The word of the wine: Maturing (champagne)

After riddling, the bottles are stored on "point", upside down, with the neck of one bottle in the bottom of the other. The duration of this maturation is very important: in contact with the dead yeasts, the wine takes on subtle aromas and gains in roundness and fatness. A brut without year must remain at least 15 months in the cellar after bottling, a vintage 36 months.

Great pink wines of Haute Loire

See the top 100 best pink wines of Haute Loire

Want to buy a pink wine of Haute Loire cheap or sell a pink wine of Haute Loire at the best price on the market? Find out which ones are popular and which ones to keep in your cellar for a few more years.

Food and wine pairing with a pink wine of Haute Loire

Pink wines from the region of Haute Loire go well with generally quite well with dishes of veal, pork or game (deer, venison) such as recipes of veal with chestnut and pietra (corsican beer), texas style ribs / loin ribs or duck breast with peaches and spices.

Organoleptic analysis of pink wine of Haute Loire

On the nose the pink wine of the region of Haute Loire. often reveals types of flavors of cherry, grapefruit or citrus and sometimes also flavors of apples, peach or butter.

The best vintages in pink wine of Haute Loire

  • 2010With an average score of 4.19/5
  • 2011With an average score of 4.15/5
  • 2013With an average score of 4.12/5
  • 2016With an average score of 4.11/5
  • 2018With an average score of 4.10/5
  • 2012With an average score of 4.10/5

The most used grape varieties in pink wine of Haute Loire

  • Pinot Noir
  • Gamay
  • Pinot Gris
  • Chardonnay
  • Cabernet Franc

The best wineries and winemakers for pink wine of Haute Loire

A wine route planned in the region of Haute Loire? Here are the wineries to visit and the winemakers to meet during your trip in search of the best pink wine of Haute Loire.

Discover the grape variety: Pinot gris

Pinot Gris is a grey grape variety mutated from Pinot Noir. It has its origins in Burgundy, where it is called pinot-beurot in reference to the colour of the grey robes worn by the monks of the region. Established in Alsace since the 17th century, pinot gris was called tokay until 2007. It is made up of bunches of small berries that vary in colour from pink to blue-grey. It is particularly well suited to the continental climate because it is resistant to the cold in winter and to spring frosts. This variety also likes dry limestone soils with plenty of sunshine in the summer. Pinot Gris is well suited to late harvesting or to the selection of noble grapes, depending on the year and the concentration of sugars in the berries. Pinot Gris wines are distinguished by their aromatic complexity of white fruits, mushrooms, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, etc., and their great finesse. In the Loire Valley, pinot gris is used in the Coteaux-d'Ancenis appellations. It gives dry or sweet wines with pear and peach aromas.

Great sweet wines of Haute Loire

See the top 100 best sweet wines of Haute Loire

Want to buy a sweet wine of Haute Loire cheap or sell a sweet wine of Haute Loire at the best price on the market? Find out which ones are popular and which ones to keep in your cellar for a few more years.

Food and wine pairing with a sweet wine of Haute Loire

Sweet wines from the region of Haute Loire go well with generally quite well with dishes of shellfish, lean fish or fruity desserts such as recipes of shrimp in red sauce, medallion of white fish with shrimp sauce or the coughing cat's apple crumble.

Organoleptic analysis of sweet wine of Haute Loire

On the nose the sweet wine of the region of Haute Loire. often reveals types of flavors of grapefruit, citrus or apples and sometimes also flavors of earthy, minerality or lemon.

The best vintages in sweet wine of Haute Loire

  • 2011With an average score of 4.44/5
  • 2018With an average score of 3.90/5
  • 2016With an average score of 3.90/5
  • 2014With an average score of 3.88/5
  • 2015With an average score of 3.84/5
  • 2017With an average score of 3.80/5

The most used grape varieties in sweet wine of Haute Loire

  • Romorantin
  • Chenin Blanc
  • Sauvignon Blanc

The best wineries and winemakers for sweet wine of Haute Loire

A wine route planned in the region of Haute Loire? Here are the wineries to visit and the winemakers to meet during your trip in search of the best sweet wine of Haute Loire.

The word of the wine: Presses

The juice that results from pressing the grapes after fermentation. At the end of the maceration, the vats are emptied, the first juice obtained is called the free-run wine and the marc remaining at the bottom of the vat is then pressed to give the press wine. We say more quickly "the presses". Their quality varies according to the vintage and the maceration. A too vigorous extraction releases the tannins of pips and the wine of press can then prove to be very astringent. Often the winemaker raises it separately, deciding later whether or not to incorporate it totally or partially into the grand vin.

Great other wines of Haute Loire

See the top 100 best other wines of Haute Loire

Want to buy a other wine of Haute Loire cheap or sell a other wine of Haute Loire at the best price on the market? Find out which ones are popular and which ones to keep in your cellar for a few more years.

Food and wine pairing with a other wine of Haute Loire

Other 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 gyros, sea sauerkraut with white wine or chicken wrap.

The most used grape varieties in other wine of Haute Loire

  • Sauvignon Blanc
  • Pinot Noir

The best wineries and winemakers for other wine of Haute Loire

A wine route planned in the region of Haute Loire? Here are the wineries to visit and the winemakers to meet during your trip in search of the best other wine of Haute Loire.

The word of the wine: Prompt bud

A bud that develops in the year of its formation and gives an entrecoeur.

Great unknow wines of Haute Loire

See the top 100 best unknow wines of Haute Loire

Want to buy a unknow wine of Haute Loire cheap or sell a unknow wine of Haute Loire at the best price on the market? Find out which ones are popular and which ones to keep in your cellar for a few more years.

Food and wine pairing with a unknow wine of Haute Loire

Unknow wines from the region of Haute Loire go well with generally quite well with dishes of veal, game (deer, venison) or poultry such as recipes of filet mignon of veal with cider, my mother's rabbit or italian gnocchi.

The best vintages in unknow wine of Haute Loire

  • 2020With an average score of 3.90/5
  • 0With an average score of 3.49/5
  • 2015With an average score of 3.20/5

The best wineries and winemakers for unknow wine of Haute Loire

A wine route planned in the region of Haute Loire? Here are the wineries to visit and the winemakers to meet during your trip in search of the best unknow wine of Haute Loire.

A wine route in the region of Haute Loire ? Visit the most beautiful wine towns and villages