On the Road with the Grape Guy
Loire Valley: Vineyard, Grape and Sales Presentation
09 Apr 2025- Details
- Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
(October 2023) … I had a chance to revisit the Loire Valley – but this time the focus is on Cabernet Franc and see the new marketing campaign of the region.
So let’s take a moment and look at the Loire Valley by the numbers in an overview:
- 2700 producers
- 410 wine merchants (negotiants)
- 80% producers - environmentally certified (by 2022)
- 1 of 10 UNESCO World Heritage designations (about ⅔ of region)
- By 2030 every vineyard will have at least one environmental certification
The Loire’s new marketing focus is on words that begin with “F”:
Floral, Fruity, Fresh (crisp and light), Fair (low environmental impact)
The one “f” word missing is “fun” – but we as consumers can always put it back in.
The Loire Valley is the 3rd largest AOP winegrowing area in France (and the most diverse) with 4 subregions:
Nantais (Nantais - Ancenis & Clisson) Melon (main) + Folle Blanche /
Anjou-Saumur (Angers & Saumur) Franc - Chenin (main) + Grolleau - Chard - Gamay - Cot /
Touraine (Blois - Tours - Amboise - Chinon) Sauv Blanc - Pinot Noir (main) + Cot - Gamay
Centre-Loire (Sancerre etc.) - own agency / own agenda
(this final region is not part of Inter-Loire, which takes care of the other three)
24 Grape Varieties
Whites: Melon 31% - Sauvignon Blanc 29% - Chenin 27% - Chard 9% … most appear as single varietal wines
Reds: Cabernet Franc 53% - Gamay 14% - Pinot Noir 7% - Grolleau 7% - Cabernet Sauvignon 5% … most appear as single varietal wines
Breakdown of production numbers is:
37% white wine - 29% sparkling wine - 17% red wine - 17% rosé
Loire River: 25% of water supply in France / covers ⅕ of the country
In 2022 the Loire Valley sent wines all over the world, to many different markets …
- 22% of wines exported (with growth potential of 30% by 2030)
- Volumes exported are on the rise in places like Germany (+15%) - Belgium (+7.3%) along with Norway - Italy and Latvia
- Volumes are dropping in Australia - Swiss - Netherlands - USA (- 7.5%) and the UK (- 30%)
That said the top markets for the Loire are:
Germany - USA - Belgium - UK - Canada (up 1.2%) - Netherland - Australia and Japan
Since we were there at the tail end of the 2023 harvest, numbers were not completely available – but they did have some idea as to how the vintage had gone, so far:
- high temps caused risk of spontaneous fermentation
- Chard / Franc / Savvy B - good balance of sugar and acidity
- hot year helped elimate pyrazines (vegetal notes) - good fruity character will be present (in still wines)
- Chenin, in particular had a high risk of mold because of the rains during harvest time
___________________________________
Dialing Down to Cabernet Franc … 
- Most widely planted grape - 25% of vineyard plantings
- 14,000 ha (same as Bordeaux)
- ⅓ of total plantings in France
- main sub-regions: Touraine et Anjou-Saumur
- styles range from rose-sparkling fruity reds to ageable reds
History: origins of the grape are linked to Spain and Basque Country; it’s first name looks to be Biturica.
Cabernet Franc is perfect for the Loire Valley because …
- it buds mid-season
- it prefers cooler climates
- it is vigorous and likes deep well-drained soils
- sunshine will help minimize pyrazine (vegetal)
There are 9 Cab Franc Appellations that run through the Loire Valley:
Chinon (major) - Bourgueil - Saumur-Champigny - Saint Nicolas de Bourgueil - Anjou - Anjou-Brissac - Anjou-Villages - Saumur - Saumur-Puy-Notre-Dame (smallest)
In Touraine - 27% of region is Cabernet Franc
Chinon - 12.4% / St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil - 7.8% / Bourgueil - 6.9%
In Anjou-Saumur it is 41% of the region
- Cabernet d'Anjou (rosé) – this is the number one appellation rosé wine sold in France
- Saumur-Champigny (red only)
- Saumur et Saumur Puy-Notre-Dame (red and rosé)
- Anjou, Anjou Villages, Anjou Brissac (red)
Finally a look at exports of Cabernet Franc to Canada (and the rest of the world) …
40% of the Cabernet Franc exported comes from Chinon
Saumur and Saumur-Champigny 15%
Anjou and Anjou-Villages 3%
Bourgueil and St. Nicolas de Bourgueil – have just joined Inter-Loire so their numbers are not available at this time.
70% of Loire Wine go to Quebec
Here are a couple of links to dive deeper into the wines tasted:
The Franc of the Saumur
Chinon : Impressed or Not Impressed
