extract from Dominic’s France: the cool climate

June & July 2006

The Middle Loire: The Garden of France

Getting there

Arriving in Tours

Restaurants

Staying in Tours

Weather, climate and the best time to visit

A royal history

Challenges ahead

Terroir, grape varieties & a plethora of wine styles

Wine & food

Driving, cycling or walking

The Middle Loire: The Garden of France

The Loire River flows nearly 300 miles across France, from the vineyards of Pouilly-Fumé in western Burgundy through a dizzying array of winegrowing areas, climates and terroirs, to Brittany’s own Muscadet appellation, where it debouches into the Atlantic.

For centuries, the Loire Valley has served as France’s national garden, or Le Jardin de France. Its picturesque verdant countryside and dense forests made it a perfect country retreat for French royalty and their favourites until the Revolution. Their legacy is over 120 châteaux, many beautiful gardens, and an incredible richness of history. In November 2000, UNESCO made the Loire Valley France’s largest World Heritage Site. 

Unless you have a full year to spend, you cannot hope to ‘do’ the Loire, and neither, I was forced to accept, could I. 

The relatively straight line I had drawn through the map became increasingly serpentine as distraction after attraction drew me in. Many of the towns along the route could happily do for a week’s sojourn in themselves. The range of wines produced by a single estate is often more varied than those from an entire region. 

My proposed itinerary is based on the area between Amboise and Saumur, in the middle Loire, where the highest concentration of fine wine villages, fairytale châteaux and beautiful scenery is to be found. 

It has always puzzled me why the Loire’s wines are not better known outside France, but more surprising still is that even most Frenchmen seem unaware of just how much this region has to offer. The happy result is that, even at the highly reputed estates, you can find excellent wines at incredibly fair prices. 

The winemakers of the middle Loire are amongst the most generous and good-natured anywhere in France. Their cellars are hewn from the soft, chalky tuffeau rock that is so characteristic of the region, and many local dwellings and country restaurants are also to be found in these small caves, or maisons troglodytiques. 

As I arrived in Touraine from Champagne, the vines had just finished a healthy week of flowering. This is a crucial period in the growing season, since it determines the regularity of fruit set for the harvest, which takes place around 100 days later. Having sensed unsettled weather conditions in the previous weeks, the vines held their horses, then flowered quickly, to avoid any unwelcome rain or strong winds. 

The storms raged briefly a week or two later, but the fruit set was excellent, prompting the quality-conscious growers to begin their ‘green harvests’ in July. The sheer quantity of healthy fruit made the removal of excess grapes essential, to preserve the concentration of fruit flavours and to aid ripening in the remaining bunches.

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Getting there

The obvious place to begin a visit of the middle Loire is Tours. Flights are from London Stansted to Tours airport, which is a stone’s throw from Tours centre. If hiring a car, leave the Airport along rue de l’Aéroport. Continue over two roundabouts, and then bear left onto Boulevard du Maréchal Juin, which takes you over the River Loire into the city centre. 

Alternatively, Tours is just over an hour from Paris on the TGV, to which you can connect directly from the Eurostar. This is the best option if you want to bring your own bicycle (which you can do for an extra £20); otherwise it is easy to hire a decent bike either in Tours or in one of many towns and villages the length of the Loire. 

If you feel like stocking up on wines that you may not find outside the region, a better bet is to bring your own vehicle on the ferry. From Calais, follow the autoroute (A1) to Paris, then continue from Paris along the A10 to Tours, via Orléans. This is a 330-mile journey.

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Arriving in Tours

Tours was the capital of France in Gallo-Roman times, and an important royal city until the French Revolution. Situated at the centre of Loire châteaux country, Tours is also said to be where the purest form of the French language is spoken – whatever that means. The city is home to an important university, and has a young, dynamic feel. 

Vieux Tours is the city’s well-signposted old town, where crowds of people gather in the medieval place Plumereau to eat and take photographs. The area between here and the ‘artisanal quarter’, across rue Bretonneau, is a pleasant place for a stroll, or to grab a bite in one of the streetside bistros. 

Within the old town, the Musée du Gemmail is the most idiosyncratic of Tours’ museums. This ‘museum’ is an interesting exhibition of images made from multiple shards of stained glass, superimposed one upon another, and illuminated from behind. Tel 02 47 61 01 19

For those already thirsty for wine knowledge, the Museum of the Wines of Touraine is near the bridge ‘Pont Wilson’, east of the old town. Tel 02 47 61 07 93 

A colourful, vibrant market takes place in the old town every Wednesday until well into the evening. Here you can buy everything from local wines and cheeses, to your own herb garden.

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Restaurants

The city’s finest hotel-restaurant is Château Belmont****. The famous Jean Bardet runs the double-Michelin-starred restaurant, and is widely acknowledged to be one of France’s finest chefs. Quality and repute at this level are things you pay for, and pay for it you will. The cheapest menu is €60; hotel rooms start at €150. 57.

Rue Groison, 37100 Tours. Tel 02 47 41 41 11

For an outstanding gastronomic experience at a lower price (€35 at lunchtime), take the N10 over the River Cher south of the city and join Alain Couturier at La Roche Le Roy. Here you can enjoy creative fish dishes whilst relaxing on the terrace, or inside the 18th-century manor house.

55, route de St Avertin, 37200 Tours. Tel 02 47 27 22 00 

But Vieux Tours is the place you will want to visit. The star restaurant in this quarter is Restaurant La DeuvaLière.

18, rue de la Monnaie, 37000 Tours. Tel 02 47 64 01 57

A stone’s throw from the old town’s crowded streets and pricey bistros, Servane and Emmanuel created La DeuvaLière in 2003. Emmanuel’s cooking is wonderfully inventive, marrying French traditions with influences from every corner of the globe. Eclectic starters on the summer menu include Gambas tandoori and Avocado gaspacho. An exquisite tuna steak is cooked rare and tender, served with goat’s cheese and vegetables wrapped in light pastry, and finished with an arabesque red pepper coulis. For dessert, the house speciality is the Moelleux tiède au chocolat et framboises fraîches à coeur, a recipe Emmanuel learned on his travels, from a much-admired Brazilian chef. Both the menu and the wine list are reassuringly short, with à la carte meals for between €25 and €35. Lunchtime ensembles are €10 and €15.

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Staying in Tours

FUAJ ‘ Vieux Tours’ 5, rue Bretonneau, 37000 Tours. Tel. 02 47 37 81 58

This youth hostel provides wifi access and bike rental, and it couldn’t be better situated. Individual rooms are available for less than €20. 

3-star hotels in Tours are mainly corporate affairs, but there are some very pleasant 2-star establishments in the city centre. Two are listed below; both provide rooms for €50-€60. 

Hôtel des Châteaux de la Loire**. 12, rue Gambetta, 37000 Tours.  Tel. 02 47 05 10 05 

Hôtel du Manoir**. 2, rue Traversière 37000 Tours Tel. 02 47 05 37 37 

For unparalleled luxury and refinement, however,there is only one choice – see Château Belmont****, above.

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Weather, climate and the best time to visit

A week after arriving in the Loire, I began to ask myself a troubling question: “Cool climate, what cool climate?” Midsummer in northern France is undoubtedly hotter than it is in the UK, but it is also hotter than it used to be in northern France. 

By the last week of July 2006, midday temperatures were soaring to 40 degrees, and grapes were showing signs of scorching in the more exposed vineyards. Many vignerons learned their lessons from the hot vintage of 2003, and held back from removing the leaves around grape bunches, allowing them some protection from the sun’s rays. But the increasing drought meant that the size of individual grapes was well below average, threatening potentially tiny yields for vignerons who had already finished their ‘green harvests’. 

Climate change is a big talking point amongst Loire vignerons, who have experienced uncommonly warm weather since the Millennium. 

Vintage variation at this latitude has always been great, with fascinating differences in wine styles from year to year. The vineyards of Touraine and Anjou-Saumur are influenced both by the continental climate to the east and by the wind and rain from the Atlantic. The rain can cause problems when it arrives at vintage time, but cool winds are an essential moderating influence. 2005, for example, was a warm, very dry year; the grapes ripened as quickly and as fully as they had in 2003, but the wines turned out very differently. The 2003s are ripe and pleasant, but often lack acidity and therefore ageing potential. The difference came in August 2005, when a cool wind blew in from the

Atlantic, causing the grapes to contract, concentrating sugar, flavour and acidity. The result is a fascinating vintage: the 2005 wines are supple and ripe, but with deliciously fresh flavours. The best will develop for many decades. 

The heat in this part of the Loire is rarely stifling and my advice, contrary to that elsewhere, is to visit during high season, preferably in July. The Loire Valley is well equipped to deal with its summer tourist population, and you are unlikely to have serious problems finding accommodation. Add to which, most tourist attractions open for longer during July and August, and some only open for these two months. Conversely, outside of high season, you will have great flexibility in where you stay, and the possibility of negotiating discounts. 

The weather in the first week of February might not be so conducive to holidaymaking, but this is when one of France’s most exciting wine fairs, the Salon des Vins de Loire, takes place, in Angers. Tel. 02 41 93 40 40

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A royal history

This tour broadly covers the Touraine area of the middle Loire, continuing west into the vineyards of Saumur-Champigny. This is the heart of the royal Jardin de France. To the west is the region of Anjou, which shares much of its eastern neighbour’s history, and where excellent wines are made from similar grapes. 

Touraine is so named after a Celtic tribe, the Turones, which populated the area some 2000 years ago. The Romans arrived in the 1st century AD, bringing with them the tools and techniques of winemaking. By the Middle Ages, wines were shipped from the Loire Valley to the Low Countries; and the merchants of Anjou exported red wines by sea to England. 

English royal history merged with that of Touraine when, in 1044, the province came under the control of the house of Anjou, from which the Plantagenet kings of England are descended. Henry II Plantagenet became king of England in 1154, and chose Château de Chinon as his main military stronghold in the Loire Valley. 

Most of the Loire’s châteaux were built as fortified military barracks during the violent Middle Ages. Chinon appears again in 1429, when Joan of Arc visited the Château to pledge her support for the Dauphin, the future Charles VII of France, against English claims to the French throne. 

The region’s medieval châteaux were converted into grand, luxurious country homes during the Renaissance, when the Loire became a convenient country retreat for French royalty and their powerful aristocratic allies. 

The Loire’s proximity to Paris, and its access to export markets via the Atlantic, made for a prosperous wine trade until the 19th century, when the railways arrived, and wines from the south of France came within easy reach of Paris and northern Europe. 

At the end of the 19th century, the phylloxera vineyard pest hit the Loire Valley with particular ferocity. Many vineyards were grubbed up, and the land was replanted with the apples, pears and soft fruits that are still an important part of the region’s agriculture.

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Challenges ahead

The extensive geographical area of the Loire’s vineyards makes any cohesion between the various appellations extremely difficult. Why should a successful vigneron in Sancerre be concerned with an impoverished one 300 miles away in Muscadet?

The differences in wine styles the length of the Loire is matched only by the notorious variation in their quality. Gone are the days when the Parisians would mop up any surplus wine of mediocre quality. So the Loire’s winemakers are now forced to make some tough choices. 

A trend is beginning to emerge, in which the failing winemakers are gradually disappearing, and their assiduous, quality-conscious brothers are increasing in renown. The second half of the 20th century saw the replanting of vineyards in appellations like Sancerre, Bourgueil, Chinon and Vouvray, all of which had suffered for decades following the devastation caused by phylloxera. 

The best of the Loire’s vignerons have fought to distinguish themselves, and have become powerful forces for natural winemaking. Despite the unpredictability of its weather, the middle Loire is developing into one of France’s most important centres for organic and biodynamic winemaking.

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Terroir, grape varieties & a plethora of wine styles

The middle Loire produces every imaginable style of wine, from refreshing sparklers to delicious cherry-scented red wines; and sweet whites that can age for as long as a century. The secret to fine winemaking in this part of the Loire is in two of its grape varieties: the white Chenin Blanc, which is native to the region, and the red Cabernet Franc. 

The Chenin Blanc is naturally high in acidity, making it an excellent candidate for the production of sparkling wine. The finest fizz is made in the town of Vouvray, where it can show rich, honeyed bready aromas similar to those of vintage champagne. The region’s most common sparkling wine is the often-excellent Crémant de Loire, which can come from any of the middle Loire’s vineyards. 

If picked slightly later, the Chenin Blanc gives firm, full-bodied dry (sec), off-dry (sec-tendre), and medium-dry (demi-sec) wines, which show complex aromas of quince and apple. In warm years, or when noble rot develops in the vineyards, sweet (moelleux) wines are made from late harvested grapes; these are honeyed, luscious dessert wines, with good acidity and superlative ageing potential. The finest of these sweeties are made in Vouvray, and its near neighbour Montlouis. 

The Cabernet Franc is the great red grape of the middle Loire, the main ingredient in the wines of Chinon, Bourgueil and Saumur-Champigny. Perhaps more famous as an ingredient in Saint-Emilion, on Bordeaux’s ‘right bank’, the Cabernet Franc ripens earlier than its more famous descendant, the Cabernet Sauvignon, and produces softer wines, with cherry and raspberry aromas. 

The Loire’s reds were traditionally light-bodied wines, with refreshingly high acidity and delicate red fruit flavours. But recent warm vintages, and the fashion for later-picked, fuller-bodied wines mean that they now tend to be deeper in colour, with more intense, spicy flavours. Cabernet Sauvignon is increasingly used to add further muscle to these reds. 

Other red grapes are blended with the Cabernets to make pleasant, country wines from the wider Touraine appellation. These grapes include the tannic Côt variety, the light fruity Gamay of the Beaujolais, and the thinskinned Grolleau. The last two of these, together with the two Cabernets, are ingredients in the region’s delicious rosés. The Loire’s other celebrity red grape, the Pinot Noir, is only grown in tiny quantities in Touraine, as an ingredient in, for example, the rosés of the tiny Touraine-Noble-Joué appellation. 

The Sauvignon Blanc is the Loire’s other important white grape. Its most famous incarnations are as Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, around 100 miles east of Tours. It is also the main grape for Touraine Blanc, which tends to be a lighter, more floral wine than either Sancerre or Pouilly-Fumé. Although this grape is more fashionable internationally than the Chenin Blanc, the opposite is true amongst winemakers in the middle Loire, for whom Chenin is the undisputed king of white grapes.

The area’s appellations contrôlées are many, and will be explored as a part of the itineraries that follow. My advice is simply to try lots and to be prepared to make discoveries. 

The terroir of the middle Loire is extremely varied, and individual vineyard microclimates are essential to grape ripening. The best vineyard sites are on the south-facing slopes near the banks of the River Loire and its tributaries, the Cher, the Indre and the Vienne. The soil is based on the area’s soft, porous chalk soil, called tuffeau. Further from the riverbanks, clay is mixed with limestone, allowing the production of firmer red wines; sandy soils give lighter wines; and pebbles of flint store and reflect heat in many sites, helping to ripen the grapes.

The Loire is unusual in having no ‘Grand Cru’ classification, although Vouvray’s Clos du Bourg and Chinon’s Clos de l’Echo, for example, would be obvious choices if one were ever agreed. The difficulty is in imposing any general standard on such a large and diverse viticultural area. However, the best winemakers in the middle Loire are increasingly bottling the wines from different vineyard sites separately, and farming their land naturally to highlight these fascinating differences in terroir.

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Wine & food

The massive variety of Loire wines, combined with their often low prices, has two happy consequences for the gastronome. The first is their extensive use as a base for almost every kind of cooking sauce; the second is the pleasure that can be derived from finding a wine to match your choice of dish. 

The Loire’s cuisine is most fundamentally French, but many chefs revel in subtle influences from further afield, notably the Orient. The local Chenin-based white wines, in particular, make extremely versatile food partners, marrying as well with exotically spiced foods as with refined French recipes, or simple rustic cuisine. 

Freshwater fish is the Loire speciality, and locally caught sandre (pikeperch) takes pride of place on most good restaurant menus. This is traditionally cooked in a simple butter sauce. Brème (bream), brochet (pike), and home-smoked salmon are other staples of the Loire diet, with anguilles (eels) and lamproie (lamprey) served in a thick, rustic sauce made with local red wine. 

Tasty chunks of pork, called rillons, are cooked in their own fat, and make a great base for filling lunchtime salads. Don’t confuse these with the coarse pâté, known as rillettes, which is made all over France. 

The Loire is rich in the wildlife necessary for haute cuisine. The region’s extensive forests are home to various game beasts; you will find venison on the more refined autumn menus, and you may well also encounter sangliers, or wild boars. The Richelais, in southern Touraine, is truffle country, and dogs are trained to sniff these out in winter. 

If you are lucky, you may happen upon the Géline de Touraine, or Dame Noire, a rare breed of hen which, at the time of writing, had just received the prestigious Label Rouge culinary award. The rich, complex flavours of dishes such as these are perfectly matched by the region’s supple Cabernet Franc-based red wines, particularly those with some bottle age. 

The most talented chefs I met in the Loire shared a singular pride in their herb and vegetable gardens, whether planted in an extensive walled enclosure or an overgrown urban back yard. The movement among Loire winemakers towards natural viticulture is matched by the desire of local chefs to cook with fresh, seasonal vegetables. 

Fine local goat’s cheeses dominate restaurant cheeseboards; Ste-Maurede-Touraine recently joined the Crotin de Chavignol in Sancerre with its own appellation d’origine contrôlée. Just as Crotin is complemented by a glass of white Sancerre, Ste-Maure partners wonderfully with Touraine’s Chenin and Sauvignon-based wines. 

For years, following the phylloxera vineyard epidemic in the late 19th century, apples and pears replaced grapes as the region’s most important fruit crop. Tarte Tatin is the Loire’s classic dessert, but orchard fruits are used creatively in a variety of other puds. Pommes and poires tapées are made by dehydrating the fruits in stone ovens following their harvest. They are then crushed and either eaten straight away or marinated in local red or white wine, with a little cinnamon and sugar. These desserts are delicious partners for the sweeter wines made from the Chenin Blanc grape. 

Fresh seasonal red fruits and melons are grown locally, and the macaroons from the village of Cormery, between Bléré and Esvres, are particularly prized. In the pretty town of Chinon, a speciality worth looking for is the delicious local wine jam.

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Driving, cycling or walking

The Loire’s interesting centres of wine production are more widely dispersed than those of any other region in my book, though the terrain is relatively forgiving. 

The Loire Valley is, more than anywhere else in France, made for the cyclist. Touraine in particular has been active in promoting cycle tourism for more than a decade. And the first impression on arriving in Tours is of bicycles, and lots of them. Motorists are, moreover, astonishingly courteous to cyclists in the Loire. 

Every town, village and hamlet has its own network of proposed cycle and pedestrian routes, and bike hire and repair is ubiquitous. Cycle lanes are common on main roads. ‘La Loire à Vélo’ is the region’s official guide for the cyclist, but it only occasionally brings you into contact with the vineyards. The ‘Route des Vignobles’ is Touraine’s pre-defined vineyard trail, but it can be rather confusing, and is inevitably the product of local vineyard ‘pitchfork politics’. 

Tours is close enough to the UK that many Brits choose to arrive in their own cars. And, seemingly, plenty never make it back home! This method of transport has the advantage that you can fill up the boot, and you will want to. The wines are some of France’s most refreshingly delicious, and their reasonable prices make this a great way to stock up for the year’s drinking. The ageing potential of many of the wines also means you can build up a good small cellar without breaking the bank.

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