Vouvray
Vouvray is a unique appellation in many ways. Firstly, because it allows only one grape variety, Chenin Blanc – known locally as Pineau de la Loire. This emblematic grape variety produces dry, medium-sweet, sweet and sparkling wines. Pineau was a favourite wine of Rabelais’ character Gargantua, who described it as a “noble white wine” with a silky or “taffeta” feel. Vouvray’s terroir is another reason this AOC is unique. The appellation lies on a layer of soft chalk, known as tufa, covered by a superficial layer of clay, flint, silt or sand. This soil gives the wines their silky, saline or smoky character – or put simply, their smoothness. The appellation is also full of Clos – plots surrounded by flint stone walls – with their own specific terroirs, comparable to the famous Burgundy climats. The landscapes of Vouvray are hardly run of the mill either, marked over the past by kings, monks and Romans. The latter dug troglodyte cellars right into the tufa rock, which still offer ideal conditions for making, maturing and cellaring wine today.
Last but by no means least, Vouvray is unique for its winemakers. The AOC comprises 150 estates, spread over 2,300 hectares in Tours, Vouvray, Chancay, Noizay, Reugny, Rochecorbon, Vernou-sur-Brenne and Parcay-Meslay. They deliver an average of almost 12,000 hectolitres of wine a year. Among the most famous are Clos Naudin, Clos Thierriere, Domaine Huet, Domaine Vincent Carême and Sébastien Brunet. All these qualities have made Vouvray a recognised appellation since 1936.
