Loire Valley | 2016 vintage
The Loire Valley has had a very difficult year indeed. The Loire's misfortunes are mainly due to two big frosts at the end of April that destroyed a fair chunk of crop, mainly in Montlouis, Chinon and Bourgueil, not to mention in the neighbouring appellations of Sancerre (Sancerre itself got away pretty lightly). Some vineyards saw as much as 90% of their crop destroyed. Apart from the frost, the Loire experienced similar weather to the rest of France: a humid spring that caused powdery mildew, a summer that was slightly too warm and a sunny September with cool nights that helped the surviving grapes reach a good ripeness.
The most successful wines from the Loire come from some of the best appellations. Starting with the reds the most successful were: Chinon, that produced some excellent and fresh cuvées; Bourgeuil, with its fruity and crisp wines; Saumur-Champigny and Anjou, with reds that are very fresh yet also nicely ripe. As for the whites it was the up and coming Muscadet appellation that had some of the best offerings, albeit in small quantities. Sancerre also had a successful year having missed out on the frost, producing beautiful wines with intense, fresh fruit and lots of energy. As for sweet wines, production was small this year but with some wonderful offerings from Vouvray. Sadly Montlouis was decimated by frost.
