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Loire Valley
Loire Valley starts West, around Nantes area planted with muscadet and gros-plant grape-varieties and runs along the Loire river to end in Côte d'Auvergne and St-Pourcain. It is delimited to the North by Jasnière and Orléans area and to the South by Chateaumeillant and Haut-Poitou.
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Chinon winesAlthough Chinon wine is also commonly called "Breton" wine, it comes neither from Touraine, nor from Brittany. Its forerunner was Vitis Biturica, imported by Romans probably during the 2nd or 3rd century.
Vitis Biturica, is a grape variety resistant to very low temperatures, storms and rain and produces a wine to be kept for many years. It was first grown in Bordeaux area as Cabernet and was later transported from Bordeaux to Nantes by sailors from Brittany. In the 12th century, it was already grown by Plantagenets along the Loire river under the name Bordeaux grape variety.
Nantes winesThe history of Nantes vineyards which dates back from the Roman period, is closely linked with that of the city harbour which greatly contributed to the rise in wine exports.
Around 1709 the vineyard was almost totally destroyed by a harsh winter. Monks decided to re-plant it with Melon, a grape variety from Burgundy and from which the most famous Nantes wine is produced today : Muscadet. Nantes vineyard extends on 15,000 hectares (36,000 acres) located between the fresh climate from the Ocean and the mild climate around Angers. This is the reason why there can be a big difference in style according to the weather for each harvest. The production amounts to 110 million bottles of Gros Plant, Coteaux d'Ancenis and Muscadet.
Saumur-Champigny winesSaumur-Champigny denomination was granted to this area in 1957. Delimited according to strict geological criteria, the AOC is restricted to 9 villages.
The only production allowed under this denomination is that of red wine made from Cabernet-Franc. Covering 1,400 hectares (3,360 acres) Saumur-Champigny is really different from other wines from Anjou and Saumurois and the wine-producer Union is really keen on preserving the strong and typical character of Saumur-Champigny wine.
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