The World's Most Diverse Range of Wines
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PRESS PACK 2019 The world’s most diverse range of wines Loire Valley 2018 – quite simply an exceptional year! hat a year! Even our oldest On the whole, however, these were skilfu- winegrowers can scarcely lly managed by winegrowers. Summer remember a better harvest, temperatures then reached an ALL-TIME both for quality and yield. high; grapes continued to grow well and W2018 will be etched on all our memories as remained in robust health, and harvests a historic vintage, some say on a par with throughout the vineyards were almost as 1959, which is ranked among the Loire’s early as those of 2017. Conditions were very best vintages. (Le Point, March 2019). consistently excellent from the end of From Nantes to Sancerre, we’re seeing August right through to October. Growers highly aromatic, flavourful wines across all harvested their fruit with total peace of three colours. Overall harvest volumes for mind, knowing the grapes had reached full Loire Valley AOC and PGI wines in the Inter- maturity. loire and BIVC area are predicted to soar to 2.9 million hectolitres, up considerably on 2017’s 2.2 million hl, and a welcome return OUTSTANDING AROMATIC to normal figures after a run of low-yiel- COMPLEXITY IN WHITES (both ding harvests. This gives us plenty of scope still and sparkling) AND ROSÉS to meet the needs of the market and reple- nish stocks. In the Nantais, the first Melon grapes were picked in mid-August. Balance was excellent, Spring weather was very favourable, pro- with acidity lower than average. The grapes moting remarkably early flowering and ex- are rich, with good aromatic complexity. cellent fruit set. Unhampered by hail or frost, the vines continued to develop normally The same goes for Chenins and Chardonnays with no major problems - until June. June destined for dry whites and sparkling wine brought bouts of heavy rain, followed by se- bases, which were picked between the end rious attacks of mildew. of August and 20th September. This has been Jean-Martin Dutour, President of InterLoire, sums it up: ‘‘Harvesting conditions were perfect throughout September and October, and harvests were managed calmly and confidently. This has been an outstanding year, the best in living memory: rich in quality and generous in quantity. A great year for the Loire Valley, putting us in a good position to meet market requirements.’’ a good year for sparkling wines, with condi- SMOOTH, tions conducive to excellent BALANCE. WELL-ROUNDED REDS Stocks are set to be replenished with a very high-quality product indeed. Harvesting finished around 10th October for Cabernet Franc and Côt, while Cabernet In Touraine, the first Sauvignons show thiol- Sauvignons finished picking in mid-Octo- based flavours of citrus and pineapple. Those ber. The future looks as bright for reds as it picked later are full of peach and apricot, does for whites and rosés, in yield as well as giving plenty of scope for making superb quality, and the hot weather has led to hi- blends. gher-than-average potential alcohol levels. This year, the Cabernets from sandy terroirs For rosés, Cabernets are showing a wealth of show thiol- based flavours, with red fruit DELICIOUSLY FRUITY flavours - particularly and florals, notably violets. Tuffeau wines cherries and redcurrants - while rosés made are FRUITIER and more CONCENTRATED, from Grolleau, Côt and Gamay are brimming with morello cherry and raspberry jam fla- with delightful aromas. vours. Colours are deep and intense, almost black. The wines are well-ROUNDED, vel- Moving on to sweet wines, this year’s hot vety-smooth and SILKY; the Côts in parti- weather caused a certain amount of pas- cular are magnificent, their profiles quite serillage, a natural drying-out of the grapes unlike what we’re used to. We’re looking while still on the vine. Botrytisation - where forward to seeing a good range of vins de grapes are affected by a microfungus - deve- garde this year, wines that will age for 10 or loped slowly due to lack of humidity. Again, even 15 years. the grapes were in robust health, and have produced some of the truly great sweet wines which can only be made in a particu- larly good year. delicious floral velvety cherry Exceptional balanced maturity apricot fruity redcurrant richness of aroma smooth morello cherry citrus round Vineyards 51 appelations and designations of origin 4 Loire Valley PGIs 57,200 ha of vines, including 25% with environmental accreditation (Organic/HVE/Terravitis/ Agriconfiance) Across: 5 14 800 regions departments km of wine trails 1st 1st 2nd 3rd Largest AOP Largest AOP largest AOP largest French wine vineyard area for vineyard area vineyard area region by AOP volume sparkling wine for white wine for rosé wine (excl. Champagne) y 1 of 10 00 ea European vineyards 0 rs 2 recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site O F Y from Sully-sur-Loire H I S TO R to Chalonnes-sur-Loire Wines Production by colour 24 varietals, chiefly 41% Melon white de Dry Bourgogne 24% % % Cabernet Chenin Sauvignon and 21 14 franc rosé red sparkling Sweet Vineyards Wine-Related Businesses 6,200 250 16 winegrowers négociants cooperative wineries Wine Tourism 350 100% 1/3 1,000 st wineries open visitor visitors estates open 1 to visitors satisfaction from abroad to the public France’s top Wine Tourism region based on quality of service* * joint with Alsace Sales 320million Turnover 2017 bottles sold every € 1.3 billion year across 160 countries bottles 253 67 per second from export million million bottles bottles K€ 278,000 in France (79%) exported (21%) Breakdown of exports by volume/country 7% Canada 18% UK 15% Germany 24% Other (Netherlands, 25% Japan, Australia, USA 11% Sweden, Belgium etc) Sources : InterLoire, BIVC, INAO, Douanes, IRI, Bebetter LES VINS DU VALVINS DU DE LOIRE 47° Nord AnjouAnjou Anjou-Villages Brissac Cabernet d’Anjou Coteaux de l’Aubance AnjouAnjou Anjou-BrissacAnjou-Villages Brissac Rosé d’Anjou Cabernet d’Anjou Coteaux de l’Aubance Rosé d’Anjou Anjou-Villages AnjouAnjou Anjou-Villages Brissac Orléans Cabernet d’Anjou CoteauxCoteaux de l’Aubance Forêt de Bercé Rosé d’Anjoudu VendômoisAnjou-Villages Orléans Orléans Orléans Coteaux Sarthe Anjou-Villages Coteaux Jasnières Forêt de Bercé du VendômoisForêt de Bercé Orléansdu Vendômois Orléans Sarthe Cheverny Vendôme SartheJasnières Coteaux du Loir Cheverny Mayenne Mayenne Coteaux du Loir Vendôme Jasnières Mayenne Mayenne Cour- Loire Vendôme Cheverny Coulée de Serrant Coulée de Serrant Cour- CoteauxLoire Coteaux Cheverny Coteaux du Loir Cheverny Savennières Roche aux Moines Savennières Roche aux MoinesMayenne du Giennois du Giennois Muscadet Coteaux de la Loire Savennières Loir Touraine Orléans-Cléry Muscadet Coteaux de la Loire Savennières Coteaux d’AncenisLoir TouraineSaumur- Orléans-CléryMesland Cour- Loire Saumur- Coulée de Serrant Champigny Touraine Coteaux d’Ancenis Anjou-Coteaux Mesland Amboise Blois Beuvron Cheverny Champigny de la Loire Touraine Anjou-Coteaux Savennières Roche aux Moines Forêt Parc Naturel Gros Plant AngersAmboise Blois Vouvray Beuvron de la Loire Régional Saint-Nicolas- de Sologne Muscadet Coteaux dede la la Brière Loire du Pays Nantais Savennières Parc naturel de-Bourgueil Loir Touraine Orléans-Cléry Ancenis Régional Loire Forêt Parc Naturel Angers Vouvray Anjou-Touraine Saumur- Régional Gros Plant Coteaux d’Ancenis Tours Amboise de Sologne Mesland Sancerre Loire Saint-Nicolas- Aubance Loire Bourgueil de la Brière du Pays Nantais Parc naturel Champigny Touraine Touraine de-BourgueilAnjou-Coteaux Oisly Menetou-Salon Ancenis Régional Loire Montrichard Amboise Blois Beuvron Anjou-Touraine Nantesde la Loire Tours Amboise Saumur Sancerre Loire Bourgueil Layon Sancerre Parc Naturel Gros PlantAubance Loire Angers Touraine Vouvray Forêt Régional Coteaux du Layon Saint-Nicolas-Oisly Menetou-Salon de Sologne de la Brière du Pays Nantais 11erer Cru Cru ChaumeChaume Montrichard Parc naturelChinon de-Bourgueil Nantes Saumur Quarts de Chaume Régional Loire Montlouis- Quincy AncenisLac de Clisson Grand Cru sur-Loire Pouilly-Fumé Grandlieu Anjou-Touraine Tours Amboise Pouilly-sur-Loire Layon Cholet BourgueilTouraine Sancerre Loire Aubance Loire Noble-Joué Touraine Bourges Coteaux du Layon Coteaux du Layon Chenonceaux Nevers Touraine erer Maine “Villages” Saumur Valençay 11 Cru Cru ChaumeChaume Puy-Notre-Dame Touraine Oisly Sèvre Nantaise Bonnezeaux Azay-le-Rideau Reuilly Montrichard Quarts de Chaume Chinon Montlouis-Saumur Coteaux Touraine Quincy de SaumurSaumur Indre Lac de Grand Cru Nantes Muscadet Côtes sur-Loire Chinon Pouilly-Fumé Clisson de Grandlieu Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine Coteaux Loire Grandlieu du Layon Pouilly-sur-LoireCher Cholet et “Crus Communaux” Layon Sancerre Muscadet Touraine Parc Naturel Régional Châteauroux Noble-Joué Touraine de la Brenne Coteaux du Layon Bourges Arnon Chenonceaux Vienne Coteaux du Layon erer Thouet Nevers Maine “Villages” Saumur 11 Cru Cru ChaumeChaume Valençay Creuse Les Sables Lay Haut Poitou d’Olonne Puy-Notre-DameQuarts de ChaumeTouraine Chinon Montlouis- Sèvre Nantaise Bonnezeaux Poitiers Reuilly Saint-Pourçain Coteaux Fiefs Azay-le-Rideau Touraine Lac de Saumur Clisson Vendéens Grand Cru sur-Loire Muscadet Côtes Grandlieu de Saumur Chinon Indre de Grandlieu Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine Coteaux Cholet Touraine Loire du Layon Cher et “Crus Communaux” Noble-Joué ChâteaumeillantTouraine Parc Naturel Régional Bourges Parc Naturel Régional Allier Muscadet Océan Atlantique Coteauxdu duMarais PoitevinLayon Châteauroux Chenonceaux Nevers de la Brenne Valençay Maine “Villages” Saumur Arnon Thouet Vienne Puy-Notre-Dame