![\"Loire](\"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Loire_2b.png\")
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(October 2023) …<\/strong><\/em> I had a chance to revisit the Loire Valley – but this time the focus is on Cabernet Franc and see the new marketing campaign of the region.<\/p>\n So let’s take a moment and look at the Loire Valley by the numbers in an overview:<\/p>\n – 2700 producers The Loire’s new marketing focus is on words that begin with “F”: The Loire Valley is the 3rd largest AOP winegrowing area in France (and the most diverse) with 4 subregions:<\/em><\/p>\n Nantais<\/strong> (Nantais – Ancenis & Clisson) Melon (main) + Folle Blanche \/ Centre-Loire<\/strong> (Sancerre etc.) – own agency \/ own agenda 24 Grape Varieties<\/strong><\/p>\n Whites: Melon 31% – Sauvignon Blanc 29% – Chenin 27% – Chard 9% … most appear as single varietal wines Loire River: 25% of water supply in France \/ covers \u2155 of the country<\/p>\n In 2022 the Loire Valley sent wines all over the world, to many different markets …<\/p>\n – 22% of wines exported (with growth potential of 30% by 2030) That said the top markets for the Loire are: Since we were there at the tail end of the 2023 harvest, numbers were not completely available – but they did have some idea as to how the vintage had gone, so far:<\/p>\n – high temps caused risk of spontaneous fermentation Dialing Down to Cabernet Franc … – Most widely planted grape – 25% of vineyard plantings History:<\/strong> origins of the grape are linked to Spain and Basque Country; it’s first name looks to be Biturica.<\/p>\n Cabernet Franc is perfect for the Loire Valley because … There are 9 Cab Franc Appellations that run through the Loire Valley:<\/strong> In Touraine – 27% of region is Cabernet Franc In Anjou-Saumur it is 41% of the region<\/strong><\/p>\n – Cabernet d’Anjou (rosé) – this is the number one appellation rosé wine sold in France Finally a look at exports of Cabernet Franc to Canada (and the rest of the world) …<\/strong><\/p>\n 40% of the Cabernet Franc exported comes from Chinon 70% of Loire Wine go to Quebec<\/p>\n Here are a couple of links to dive deeper into the wines tasted:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n The Franc of the Saumur<\/strong><\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (October 2023) … I had a chance to revisit the Loire Valley – but this time the focus is on Cabernet Franc and see the new marketing campaign of the region. So let’s take a moment and look at the Loire Valley by the numbers in an overview: – 2700 producers– 410 wine merchants […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-on-the-road-with-the-grape-guy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6988\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
– 410 wine merchants (negotiants)
– 80% producers – environmentally certified (by 2022)
– 1 of 10 UNESCO World Heritage designations (about \u2154 of region)
– By 2030 every vineyard will have at least one environmental certification<\/p>\n
F<\/strong>loral, F<\/strong>ruity, F<\/strong>resh (crisp and light), F<\/strong>air (low environmental impact)
The one “f” word missing is “fun” – but we as consumers can always put it back in.<\/p>\n
Anjou-Saumur<\/strong> (Angers & Saumur) Franc – Chenin (main) + Grolleau – Chard – Gamay – Cot \/
Touraine<\/strong> (Blois – Tours – Amboise – Chinon) Sauv Blanc – Pinot Noir (main) + Cot – Gamay<\/p>\n
(this final region is not part of Inter-Loire, which takes care of the other three)<\/p>\n![\"Loire](\"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Loire_1a.png\")
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Reds: Cabernet Franc 53% – Gamay 14% – Pinot Noir 7% – Grolleau 7% – Cabernet Sauvignon 5% … most appear as single varietal wines
Breakdown of production numbers is:
37% white wine – 29% sparkling wine – 17% red wine – 17% rosé<\/p>\n
– Volumes exported are on the rise in places like Germany (+15%) – Belgium (+7.3%) along with Norway – Italy and Latvia
– Volumes are dropping in Australia – Swiss – Netherlands – USA (- 7.5%) and the UK (- 30%)<\/p>\n
Germany – USA – Belgium – UK – Canada (up 1.2%) – Netherland – Australia and Japan<\/p>\n
– Chard \/ Franc \/ Savvy B – good balance of sugar and acidity
– hot year helped elimate pyrazines (vegetal notes) – good fruity character will be present (in still wines)
– Chenin, in particular had a high risk of mold because of the rains during harvest time
___________________________________<\/p>\n![\"Loire](\"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Loire_5a.png\")
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– 14,000 ha (same as Bordeaux)
– \u2153 of total plantings in France
– main sub-regions: Touraine et Anjou-Saumur
– styles range from rose-sparkling fruity reds to ageable reds<\/p>\n
– it buds mid-season
– it prefers cooler climates
– it is vigorous and likes deep well-drained soils
– sunshine will help minimize pyrazine (vegetal)<\/p>\n
Chinon<\/em> (major) – Bourgueil<\/em> – Saumur-Champigny<\/em> – Saint Nicolas de Bourgueil<\/em> – Anjou<\/em> – Anjou-Brissac<\/em> – Anjou-Villages<\/em> – Saumur<\/em> – Saumur-Puy-Notre-Dame<\/em> (smallest)<\/p>\n
Chinon – 12.4% \/ St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil – 7.8% \/ Bourgueil – 6.9%<\/p>\n
– Saumur-Champigny (red only)
– Saumur et Saumur Puy-Notre-Dame (red and rosé)
– Anjou, Anjou Villages, Anjou Brissac (red)<\/p>\n
Saumur and Saumur-Champigny 15%
Anjou and Anjou-Villages 3%
Bourgueil and St. Nicolas de Bourgueil – have just joined Inter-Loire so their numbers are not available at this time.<\/p>\n
Chinon : Impressed or Not Impressed<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n![\"Loire](\"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Loire_6a.png\")
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