A.O.C./A.O.P.
vines have been grown here since Roman times though it was Saint-Martin, bishop of Tours, who expanded vine growing in the early Middle Ages. In the 14th century, the wines were popular with the Dutch though also Rabelais, who described them as “pure taffeta wine”. The AC is located upriver from Tours, on the outskirts of the city itself, along the northern banks of the Loire. Between Rochecorbon and Vouvray, the vineyards peer down over the ‘tuffeau’ cliff faces and subsequently drop down to follow the river Cisseau, as far as Vernou then on to Noizay. The soils are calcareous clay over a ‘tuffeau’ (‘aubuis’) or clay silica plateau with occurrences of flint (‘perruches’). The site is carved out by the Loire and its tributaries and the soils follow several geological formations: Turonian, Senonian, Eocene. The vines are south-facing and the climate is ocean and continental. Chenin is the grape variety used here.
Grape varieties: Vins blancs secs et doux : chenin
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the dry whites are supple, fruity, quaffing wines which can be slightly pungent in their youth. They sport a straw-yellow hue and exhibit aromas of white flower, acacia, linden, apple, citrus fruit, crushed strawberries, peach, quince and lychee. The sweet wines are powerful, unctuous, concentrated and full with delicate, rich aromas: camomile, jasmine, freshly-cut hay, apricot, fig, quince jelly, honey, wax, brioche, dried fruit and occasionally notes of walnut and truffle. All of these wines boast excellent cellaring capacity. The appellation also produces sparkling wines displaying the tell-tale characteristics and slight bitterness of the Chenin grape. With a meal, the dry and medium dry wines sit nicely alongside eel matelote and especially Tours speciality cooked cold pork meats (potted meat, chitterlings sausage, pigs trotters). The sweet wines call for foie gras or mature, flavoursome cheeses.
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