Trade talk: The Loire Valley

Wines from the Loire Valley offer an enticing combination of diversity, purity, freshness and food friendliness, according to industry experts.

One of Europe’s last untamed waterways spanning over 600 miles, the Loire is the longest river in France, and its heart, running from Sully to Chalonnes, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Due to the region’s geological and climatic diversity, every style of wine is made here, from red, white and rosé to sparkling and sweet. While varied in nature, Loire wines share a signature freshness and refreshing acidity, making them approachable and food friendly. With 69 appellations, the Loire is the third largest wine region in France behind Bordeaux and the Rhône Valley, producing four million hectolitres of wine and selling 380 million bottles a year. It is also the largest white wine producer in France, with its whites accounting for 60% of exports.

Loire Sauvignon Blanc remains the benchmark for this aromatic white grape variety around the world. In addition to Sauvignon Blanc, other key white varieties grown in the region include Chenin Blanc and Melon de Bourgogne, while Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir and Gamay fly the flag for the reds. Loire Valley Wines has big plans for the UK this year and will be organising various consumer and trade events to shine a light on the Chenin Blanc variety, Muscadet, Rosé d’Anjou and Touraine. In addition, it will run a summer promotion with Waitrose in June and July. To coincide with Loire Valley Wines’ UK marketing push, we asked eight key members of the trade for their opinions on the wines from the region and what unique attributes they offer consumers.

While Edgar Bettridge of Enotria praised Loire Sauvignon Blanc’s “elegance and finesse”, Xavier Rousset MS of 28°-50° hailed the region’s Cabernet Francs as “beautiful and very drinkable.”

Gearoid Devaney MS of Flint Wines, meanwhile, flagged up Vouvray’s food matching capabilites, while Belinda Kleinig from M&S sung the praises of Rosé d’Anjou’s “versatility”. All seemed to agree that consumers seeking fresh, foodfriendly, approachable and wallet-friendly wines should look to the Loire.

Maria Elener, Loire buyer for Waitrose

I like the diversity the Loire Valley offers from light, dry Muscadets, good value Sauvignon Blanc, the versatility of Chenin Blanc and the uniqueness of Cabernet Franc.

In this respect, as a region, it has a lot to offer the consumer, alongside the fact that they are generally good value for money and match easily to food. Loire wines are very successful at Waitrose, growing at 16% year on year.

This growth comes from across the range – Touraine Sauvignon being one of the main drivers.

I anticipate this growth to continue throughout 2014, particularly with respect to Sauvignon Blanc, which stylistically offers an elegance and charm rarely matched from other regions in the world, while remaining competitively priced.

Edgar Bettridge, French buyer for Enotria

“The Loire offers a wide range of food friendly wines to suit many budgets. The category is doing really well with us, particularly Muscadet, which is coming back into fashion. It’s been at the back of people’s minds for a long time but people are rediscovering its food matching capabilities.

Touraine meanwhile, is really accessible in terms of pricing. We’re about to release a Touraine Sauvignon from a small domaine that hits a sweet spot in the on-trade and will appear near the top of the wine list.

Loire Sauvignon Blanc in general offers a lot of finesse and elegance. Consumer tastes in the UK are moving towards more restrained styles, which the Loire can really capitalise on. I love the gunflint minerality that comes through on Loire whites and have noticed that people are returning to Old World cool climate whites, which is good news for the Loire.

Like Muscadet, people are also coming back to Vouvray, which is a real success story in our portfolio. Producers in the region aren’t going for long hang time but instead are pursuing minerality and the wines come in at an attractive price point.

What’s interesting from an on-trade perspective is the wealth of different small domaines that the Loire has to offer. The reds are still a little bit niche, but our more forward thinking accounts are asking for them, which is encouraging. Our volumes won’t shoot up overnight, but we’re at the beginning of an upswing, so watch this space.”

Xavier Rousset MS, co-owner of Texture and 28°-50°restaurants

“Some of the greatest producers in France come from the Loire and we sell a lot of Loire wines both at our Michelinstarred restaurant Texture and our wine-focused mini chain 28°-50°. While the whites are great and everybody knows about them, the reds excite me, particularly Cabernet Franc from Chinon – the quality of Loire reds has really improved in recent years and the Cabernet Francs coming out of the region are beautiful and very drinkable.

Some of the wines are becoming more full bodied, which is no bad thing. They do really well when we put them on by the glass at 28°-50°. Consumers seem to know about Chinon and are latching
onto the name. In addition to Cabernet Franc, there are some lovely Gamays being made in the Loire today, and some interesting Gamay blends.

I love Loire Chenin, particularly the sweeter styles from Vouvray, but it can be a hard sell as the sweetness levels varies from bone dry to sweet, so there is no reference point for consumers yet. Loire wines have always done well with us and continue to do so – Muscadet is coming back in vogue as the quality is continually improving. The highacidity levels and freshness in Loire wines makes them great for food pairing – a mineral Savennières Chenin pairs wonderfully with pan-fried scallops for example, while Chinon Cabernet Franc marries well with roast lamb.”

Ana Sapungiu, buyer for Oddbins

“Loire wines offer your classics and demand from customers is only going one way – upwards. The Loire is an easy sell as people love Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc. The Loire fits nicely into the UK market in terms of what consumers want: light, fresh, unoaked, lower alcohol wines that match well with food. We’re particularly interested in wines from some of the satellite sub-regions at the moment, as they offer amazing value and provide consumers with an interesting alternative to the Loire’s better known regions.

Loire reds are a bit more of a niche offering than the whites but people should be buying more of them as they’re great. As for the fizz, Crémant de Loire is doing really well in the context of the sparkling wine category – we sell ours for £12, which is an attractive price point.

Another exciting development is that Muscadet is shaking off its unfashionable image and becoming trendy again. I’m looking to bring a new Muscadet into our range for the summer – it’s such a consumer friendly style: light, fresh, unoaked; it’s what consumers want.”

Gearoid Devaney MS, head sommelier for Flint Wines

“The winemakers we’re working with in Touraine are making wines with definition, purity and elegance. Chenin Blanc is getting more popular, and the great thing about it from a restaurant
perspective is that it offers different levels of sweetness, meaning interesting options for by the glass offerings and an array of food matching opportunities. Off-dry Chenins from Vouvray for example, can match with a wide variety of dishes, from langoustines through to desserts.

There’s a trend for going back to the classic regions in wine at the moment and a Loire renaissance is taking place in the UK. Chenin Blanc with a bit of age on it from sub regions like Vouvray is very special and I’m particularly fond of those wines.

UK consumers feel comfortable in the Loire, particularly in appellations like Vouvray and Muscadet, and the region continues to have a strong market share in the UK. There’s been a lot of interest in organic, biodynamic and minimum intervention wines in the UK at specialist wine bars like the Green Man and French Horn in London’s Covent Garden, which the Loire as a whole has benefitted from.”

Belinda Kleinig, winemaker for M&S

“Rosé d’Anjou is a Loire Valley classic and has always had a strong following with our customers. Its medium dry style is hugely versatile – the gentle, juicy strawberry flavours make for an easy and refreshing rosé, but without being overtly sweet. This style offers consumers a wide range of occasions to enjoy it, from an easy apéritif all year round to a brilliant pairing for anything from savoury pastries to fruit salad.”

Stuart Grundy, European buying director for Bibendum Wine

“Loire wines are very on trend right now as they offer fresh whites with good acidity, fruit density and rarely any use of oak, which is exactly what on-trade customers are looking for at the moment. The category has been growing significantly with us recently.

At Bibendum, we’re shining a light on Touraine, as we think its Sauvignon has huge potential. We’re also trying to raise awareness about smaller communes like Saumur. Interesting things are
happening with Chenin Blanc in Anjou and Savennières, where small producers are making food friendly drier styles that focus less on fruit and more on a savoury flavour profile.

Muscadet meanwhile, is looking interesting again and there’s scope to expand plantings in the region, which is really encouraging.”

Rebecca Palmer, buyer for Corney & Barrow

“The Loire is one of the few wine regions to offer a complete range to consumers with an extraordinary diversity of price points and styles running the gamut from red, white, rosé and sweet. And it does so with such class.

I’m a huge fan of the Loire and the wines in our range have been showing punchy year on year growth. Sales are up across the board, with our on-trade customers, private clients and at our chain of wine bars.

From Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc to Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc, Loire wines make great partners for food but are equally enjoyable on their own. Chenin’s searing acidity means it can handle higher sugar levels.

Examples from Vouvray with a touch of sugar are terrifically food friendly and pair well with Asian cuisine. Loire Cabernet Franc is delicious chilled down during the summer. Muscadet, meanwhile, is becoming very trendy again. A lot of Loire wines punch above their weight in terms of character and quality.

They have a lovely purity and freshness to them with an appealing hint of smoke. The Loire has so many strings to its bow, it’s our job to join up the dots and teach consumers that there’s a lot more to the region than Sauvignon Blanc.”

Lucy Clements, wine buyer for Tesco

“What’s special about the Loire is freshness. It’s the one area of France we look to for young, zingy, fresh wines that you don’t get in other areas with lovely soft fruit and primary acidity. There’s so much breadth and depth in the Loire, which forms a serious part of our white wine range’s heartland. Anjou Blanc is doing really well with us at the moment – its juicy, limey sweetness makes it extremely approachable.

We also have incredibly high repeat purchases of Vouvray as we keep it at affordable prices. We’ve been working hard to get our Anjou and Vouvray lines correct and are over the moon with the
quality of the 2013 vintage in Anjou – the wines are real crowd pleasers.

We’ve recently had a lot of agents talking to us about Muscadet on the back of a good harvest. The wines offer great quality across all price points and we sell a huge amount in our stores from
entry level to Finest. Muscadet is a word consumers seem to know and latch on to.

There’s a return to the classics going on at the moment – France is doing really well as a category and the Loire is a big part of its success. The region is holding its own in the UK market at the moment.

We’re putting a lot of effort into working closely with our growers out there. Our Loire wines are some of the prettiest we get through the door.”