Loire Valley – Wine and Notable Regions

My notes from a wine class. See notes at end.

Loire Valley Notes

Sparkling wines are very important. Important grapes in this region: Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Franc, Melon de Bourgogne.

Important Regions of Loire Valley

Muscadet, Anjou, Saumur, Vouvray, Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé.

Muscadet

Crisp, citrus, aromatic. No real oak influence. Notes: briny, sea tang, salty. Melon de Bourgogne grape.

Anjou

Rosé – grape used is Cabernet Franc. Rosé d’Anjou – fruity and flowery. Fermented dry by very easy to drink. Grenache rosés a little better.

Saumur

Methode Champanoise, region known for sparkling wines – Saumur Mousseux

Vin Mousseux

French for sparkling wines. Champagne only comes from Champagne, and Champagne sparkling wine comes from Chardonnay grapes. The sparkling wine here comes from a blend Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc grapes.

• Blanc de Blanc – only white grapes are used
• Blanc de Noir – red grapes mixed in

Méthode Champenoise – Method of Champagne Making

6 Steps

1. Cuvée – harvested under brix, mixture of the two grapes
2. Liqueur de Tirage – blend of sugar and yeast added. Pressure builds 90#/sq inch. Bubbles suspended in liquid. 5 years for finer vintages.
3. Age – bubble, get finer. “Lees” build up here, dead yeast cells.
4. Remuage – turning of the bottles. “Riddling.” Three steps of turning bottles – pointage, remuage, dépointage.
5. Disgorgement – get rid of lees, head of bottle is near frozen, cork removed, pressure expels slush and lees, wine is left perfectly clear.
6. Dosage – adding sugar, etc, back to finish.
   1. Brut Nature – bone dry
   2. Brut
   3. Extra Dry
   4. Sec
   5. Demi Sec
   6. Doux – sweetest of Champagne

Vintage years are made from Bruts.

Vouvray

Chenin Blanc grapes mainly used, Cabernet Franc. Notes: melon, neutral, clean.

One method of harvest – cut back grapes from vines to increase juice of the rest of the grapes, concentrating flavors. No malolactic fermentation, stainless steel and no oak.

Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé

Sauvignon Blanc grapes used in both areas. “Sancerre” on bottle or “Pouilly-Fumé” on bottle. Notes: smokey, flinty. Unblended – crisp, acidic, weedy, grassy, crisp, oak aged. Pouilly-Fumé wines have a slight gray cast to it from the ground where the grapes grow, also giving the wines here a ‘smoky’ ‘flinty’ flavor.

When I was 19, I was a student of Western Culinary Institute in Portland, OR, before Career Education Corporation and Le Cordon Bleu took it over. I graduated in 1993, and at that time WCI was a great place to learn. Many of the pans I cooked on interestingly still had HMCI (Horst Mager Culinary Institute) inscribed on the handles. Above were notes that I found in a file folder from a wine class that I took when I was a student. The notes are from my personal tasting notes. Enjoy!