Chinon wine comes from the vineyards around the town of

Chinon Chinon () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. The traditional province around Chinon, Touraine, became a favorite resort of French kings and their nobles beginning in the late 15th and early 16th centurie ...

Touraine Touraine (; ) is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, :Loir-et-Cher, Indre and Vien ...

. Unusual for the Loire Valley, it is mostly red wine, with 2-5% rosé and a little white wine.

Geography

The town of Chinon is situated on the banks of the River Vienne in Indre-et-Loire. The vineyards of the Chinon AOC cover the relatively steep banks of the Vienne as well as the less steep slopes running northward from the hills above Chinon to the Loire. The vineyards consist almost entirely of erosional scree and gravels on top of rather hard

Turonian The Turonian is, in the ICS' geologic timescale, the second age in the Late Cretaceous Epoch, or a stage in the Upper Cretaceous Series. It spans the time between 93.9 ± 0.8 Ma and 89.8 ± 1 Ma (million years ago). The Turonian is preceded b ...

limestones. Toward the Loire itself, the Turonian limestones give way to the Jurassic rock of the Loire.

Styles

The reds and rosés are generally made from

Cabernet Franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire's Chinon. In addition to being u ...

, although up to 25% of

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon ...

is permitted. They are typically dry and light to medium bodied and go well with food. In good vintages the red wines can be cellared for 10 years or more. Cabernet Franc grown on the stony terraces of the area tends to be a young wine with dominant notes of blackcurrant and anise. The wines are from the steeper rockier areas along the hills that separate the Loire from the Vienne tend to produce wines that are more tannic and express the more austere terroir in a range of alkaloid flavors that give the wines a mineral, gamey complexity and a strong tannic backbone. These wines also tend to develop a velvety depth of spice flavors as they age. Though typically thought of as lighter wines, reds from good producers and strong vintages can be full bodied and well structured for aging. Their whites are composed primarily of Chenin blanc. They are typically described as dry, soft, light, and fresh.

References

External links

chinon.com

INAO
Loire AOCs

Geography

Styles

References

Further reading

External links