LOIRE SAUVIGNON BLANC
The land of Loire Sauvignon Blanc runs eastwards from Tours through Touraine along the Cher Valley across to appellations Menetou-Salon, Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé and Coteaux du Giennois. The forested Sologne area makes a substantial gap in the middle. Appellations Quincy and Reuilly are to the west and south of Bourges.
Sauvignon is planted in the small appellations of Cheverny and Valençay – although wines from 100% Sauvignon Blanc are permitted, they are often a blend of Sauvignon with about 20% Chardonnay. There is some IGP Sauvignon planted in western Touraine and in Anjou, but it is not a major variety, nor do producers have any great ambitions for the wines they make from Sauvignon.
Touraine and the Central Vineyards are part of the clay limestone Paris basin. The proportion of clay varies from virtually nothing – the pure limestone of the caillottes – to the terres blanches, chiefly on the higher slopes, with a much higher amount. Flinty silex soils are also found across the region.
Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé are closer to Chablis (about 100km) than they are to Tours (180km) – Pouilly-Fumé is administratively in Burgundy. This means Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé have a much more continental climate than do the vineyards of Touraine, which benefit from the moderating influence of the Atlantic.
Furthermore, at Sancerre and Pouilly-sur-Loire, the river flows
