Loire order

Values from France's charmed stepchild

Uncorked by David Marglin

For years, maybe even centuries, the Loire Valley has been France's number five wine region. (The top four are Burgundy, Bordeaux, Champagne, and the Rhône Valley.) But being down at number five doesn't mean being in the cellar, as it does in professional sports -- or rather, it does mean being in the cellar, but in a good way. In its many distinct appellations, or subregions, the Loire makes a bundle of wines worth laying down in your wine cellar, as well as a boatful of winners ready to drink now.

Three primary grapes are grown near the Loire River (pronounced "lou-are"): the main white grapes are chenin blanc and sauvignon blanc, and the main red is cabernet franc. The best-known appellations are Muscadet, Anjou, Chinon, Vouvray, and Sancerre, but there are more than a hundred different wines produced here: full-blown reds, rosés, sparklers, dry whites, and unctuously sweet whites. These last, as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, are all the rage right now.

The Loire offers some real values at the moment, because the region doesn't have the same cachet -- in America, at least -- as the other major regions. In the 1970s, Sancerre became the darling white of Paris wine aficionados, who took to the sauvignon blanc-based wines of Sancerre and its neighbor across the river, Pouilly-Fumé. (Pouilly-Fumé, incidentally, gave rise to the Mondavi name for sauvignon blanc: "Fumé Blanc.") As more and more of the bourgeoisie turned to Sancerre for their white dinner wine, the price was driven up. Now, however, the broad range of white wines available, including a plethora of sauvignon blancs from around the world and the abundance of ripe fruit from two stellar recent vintages, '95 and '96, have brought Sancerre back to earth.

In many years, winemakers in the Loire Valley must make do with underripe fruit, owing to the less-than-ideal weather conditions and to archaic French laws governing the harvest. But both '95 and '96 yielded fruit that was both copious and perfectly ripe. Couple that mature fruit with the New World style of fruit-forward winemaking being adopted by many of the region's winemakers, and voilà, beaucoup des vins terrifique. Indeed, the ample supply of ripe chenin blanc (along with its quality) has created a corresponding demand for the sweet whites made from the highly acidic chenin blanc grapes grown near the Layon, a Loire tributary.

Chenin blanc generally creates super-sharp (and slightly sour) Vouvray and other starkly dry white wines, as well as numerous sparkling whites that are lighter and far less refined than Champagne. But when the fruit gets really ripe, it's made into wine classified as demi sec (partly sweet) or moulleux (sweet, caused by the noble rot, botrytis, that grows on the grapes in October). The demi-sec wines, such as those suggested below, go well with spicy foods; the sweet wines, including the Domaine Des Baumards Quarts Des Chaumes that I reviewed two weeks ago, are like honey when drunk by themselves, and are also great with dessert.

Muscadet, near the Loire's mouth (and the Atlantic), makes a light, refreshing white wine that can be slightly pétillant (an almost-fizzy feeling in the mouth). Look for those labeled Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine. Meanwhile, Anjou's rosés are as famous as its pears, but red gamays (the Beaujolais grape) of gentle fruitiness are produced here as well. Chinon reds, made mainly from the acidic and intense cabernet franc, compete with those from Bourgueil across the river for the mantle of best red Loire. Both are worth trying, either young or old.

One store that's long and strong on Loires is the Wine Cellar of Silene. It didn't fit into my last column on the area's best wine stores, but it belongs in their company: with depth in French, Italian, and American wines, it draws customers from well outside its Waltham location. General manager David Bergman and his staff are almost religious about wine, which might explain the mythical figure in the store's name (Silenus was Dionysus's wine steward). I've always been impressed with their ability to suggest quality California wines -- for example, they turned me on to the Lockwood Merlot and "discovered" Philip Togni long before the vaunted Robert Parker did. The address is 475 Winter Street, in Waltham (Exit 27B off Route 128); hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tastings, organized by region, are held Fridays from 5 to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 2 to 4:30 p.m.

**1/2 Sancerre 1996 Cuvee des Moulins Bàles ($12.99, Wine Cellar of Silene, Brookline Liquor Mart)

Crisp, fruity, edgy, with lush pineapple stripes and a nose of green apples. None of the vegetal characteristics that sauvignon blanc is famous for, but some hints of what the French call pipi de chat in its aroma. A summer supper wine to serve super-cold, perhaps with cheese and fruit.

**1/2 Vouvray Domaine Bourillon D'Orleans Sec ($9.99, Wine & Cheese Cask)

Crisp and dry, with clean flavors (and a touch of Granny Smith-apple bite) that will freshen up any summer day. Serve cold on a picnic or by the pool with fish from the grill. A solid value.

*** Chinon Les Varonnes du Grands Clos 1996 Joguet ($22.99, Wine Cellar of Silene)

Excellent cab franc/cab sauvignon blend, chock full of lush, dark berry fruit mixed with earth and coffee. This wine, though still awfully young, is reminiscent of a pastoral meadow after a long spring rain. One that I would hold for a while, but it can be drunk now with an hour or so of air.

David Marglin can be reached at wine[a]phx.com.

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