The River Loire winds its way gracefully from vineyard to vineyard as it travels to the Atlantic. In the east are the legendary areas of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, regarded the world over for their intense Sauvignon Blanc wines. As you travel farther west, you reach the area known as the Middle Loire. No longer is Sauvignon Blanc grown—here is the home of Chenin Blanc.

The versatility of Chenin Blanc in this area is incredible; it produces table wines that range from bone-dry to sweet, as well as sparkling wine and dessert wine from botrytis affected grapes. The AOCs of the middle Loire even boast respectable red wine producing areas, no small feat for an area located so far north. Like the upper Loire, the middle contains many small AOC areas, the most important are Chinon, Vouvray, Anjou and Saumur.

Sparkling wines the Loire are second only in production to Champagne in all of France. The biggest single area for production in the Loire is Saumur. Each year more that 12 million bottles of Saumur Mousseux are produced. The name derives from the texture that the wines are supposed to have—the small, dense bubbles in Mousseux are likened to that delicate French dessert, mousse.

Anjou is the appellation near to Saumur, it grows the Chenin Blanc grape as well as the red Cabernet Franc, the region produces a spectrum of wines. Reds and roses are popular here; the off-dry Rose d’Anjou is made from a blend of red grapes and Cabernet d’Anjou is a dry red made from Cab Franc and Cab Sauvignon. A dry white is made from Chenin Blanc called Savennières this is very distinct wine. Unlike most whites, it can be aged for extended periods; the concentrated wines are very intense (and a little funky). Sweet wines are made from several appellations, the best being Quarts-de-Chaume and Bonnezeaux.

Vouvray is another appellation producing a diverse range of wines. Depending on the weather each year, the area produces dry still wines, sparkling wines and off-dry still wines. In years with enough moisture, noble rot takes over and there is production of very sweet dessert wines. the wines should be labeled according to the sweetness so that the consumer can tell what they are getting. The driest is called “sec”, off-dry wines are called “demi-sec”, sweet wines are “moulleux” and very sweet wines are “doux.”

Finally, the area called Chinon produces red wines from Cabernet Franc and contains several sub-regions called Bourgueil and Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil. All of the areas produce reds; some use a blend of Cab Franc along with some Cabernet Sauvignon. These areas are the largest red wine producers in France.