Loire Valley
Spanning from the Central Vineyards in the east to Nantes in the west, passing through Torraine and Anjou-Samur, the Loire Valley is a vast and varied wine region shaped by the river's influence. The region's diverse terroir is characterized by a continental climate in the east and a maritime climate in the west.
Renowned for its exceptional dry white wines made from Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc, the Loire Valley offers a captivating selection with crisp acidity, expressive fruit flavours, and mineral notes. Notable white wine appellations in the Loire Valley include Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé, Vouvray, and Savennières. Leading producers of white wine in the region include Domaine Vacheron, Domaine Huet, and Domaine Didier Dagueneau.
In addition to its white wines, the Loire Valley produces charming red wines made from Cabernet Franc. Ranging from light and fruity to more complex and age-worthy, these red wines are known for their vibrant acidity, subtle tannins, and bright red fruit flavours. Key appellations for red wines in the Loire Valley include Chinon, Bourgueil, and Saumur-Champigny. Notable producers of red wine in the region include Domaine Bernard Baudry, Catherine & Pierre Breton, and Domaine Charles Joguet.
The Loire Valley also produces excellent sweet wines and sparkling wines. Sweet wines are made from Chenin Blanc grapes affected by botrytis, a fungus that concentrates the sugars in the grapes, resulting in luscious sweetness, honeyed flavors, and vibrant acidity. The most famous sweet wine appellations in the Loire Valley include Coteaux du Layon and Quarts de Chaume. Sparkling wines, known as Crémant de Loire, are made using the traditional method and offer excellent value for money with finesse, delicate bubbles, and refreshing character.
Loire Valley
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Vinous (94)
Hailing from a warm vintage that was one of the best in what would otherwise have been a fairly ordinary decade, the 1985 Moulin Touchais Coteaux du Layon is starting to take on a deep golden appearance, commencing to amber. It offers a gorgeous, suave texture and a very complex nose that's a touch oxidative but that adds a layer of additional intrigue: it's all nuts, raisins, walnuts, olives, warm pastry, cinnamon, cooked orange peel. It's round and sweet (95g/L) but not unctuous with richness on the mid-palate while retaining enough acidity to refresh the mouth on the long finish. A wine that is very comfortable in its own skin, providing a very relaxing experience.保税价格￥ 2,655.00 -
Vinous (95)
Starting to take on a deep golden hue, the 1997 Moulin Touchais Coteaux du Layon is a sensuous sweet wine (92g/L of residual sugar) that offers ripe and concentrated flavors of apricot jam, cooked oranges botrytis-derived spices (60% of the fruit was affected by botrytis, a high proportion for this wine). It is intense, rich and honeyed, coating the palate with its sucrosity. There's just enough acidity here to keep things going but it does not have the vivacious refreshment of cooler years, providing a weightier, fully charged expression. The finish is lengthy and fragrant.保税价格￥ 2,360.00 -
(6x75cl) 2020Exemplifying the best of Loire Valley, the Pascal Cotat Sancerre Les Monts Damnes 2020 is an elegant expression of the terroir. Sourced from the famed Monts Damnés slope in Chavignol, the grapes catch an optimum amount of sunshine leading to a precise and balanced Sauvignon Blanc. It's organically made, exuding a bouquet of ripe fruits, mineral undertones and subtle hints of spice. The wine is passionately crafted by Pascal Cotat, a revered, third-generation winemaker known for his utmost respect for traditional practices and his vines, some of which are over 70 years old. The drawing power of Pascal Cotat Sancerre Les Monts Damnes 2020 lies in its longevity, notably improving with age. It's a testament to the Cotat family's innate ability to create wines with spectacular complexity and depth. This wine embodies profound elegance and an incredible finish promising a memorable drinking experience.
保税价格￥ 3,085.00 -
保税价格￥ 781.00 -
保税价格￥ 2,405.00 -
Wine Advocate (94)
From Souzay-Champigny and cultivated on clay-limestone terroir with just a 30-centimeter layer of clayey sand before the Seonian limestone is present, the 2019 Saumur Blanc Clos Romans has a straw yellow color and a deep yet subtle and complex bouquet of white fruits intertwined with the flinty limestone aromas. Pure, fresh and juicy, with great finesse and mineral tension, this is a refined and highly elegant Saumur Chenin with a persistent, sustainably structured finish. It's an impressive wine and one of the finest dry Chenins I have had from the Loire this year. Tasted in June 2021.保税价格￥ 1,475.00 -
Vinous (95)
The 2019 Saumur Champigny Clos de L'Echelier is round and gently calm, almost meditative, but the chalky soil keeps things fresh and moving along despite the warmth of the growing season. There's delicacy on the midpalate and chalky finesse and fine tension on the lengthy finish, which is scented with red fruits and flowers. Outstanding stuff.保税价格￥ 1,110.00 -
Wine Spectator (93)
Vivid, with a lovely beam of cassis and dark cherry puree racing through, flanked by hints of graphite and alder and scored by flashes of bay, olive and sweet tobacco through the finish. A Loire red lover's dream. Drink now through 2026. 42 cases imported.保税价格￥ 998.00 -
Vinous (96)
From vines planted in 1904 that sit on both flint and limestone, which is a rare combination in Saumur-Champigny, the 2019 Les Memoires is all purity of coulis-like fruit. It offers incredible concentration yet floats in the mouth like a weightless cloud. If there were a Cabernet Franc equivalent of Chambolle Musigny, this would be it. I love it. The finest of chalky tannins are just present on the finish, as if to remind you this is a red wine.保税价格￥ 1,735.00 -
Wine Advocate (94)
From low-yielding Cabernet Franc vines that average 45 years of age and root in the silex clay soils of the côte, the 2019 Bourgueil Le Grand Clos opens with a pure, fine and intense, concentrated but also aromatic and fragrant bouquet of dark and red fruits and crushed stones along with refreshing lemony and spicy notes. Round and very elegant on the palate, this is a beautifully balanced Grand Clos with a concentrated finish with tight but fine tannins and a fresh acidity that gives a positive astringency. The aftertaste is long and intense but always in balance and underlines the remarkable finesse of this wine that aged for 12 to 18 months in 400-liter tonneaux. Tasted in June 2021.保税价格￥ 1,450.00 -
Wine Advocate (93+)
From vines averaging 45 years of age on the slopes of the Coteau and aged in oak barrels for 20 months, the 2018 Bourgueil Les Quartiers opens with a deep, intense and toasty bouquet of ripe, black berries and blackcurrants intermixed with spicy tones, cigar box and graphite. Silky, refined and fresh on the palate, this is an elegant, tight but vivacious, silky-textured Cabernet Franc with crystalline tannins and a long finish that is still oak-influenced in its flavors, but the structure, finesse and intensity and the very delicate raspberry flavor in the aftertaste indicate excellent aging potential. Personally, I prefer the crus that were partly aged in stoneware (amphorae) and also for a shorter period, whereas Les Quartiers represents the old Amirault style, before 2014.保税价格￥ 2,270.00
