Ch 1 Loire Terroir

True: 1,020 km (634 miles), from Mont Gerbier de Jonc (in the Massif Central's Cévennes range), north to Orléans, then west to Nantes and the Atlantic Ocean, between Saint-Nazaire and Saint Brevin-les-Pins

Allier: 410 km (250 miles), from the Massif Central to Nevers

• Allier
• Cher
• Indre
• Vienne
• Layon: joins Loire where Maine does
• Sèvre Nantaise: joins Loire opposite Erdre

• Maine: begins where Mayeene and Sarthe rivers join, joins Loire where Layon does
• Erdre: joins Loire opposite Sèvre Nantaise

• Lower Loire: Loire (Erdre, Sèvre Nantaise (La Maine, La Moine, La Sanguezee))
• Middle Loire: Loire (Cher, Indre, Vienne, Layon, Sarthe (Loir))
• Centre Loire: Loire (Cher)
• Upper Loire: Loire (Allier (Sioule))

• Henry II build dikes in flood-prone area in the 12th century
• Project continued by subsequent rulers
• Several of these dikes are still in use

16th-19th century

Railroad

• Middle Loire: middle of the Loire Valley wine region
• Centre Loire: geographical center of France

True: since 1957

• Lower Loire: aka Pays Nantais, the largest region
• Middle Loire: the garden of France, divided into 4 areas
• Centre Loire: small but famous (Sancerre, Pouilly Fúme)
• Upper Loire: aka Auvergne, within the Limagne plain, a graben
• Note: The Centre and Upper Loire are often referred to as a single region and both names have been used to describe all Loire vineyards east of Orléans

• 55

• Orléanis
• Touraine
• Anjou-Saumur
• Saumur

• La Loire (feminine): aka Vallée de la Loire, refers to the Loire River
• Le Loir (masculine): aka Vallée du Loir, refers to the Sarthe river tributary

• Coteaux du Vendômois
• Jasnières
• Boteaux du Loir

• Savennières AOC
• Anjou Coteaux de la Loire AOC
• Layon vineyards lie within Anjou and flank both sides of the Layon tributary

Fontevraud

• Muscadet Sévre-et-Maine appellation: refers to a tributary of the Sévre Nantaise river
• Maine-et-Loire department: refers to a tributary of La Loire, formed near Angers by the merging of la Mayenne, la Sarthe, and Le Loir rivers

• La Maine
• La Moine
• La Sanguèze

Oceanic: it stretches 60 miles eastward from the Atlantic Ocean and tides are visible in the Loire river to Ingrandes-sur-Loire (between Nantes and Angers)

False: although most of the Loire Valley lies along t5he 47th parallel, local climates are moderated by the Gulf Stream, water, wind, soil, and forests.

• This ocean current originates near Mexico and pushes warm water north so France's Atlantic coast has a milder climate with warmer winters

Water reflects the sun's heat outward instead of holding on to it like land

• Atlantic winds are strongest in the west, gradually lessening inland.
• Wind currents also emanate from interior plateaus and the Massif Central.
• Wind also chases out humidity and ventilates the vine canopy.

• Ambient temperatures are affected by the color of the soil with white tuffeau reflecting light while darker schist holds onto it.
• Stones also retain the heat of day and later release it, allowing the last 30 minutes of sunshine to build sugar during the growing season.

• They protect vineyards from cool winds or inclement weather.
• However, they also stop the wind from drying out the vineyards after rainfall.
• Vineyards near a forest are often cooler than those farther away.

10, usually from a 150-180 year old tree

True: they are more densely planted and don't have room to spread out

True: a spring/early wood band and a summer/late wood band

True: it is composed of vessels that transport nutrients and minerals upwards

False: reflects the photosynthetic power to build fiber from sugars; warmer, sunnier climates generate wider summer growth rings

False: The spring wood is uniform among oak trees; the width of the summer wood determines the classification

• Fine grain: aromatics (eugenol, whiskey lactones) from its many transport veins laced with sap
• Wide grain: oak tannin (ellagitannins) from its fiber

Tight grain wood

• The Center Woods: Tronçais, Allier, Nevers; planted with Quercus Petraea, used for wine
• Limousin: planted with Quercus Robur, used for Armagnac

True: aka Quercus sessiliflora or Quercus Petraea

False: aka Quercus Robur

section of the earth's crust bounded by faults into a mass that is either raised or depressed as a whole; also refers to a group of mountains formed by a massif

• Massif Armoricain: covers Brittany and parts of Normandy and the Loire
• The Paris Basin: encircles Paris and includes Tours, Reims, and Lille
• Massif Central: 450 extinct volcanoes in the middle of France and source of the Loire river

The process of mountain formation, especially by folding of the earth's crust

• Paleozoic Era (541-252 mya): The *Massif Amoricain was formed* by a colossal up-thrust of igneous rock (cooling lava and magma). The Variscan/Hercynian orogeny was caused by the continental collision of Euramerica (aka Laurussia) and Gondwana which formed the supercontinent of Pangaea.
• Mesozoic Era (252-66 mya): The Massif Amoricain eroded leaving a bedrock of weathered rock. Metamorphic rocks were formed (shale was transformed into slate or schist and sandstone into quartzite). Shallow seas advanced into France's interior.
• Cenozoic Era (66 mya-present): Glaciation and seismic movement generated faults. The Paris Basin sank and France's current mountains appeared (Massif Central, Pyrenees, Alps). The inland seas receded, leaving deposits forming the basis of sedimentary soils such as tuffeau and Portlandien limestone.
• Quaternary Period (2.6 mya-present): The Loire originally began near Orléans. Another river trickled from Massif Central towards the Seine. When the Mer de Faluns (sea created by melting glaciers) receded the river originating at Massif Central joined the Loire and the current Loire river was formed.

loose, calcareous and fossil-rich rock mixed with sand

• Nantes: crystalline sub-soils with acidic topsoils such as gneiss and mica schist
• West of Angers: schist
• Angers to Saumur: white chalk/tuffeau
• West of Tours: tuffeau; clay-limestone on hills, gravel on river banks
• East of Tours: flint, sand, clay, clay-limestone on hills, gravel on river banks
• Centre Loire: flint, marl, clay, limestone, gravels
• Auvergne: granite, mica schist, sandstone