Touraine

North of the Loire, a few kilometres upstream of its confluence with the Vienne, Bourgueil spans seven communes of Indre-et-Loire (eight historic ones) at the north-western end of the Touraine vineyard. The appellation makes still reds and rosés from Cabernet Franc, known locally as "breton", with no more than 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. The vines step down from a forest-capped tuffeau chalk slope to the sandy-clay or sandy-gravel terraces and low mounds at its foot: the specification links the latter to fruity reds with supple tannins, the former to fuller, more structured reds.

Across twenty-six communes of the Indre-et-Loire, on both banks of the Vienne and the left bank of the Loire and the Indre, Chinon makes reds and rosés from Cabernet Franc, the majority of any blend, with Cabernet Sauvignon in support (at most 10% of a holding's vines), and whites from Chenin Blanc alone. The specification links the slopes of tuffeau, a soft Turonian chalk, to reds with good tannic structure, and the sandy-gravel soils of the valley to a fruity aromatic expression; some of the fuller reds repay a few years in the cellar.

On the Loire's right bank, some twenty kilometres upstream of Tours, Vouvray, recognised as an appellation since 1936, turns Chenin Blanc (with a small share of Orbois allowed alongside) into wines from dry through sweet and on to sparkling wines made by a second fermentation in bottle. The tuffeau slopes, a soft Turonian chalk, carry both the vines and the cellars and troglodyte dwellings cut into the rock.