Loire Valley Climate

Different regions are subject to different climate influences:

• Lower Loire (Muscadet and Pays Nantais) has a cool maritime climate with high rainfall.

• Middle Loire (Anjou-Saumur and Touraine) has a cold climate with a mix of oceanic and continental influence.

• Central Loire (Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé) has a cold continental climate with cold winters and warm summers.

Loire Valley Terroir

The terroir in the Loire Valley is incredibly varied due to its geographic spread:

• Lower Loire is known for its granite and schist soils, which give the wines (Muscadet) a distinctive mineral character.

• Middle Loire has limestone, clay and sand soils. The Saumur and Touraine soils can be good for both white and red wines.

• Central Loire has limestone and silex (flint) soils which give the Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé wines their signature smoky and mineral flavors.