Chinon

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Accessory grape varieties

Terroir

• The vineyard extends across 26 communes in the Indre-et-Loire department, planted along the Vienne valley as well as on the left banks of the Indre and the Loire.
• On either side of the Vienne, the vineyard occupies the slopes and plateau edges, while in the Véron region, the confluence zone with the Loire, it is set within a more open landscape.
• The most characteristic soils derive from Upper Cretaceous sedimentary formations, namely the Cenomanian, Turonian, and Senonian, with soft Turonian chalks and argillo-siliceous Senonian formations.
• A portion of the soils also derives from the filtering sandy-gravelly formations of the Vienne's floodplain.
• Situated at the western tip of Touraine, the geographical zone benefits from an oceanic to semi-continental climate, warmer and drier than the rest of the region, with an early onset of vegetative growth in spring.
• The presence of southern and subtropical plant species such as magnolia, fig, and palm bears witness to the particular climatic characteristics of the geographical zone.

• The Cabernet franc variety, introduced from the South-West by travelling up the Loire from Nantes, is locally known as 'breton', a name Rabelais used in his Gargantua in 1534.
• The underground quarries cut into the tuffeau at the foot of the slopes — a soft Turonian chalk formation from which dressed stone was extracted — subsequently served as sites for wine production and sometimes for storage.
• The controlled designation of origin Chinon was recognised on 31 July 1937, following the founding on 24 May 1937 of a growers' syndicate for the defence of Chinon wines by the local winegrowing community.
• Despite the phylloxera crisis, Chinon's winegrowers have always re-established their vineyard on the historically cultivated sites, retaining Cabernet franc, to which they remain deeply attached.
• The expertise of the producers finds expression in the blending of wines from different soil situations, between the Turonian substratum and sandy-clay or sandy-gravelly soils.

• The white wines possess a certain natural acidity that allows their aromatic range to develop and deepen over time, their youthful fruity and floral aromas sometimes giving way to notes of honey, toasted almond, or quince.
• The red wines display a colour ranging from deep ruby to profound garnet, with a tannic structure that is often well-present yet integrated, and notes of small red and black fruits.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in France

Sources

• Product specification (BO Agri, PDF), JORF 22 juin 2018
• Official INAO text (show_texte)
• INAO product entry
• Official trade body site — InterLoire