Vignerons de Valençay Sauvignon Val de Loire 2025
£10.95
The wine
Sauvignon Blanc from the wider Val de Loire, bottled outside the named appellations, which is where the region grape becomes affordable.
Loire Sauvignon is leaner and more herbaceous than the New World style, built on the acidity the cool climate preserves rather than on tropical ripeness. The Vignerons de Valençay is the growers co-operative of Valençay, the westernmost of the central Loire appellations, which won its status only in 2004.
The producer
Vignerons de Valençay
View all Vignerons de Valençay winesVignerons de Valençay brings together growers in the Valençay appellation, a small and characterful corner in the heart of the Loire Valley. The focus is honest, expressive wine in the crisp, aromatic style the region does particularly well.
Valençay is one of the Loire's least known appellations, granted full AOC status only in 2004, and it sits at the eastern end of the valley near the border with Berry. That puts it close to Sancerre and Reuilly in both geography and geology: clay, limestone and flint soils that give Sauvignon Blanc its cut and its faintly smoky edge, at a fraction of the money the famous neighbours command.
The commune is better known to most visitors for its goat's cheese, an ash-coated truncated pyramid carrying the same appellation name, and the pairing of the two is the local orthodoxy for good reason: high-acid Sauvignon and fresh goat's cheese sharpen one another. The wines here are made for that job, fermented cool in stainless steel and bottled early, bright and citrus-fresh rather than built to age.
