matter of taste | | WINE WORLDV Ineyards of CHInon G row someof tH e world’s most I mpressIVeC abernet franCa tradI t I onal stone-and-brICkw Ine C ellar of tH e loI rePhotoS PhoToS Getty ImaGes0 5 4
WINE WORLD | | matter of tastethe same root and connotations as“marrow”). A few establishments in theTouraine cultivate the rare, often (but notalways) delicate and florally perfumedblack variant of Chenin, known morecommonly as Pineau d’Aunis. Yet verynearby are villages – notably Bourgueiland Chinon – that grow some of theworld’s most imposing and age-worthyCabernet Franc.The diversity of the Loire’s wineshas cultural as well as geographicalorigins. Successive waves of viticulturalmigration are what deposited, amongLoire reds for examples, the Cabernetsbetter known from Bordeaux,Burgundy’s Pinot, but also Gamay,familiar from Beaujolais.In the wine appellation of Cheverny– home to the eponymous stonebuiltchâteau that is among France’smost famous – red wine is bottledusing any or all the above. The cultureof countries that over the centurieshave been the Loire wine growers’customers have also left strong marks.It was Dutch traders beginning inthe late 16th century whose interestand wealth prompted many vinousdevelopments whose results westill enjoy today, including the noblysweet wines from Chenin that are nowamong the Loire’s gems.Loire vineyards and cellars arethe ideal places to be introduced tothe mysteries of terroir. The notionthat taste – and not just that of wines– varies profoundly according to theexposure and soil of the place wherea crop is grown nowadays permeatesWestern food culture. Skepticism aboutthe influence of location and geologicalunderpinnings on the aromas, flavors,and textures of wine is no longer theintellectual default position among“New World” wine growers andoenophiles, let alone in fashion. onthe contrary, talk of terroir is now sofrequent and so loose that it threatensto become trivial or vacuous. But theLoire’s growers will see to it that thenotion of terroir gets put back downto-earthwhere it belongs.The Loire is a great laboratory fortesting terroir not just because thegrapes grown here can give suchdifferent results in nearby sites butbecause these differences are what somany Loire vignerons revel in, and theyare keen to communicate that pleasureas well as to watch tasters’ faces lightupas they have an “aha!” experience.of course, this approach is also goodbusiness sense. Can’t decide whichsingle-vineyard wine you prefer? Thenbuy some of each. Want to performthis same magic show for your friendsat home? Same answer.Nobody knows in any detail whatit is about the soil and its geologicalorigins or precisely how these impingeon plant metabolism to results in suchformidable differences of taste. Butthere are at least a few scientificallysound hypotheses, and even as youmarvel at the scenery and the oftenmagnificent edifices along the Loire,you will – oenophile that you are –pick-up some striking hints about justhow this might work.Buildings rendered from the classic,nearly 100 million-year-old Loire marinesediment known as tuffeaux seemalmost to radiate a glow of their ownover and beyond reflecting the sun’srays. As not only this region’s handsomeabove-ground structures but also itsthousands of miles of cellars and itstroglodytic villages literally carved fromstone testify, tuffeaux is amazingly easyto carve – just take a sharp fingernail tosome – yet capable of structural supportthat lasts for centuries. What’s more,spend just a little time down in one ofthose cellars or cliff-hanging dwellingsand it will dawn on you that the wallsare breathing. Afterward, the experienceof a “normal” cellar or house will feellike you shed cotton for polyester. Thisstone, for all of its strength, is amazinglylow-density and micro-porous.In some places, though, you’llencounter buildings and cellars ofschiste: walls from great gray slabs ofit, with matching slate-like roof tiles.Château in the Loire’s schiste belt – incomplete contrast with their morefamous and glamorous not to mentionluminous tuffeaux relatives – have thelook of foreboding castles no matterwhat you do to brighten them, andregardless of when they were built. heftit, tap it, scratch it, walk-around insidea cellar or room built from it, and you’llrecognize that schiste is tuffeaux’s alterego,not just in its darkness and densitybut in the way it seems to suck up and0 5 5
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