A Donkey, A Subregion & an Underrated White Grape!
- a myth, vouvray, chenin blanc, Loire & brain hardwiring,
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Today we’re hanging out with one of the most underrated white wines in France, and I promise it will challenge everything you know about fruit-expressive wines. White wine drinkers tend to belong to one of two camps for white wine preferences: fruit-expressive or mineral-driven. Today’s Vouvray falls under the fruit-expressive category. Fruit-expressive does not necessarily mean sweet, but rather that the dominant flavours are those of fruit.
Vouvray? Is that the grape?
THE PLACE
Vouvray is a wine from a subregion of the same name within France’s Loire Valley. It produces whites made from Chenin Blanc, the grape.
I like to introduce maps early!
The Loire Valley is the wine region that follows the Loire River, France’s longest river (1000 km / 625 mi long). This river was key to the wine trade prior to the advent of railway systems. The Loire River starts in the center of France and flows north then west, all the way to the Atlantic. Should you follow this water course, you would encounter four unique wine regions - although all are officially considered Loire!
The Loire regions have evolved to grow different grapes, producing wines of different taste and style profiles. The result is 34 subregions broken down within these four wine regions. For more on that check it out here.
Nifty.
Here is the featured nifty place.
Vouvray is within Touraine, one of the four wine regions of Loire. Can you picture yourself standing just east of the charming city of Tours, on the right bank of the Loire, looking out over rolling limestone hills? That’s Vouvray.
I’m there baby, I’m there! All I’m missing is understanding what is in my glass, man!
Right! If Loire is four wine regions for the price of one, Vouvray is five wines for the price of one subregion.
Handy!
Let me explain...
THE GRAPE
Vouvray is 100% dedicated to Chenin Blanc.
Chenin Blanc, often abbreviated to just Chenin, has been referred to as the world’s most versatile grape.
The featured wine is a dry Vouvray, and it is still (not sparkling) although it can also be produced as a sparkling wine. This one is dry, but Vouvrays can be fully sweet and everything in between – making for five distinct wine styles from the same grape in the same place.
That’s unusual, isn’t it?
It is – its superpower is its acidity, which gives it the versatility to produce balanced sweet wines as opposed to cloying sweet wines that taste like syrup.
The result is a wine that can be bone dry to tooth-achingly sweet, still or sparkling, enjoyed young or aged 5 years, or in the case of fully sweet wines, 50 years even! Chenin does it all. Not many grapes can pull off this range.
Is this why you talked about fruitiness from the onset?
Actually no, thanks for bringing us back there.
Since our brains are hardwired to associate fruitiness with sugar, many perceive that fruit-expressive wines are sweet on the palate. A real turn-off for the “mineral-driven wine” camp drinkers, and fair enough – you love who you love!
But!
Even if you don’t like sweet … keep reading! The featured wine is fruit-expressive and not sweet– I will get to that later.
THE HISTORY
Vouvray goes way back to the year 372 when St. Martin founded the first vineyards. A legend goes that the benefits of short pruning grape vines were credited to an overindulgent donkey.
A donkey! That’s a first, your stories have not included a donkey before!
And to be specific, short pruning means that the lower trellis wire is no higher than 0.55 m (1.8 ft).
That’s very specific.
Agreed. Apparently, that was lower than the donkey’s knees as he left those untouched.
Hhhmmm
The suspicion is that the legend was inspired by the biblical book of Genesis where Judah tied his donkey to a grapevine, or in Greek mythology where Aristaeus ‘discovered’ that pruning was “invented” by his vine eating goat.
I have written about St. Martin before; he really kicked off a wine tradition that endures to this day. As far as Chenin Blanc is concerned, it is more “modern” dating back only to the 13th century. The grape growers had already located the best plots for white grapes along the edge of the plateau and hillsides with their “tuffeau” soils, a chalky limestone. Chenin Blanc was eventually given the privilege of that best seat amongst the vineyards.
Because of the view?
No, because the soil drains well. This means that vines planted in the stony limestone soils ripen better than those planted in more clay-based soils, which are colder. This coolness inhibits ripening.
As the centuries rolled on, the kings demanded Vouvray, the monks such as St Martin dug it, and the Dutch brokers flogged it, resulting in northern European countries buying it. By the 20th century, within Loire, Vouvray was the first to be considered an official subregion, due to its enduring reputation, literally putting it on the (wine subregion) map!
Okay, I get it now. Let me take another sip. Yes, fruit-expressive with its acacia, apple, and quince, but you’re right, it’s dry!
You sound surprised. Still don’t trust me, huh!
(awkward silence)
Now I hear the donkey’s ghost saying to stop reading and go find a bottle! Don’t forget to keep scrolling down to get to the featured wine section.
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Champalou Vouvray Sec 2023, Touraine, Loire, France
Style: Medium Body Fruit-expressive White Wine
Variety(ies): Chenin Blanc
In the glass are bright notes of white acacia blossom, green apple, pear, quince, an evocative honey wax note, and a touch of dried herbs. It’s medium-bodied, has fresh acidity, and such a long finish.
Best pairings: Roasted poultry, white fish in sauce, grilled white meat, shellfish, vegetable stir-fry, and Japanese cuisine. Cheese: fresh goat cheese and Brie
Serving Temperature: 10 degrees Celsius
Serving Tips: Pour & enjoy
Price: ~$34 Cdn
Relevant Shades of Grape links: Keep scrolling
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LINKS TO RELEVANT PAST SHADES OF GRAPE ARTICLES:
SOURCES
Arthur, G. (2020). The mythology of wine (eBook). ISBN 978-0-2288-3259-1.
Champalou. (n.d.). Champalou. https://champalou.com/
Harding, J., & Robinson, J. (2023). The Oxford companion to wine. Oxford University Press.
McNeil, K. (2015). The wine Bible (3rd ed.). Workman Publishing.
Shades of Grape. (n.d.). A river runs through it: Loire Valley’s. https://www.shadesofgrape.ca/p/a-river-runs-through-it-loire-valleys
Vins de Vouvray. (n.d.). Our terroir: Chenin wine. https://www.vinsdevouvray.com/en/our-terroir-chenin-wine/
Wine & Spirit Education Trust. (2025). D3: Wines of the world—An accompaniment to the WSET Level 4 diploma in wines (Version 1.2). Wine & Spirit Education Trust.