La Tour Saint-Martin
The Central Vineyards are home to the Loire Valley’s most famous appellations, and in view of the prices fetched for the best-known – these being Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé – we could also argue these are the Loire’s most successful appellations. With this in mind you might expect the region to have developed into a vine-based monoculture, a wall-to-wall carpet of vines eventually crowding out other forms of agriculture as the locals realise that there is a lot more profit to be made in wine than in wheat. This is, however, not the case. Sure, in Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé the vine rules all, but beyond their borders the other appellations – Reuilly, Quincy, Menetou-Salon and the Coteaux du Giennois – are not so famous, and the planting is discontinuous.
Of the four appellations name-checked above, Menetou-Salon is the most significant, and certainly the one most relevant to this profile. The appellation is small and the vineyards abut those of Sancerre; this is different to Reuilly and Quincy, which are both little islands of viticulture located some way to the west. This proximity to Sancerre means the two appellations share a similar mix of terroirs, which is no doubt at least partly responsible for the rather familiar style of wine made here, one which bears more than a passing resemblance to that of its famous neighbour. As a consequence, Menetou-Salon enjoys a slightly elevated reputation compared to its more distant cousins. It is perhaps damning with faint praise to refer to any appellation as ‘a good alternative to…..‘, nevertheless in the case of Menetou-Salon it is undeniable that the wines offer wines which are very similar – whether white, rosé or red – to those from Sancerre, and often at a much lower price.
Please log in to continue reading: