A great vintage, in quality, but also in quantity is a vintage which was lucky to avoid late frosts, to benefit from a good amount of sunshine, while ensuring regular rains to avoid hydric vine stress that would be prejudicial to the good maturity of the grapes. However, wines having benefited from the same conditions can be very different. The subsoil, the orientation of the vines, the color of the wine and the grape varietal, the type of agriculture (e.g. organic or biodynamic) are all parameters that can influence the quality of wines from a same region. Loire valley wine vintage charts generally give average trends for the quality of wines for the whole region. Rarely for a sub-region, even less for a given appellation (e.g. Chinon or Sancerre). Generally, Loire valley wine vintage charts and guides evaluate the quality of vintages/years on 2 axes:

1. the type of wine, usually distinguishing between red, dry white and sweet white wines
2. the region, usually by making a separation between lower Loire valley wines from Nantes (e.g. Muscadet) to middle Loire valley wines (e.g. Touraine) and upper Loire valley wines (e.g. Sancerre).

To establish our own Loire valley wine vintage chart, we have developed a classification method determining the best years based on the tasting notes of the wines. What better way than using real tasting notes and reviews to assess which are the best years for Loire valley wines, appellation by appellation?