What are the best years for Loire valley wines?
Loire valley wines vintage chart
Climatic conditions remain the determining factor for the quality of wine vintages. Loire valley wines are no exception to this rule. To produce a great Loire valley wine, favorable conditions must have been met, from spring until the grapes are harvested at the end of the summer.
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:
- the type of wine, usually distinguishing between red, dry white and sweet white wines
- 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?
Loire valley wine vintage guide
Bourgueil 2010 to 2018 | Red wines 
Vouvray 2010 to 2018 | White wines 
To browse the vintage chart for Loire valley wines, appellation by appellation, use the links in the list below.
About our wine vintage charts
We have drafted this guide on the basis of a unique methodology, which consists of analyzing the ratings given by hundreds of web users to a representative sample of winegrowers and wines selected by us.
