Touraine wines

Going forward with my blog in future, I will try to look in more depth about different wine regions and grapes. The more ‘Facebook/Instagram’ type posts may start to appear more on my feeds for those sites. (Not currently up and running, but may be soon, stay posted).

This month, I will be reviewing some ‘Touraine’ wines. After a little bit of research, I found that these are wines from the Loire Valley. Specifically from around the city of Tours, (which explains the name). As you can see from the map below, there is a larger Touraine area (marked in light brown) and this subdivides into more specific names. one if which is also called ‘Touraine’. This is the one just south east of Tours. This is slightly confusing. Is a Touraine from the larger general area, or the smaller specific one. I will research this more and update in future posts.

For those of you who recall, my post back in January 2019 on ‘Recommended Whites’ , reviewed three white wines. Although the Muscadet was my favourite, I was very impressed with the ‘Pierre Chanau’ Touraine Sauvignon. It was the cheapest, but I thought very good value, and it is in one of my ‘buy some of these’ when I shop at Auchan.
Remember that ‘Chanau’ is an anagram of ‘Auchan’, so that is the clue that ‘Pierre Chanau’ is Auchan’s own brand. It makes the wine look a bit more classy than if the bottles were labelled ‘Auchan’. This is OK for their own brand cheeses and stuff like that, but not for wine. In the past, I have often (but not always) found the Pierre Chanau wines to be good value. So I was curious to try a different white Touraine, so I tried one labelled ‘Domaine du Chapitre’ It took a bit of research to check if this is a specific vineyard, or an area. I am sure it is vineyard. Check out their website for more details (there is a red wine from the same place coming up). It could make a nice trip if driving through France. Looking at their location and the map above, they are in region 26, so they are ‘Touraine’ Touraine wines.

All comments just from me

Domaine du Chapitre (White)

• Touraine Sauvignon 2016
• €5.40 from Auchan

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A fruity lemon zest aroma. Quite strong, but very pleasant
A citrus lemony zestful flavour too. More bite than the Pierre Chanau equivalent.

Touraine Gamay

• Pierre Chanau
• €3.95

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A strong aroma, maybe a bit overpowering. The taste quite pleasant, but was a bit too sharp and acidic for me.

Touraine Gamay

• Domaine du Chapitre
• €5.40 from Auchan

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A nice fruity aroma. Not dark fruits, but a lighter berry fruit.
A smoother and less acidic taste compared to the Pierre Chanau one. A nice distinctive light berry flavour.

Review

Looking at the map again, I see that this region is quite near the ‘Muscadet de Sevre et Maine’ region. This is still my favourite white. This whole region is referred to as ‘the Loire Valley wine region’ according to Wikipedia’s page on Touraine wines. Wikipedia also says that Touraine wines ‘produce dry, white wines and red wines rich in tannins.’ I do like my whites dry and my reds not too rich in tannins. So with this information, and my tasting of the wines, for me personally, I will mainly buy white wine from this area.

For the whites, I liked both the Pierre Chanau and the Domaine du Chapitre Touraine Sauvignons. The Pierre Chanau was lighter, and maybe better for a late afternoon BBQ. The Domaine du Chapitre had a more full bodied flavour.

For the reds, the difference between the more expensive Domaine du Chapitre was noticeable. I will not be buying the Pierre Chanau Touraine Gamay again. I have had better wines at that price (or even cheaper). I may buy the Domaine du Chapitre Touraine Gamay again. It had a nice lighter flavour and could go with a meal where one might have a white wine, like chicken. It is nice to have a variety of wines to choose from and a bottle or two of this would be good to have in stock.

Newsflash – I am in Boulogne

Maybe not such a good idea in the current situation, but I have popped over to France, and am finishing this post from Rue de la Providence in Boulogne. A friend had some urgent business in Paris and needed a lift. So over we went, with 2 days in Boulogne first.

It means that I will have to self isolate for 2 weeks when I am back in the UK. I did stock up a lot of food at home before I left, so should be fine. Have my work computer set up again at home, so should be OK. Will head off to Auchan tomorrow and make some purchases. Stay tuned for what I bought.