Appellations

Attempts to classify wines in France have been made since the 14th century and these entered a new era when in 1855 Bordeaux, on the west coast of France, produced a classification which divided the best vineyards into five levels of quality with the highest level going to five famous vineyards in the communes of Paulliac, Margaux and Pessac.

In the early years of the 20th century there was a lot of bad wine produced in France. Many talked about the need to introduce some control into vineyard practices, the making of the wine and the marketing of wine. Some attempts were made to establish regional appellations and to ensure that only grapes grown in that region were used in wines that were labelled as such. The creation of INAO in 1935 (Institut National des Appellations d’Origine) as the body with the legal responsibility for administering appellations in France was a huge step forward. The INAO is to this day the ruling body in France for the rules that govern the appellations.

They introduced a system of Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée - AOC (now called AOP - Appellation d'Origine Protégée - throughout the EU), where a set of strict rules, often overseen by a local committee, was introduced. These rules covered the permitted grape types which are explicitly stated, the communes in which the grapes can be grown, the maximum permitted yields (often around 50 hectolitres per hectare), the pruning type and the permitted harvesting techniques in some appellations.

AOC vs. IGP

This work was interrupted by the Second World War but resumed soon after with the formation of a second tier called the Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure (VDQS). The idea was that regions wanting to gain AOC status might first be granted VDQS status prior to elevation to AOC. It also allowed some status for regions that were marginal and might not ever gain AOC recognition.

Two more levels of recognition were later established (not under the control of INAO) namely Vin de Pays and Vin de Table. These are no longer used and VDQS disappeared at the end of 2011, to be replaced by IGP: Indication Géographique Protégée.

To quote UNESCO, the Loire Valley is: "an exceptional cultural landscape, of great beauty, comprised of historic cities and villages, great architectural monuments - the Châteaux - and lands that have been cultivated and shaped by centuries of interaction between local populations and their physical environment, in particular the Loire itself." The wines of the Loire Valley are an important part of this cultural heritage, in some regions going back two thousand years or more.

Many lists of appellations to be found on the internet are out of date. We have tried to produce the definative list for the Loire Valley but if you know better, please send us a note so that we can correct it.

IGP

The term IGP Val de Loire has been used since 2009 to replace the Vins de Pays of the same name. The underlying purpose of the classification is to define a hierarchy to tie down the production of wines to this particular region of France.

The IGP designation does not necessarily mean that the wine is of a lesser quality than wines with an AOC name. It may mean that the winemaker has chosen not to abide by the rules of the appellation. Thus, a winemaker in Chinon may have decided to make wine from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, thus ruling it ineligible to use the Chinon appellation which does not permit the use of more than 10% Cabernet Sauvignon.

IGP Val de Loire

One of the many rules that is strictly enforced is that the grapes must come from the region on the label. Grapes used in IGP Val de Loire must have been grown here.

IGP Val de Val wines offer great value for money and around 25 million bottles are produced each year. Of these, white wines represent 58% of production, rosé 22% and red 20%. 24 different grape varieties may be used but in whites Sauvignon and Chardonnay dominate, while the red grape varieties Gamay and Cabernet franc in particular, represent the reds.