Chinon — terroir, soils & grape varieties

On the banks of the Vienne

Chinon spans twenty-six communes in Indre-et-Loire, on both banks of the Vienne, down to its confluence with the Loire. It is one of the Loire's great red appellations — Cabernet Franc reigns here — with a small production of rosés and Chenin whites.

The terroir: gravel or tuffeau

Three main soils share the appellation, and they shape two styles. Along the river, alluvial terraces of gravel and sand give supple, delicate wines, pale in colour with crisp fruit. On the hillsides and chalk-and-tuffeau knolls, as well as the clay-with-flint summits, full-bodied, structured wines are born instead, deep purple in colour, made for cellaring.

This gravel/tuffeau duality is the key to understanding Chinon: a single grape variety, two expressions, from easy-drinking wine to cellar wine.

The style of the wines

Chinons from gravel offer raspberry, strawberry and a smooth, easy-flowing palate, to be drunk within two to five years. Hillside Chinons unfold stewed dark fruit, sweet spice and, with age, notes of game and undergrowth, on a dense structure that keeps for ten to twenty years — the 1989 vintage remains legendary. A benchmark Cabernet Franc, elegant and easy-drinking.

The grape varieties of Chinon

Chinon wines on 1001caves

Detailed pages: the cuvée, the estate, the drinking window and the bottles for sale between collectors.

Charles Joguet - Chinon Clos de la Dioterie 2015Chinon→Château de Coulaine, Sinople 2023Chinon→Couly-Dutheil - Chinon Clos de L'Écho Crescendo 2018Chinon→Couly-Dutheil - Chinon Les Chanteaux 2023Chinon→Domaine de la Morandière - Vielles Vignes Chinon 2019Chinon→Domaine Philippe Alliet - Chinon 2024Chinon→Domaine René Couly - Chinon 2021Chinon→Philippe Alliet - Vieilles Vignes 2022Chinon→