The Loire is Cabernet Franc's true homeland, and Chinon its greatest expression — a fresh, fragrant red of raspberry and violet, veined with the graphite-and-pencil note the locals call the smell of the grape. Rabelais, born nearby, sang its praises five centuries ago. On sand and gravel it is light and gulpable; on the limestone slopes it is firm and built to age.
Cool, perfumed and food-loving, Chinon and its neighbour Bourgueil are the Loire's answer to serious red wine — proof that Cabernet Franc, so often a blending partner in Bordeaux, is a great grape in its own right.