Recent Loire vintages have been truly superb. The river is so long that generalisations are difficult if not irrelevant. All styles of wine are produced here: dry, medium, sweet, red, white, rosé, still and sparkling wines, from a wide range of grape varieties including Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc and Muscadet.
For dry white wines, don’t forget the joys of Muscadet, particularly Muscadet Sur Lie, a tremendously good value wine. From the Chenin Blanc grape try Savennières: Domaine du Closel produces the epitome of dry Chenin Blanc: bags of minerality and class, although the alcohol levels are high. Sauvignon Blanc is of course the best known dry white in the Loire. Domaine de Boulay is the best value Sauvignon Blanc we have found in Tourraine, while bigger, more intense wines come from the Central Vineyards where Sancerre and Pouilly Fume reign supreme…but don’t overlook Quincy and Menetou Salon. The former is good, weighty Sauvignon Blanc, while Menetou Salon has more minerality and elegance. For medium white wine it’s back to the Chenin Blanc grape in Vouvray, a region with a great reputation for mediums. Stay with Chenin Blanc from Anjou for the delightful, fantastically long-lived sweets of Coteaux du Layon, Quarts de Chaumes and Bonnezeaux. The life on these sweet wines is amazing and they are world-beaters. Red wines have had the warmth in recent vintages that the Loire rarely gets. This has produced some outstanding wines from Chinon and Bourgueil, the former more structured, the latter as big and juicy as Cabernet Franc can get. If you want Pinot Noir however, tuck into Dezat’s Sancerre, either as the lighter rose, or the full red wine. Both are superb examples of their type.

Between Dijon and the Swiss border lies the secluded region of Jura, famous for Vin Jaune. France's answer to good fino sherry; it is a strong, nutty style and lasts for decades. One of the world's truely delicious oddities.