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Wines
The vineyards of Nantes, a land of cultivation |
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On the banks of the Loire, the Nantes vineyards produce the famous Muscadet and one of France’s oldest labelled wines, Gros Plant. This unique soil is also responsible for the département’s market gardening crops.
Vine cultivation dates back to the Gallo-Roman period, but was taken to a new level by the monastic communities. From the Middle Ages to the 17th century, wine was exported to Paris and the whole of Northern Europe through the port of Nantes, with the assistance of barges navigating the Loire and the Sèvre.
Today, the Nantes region is one of the largest producers of quality-label white wine in France. The region includes 19,000 hectares or almost 47,000 acres of vines (including over 10,000 hectares for Muscadet Sèvre et Maine alone), divided into 1,800 individual vineyards.
There are six labels of origin, including four AOCs (appellation d’origine contrôlee): Muscadet, Muscadet Sèvre et Maine, Muscadet Coteaux de la Loire and Muscadet Côtes de Grand-Lieu.
The region also produces two AOVDQS wines (appellation d’origine vin délimité de qualité supérieure): Gros Plant and Coteaux d’Ancenis. |
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The Route touristique du vignoble (vineyards tourist route) runs along
several stretches of the Loire.
It offers a gentle stroll punctuated by visits to cellars and wine-producing villages topped with red tiled roofs… In Pallet, there is a museum devoted to the Nantes vineyards.
Several châteaux are worth a detour. The Château de Chasseloir has a remarkable old wine storehouse, with a cellar decorated with wooden sculptures depicting the seven deadly sins. The Château de Goulaine has been in the ownership of the family of the same name for over a thousand years. A stunning butterfly house contains several hundred exotic specimens.
The Nantes region is also home to a considerable market gardening sector, protected from flood destruction by the Divatte levee, a stone dyke on the bank of the Loire. Consequently, the sandy approaches to the river have become a fertile refuge for lily of the valley and a variety of early fruit and vegetables. |
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