Do you mean the Belargus „trilogy“, bottled as Anjou AOC ?
I suppose that goes because QdC is (at least topologically) included in Anjou. But CdL is not included in anything, so dry Chenin would be VdF.
I would have Domaine Ogereau near the top of my list.
Thank you joe, on top of which list exactly?
Sure, I know Claude Papin was doing something similar 20 years ago. Marc Angeli as well. I’m sure others too.
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The Loire is big as pointed out by Howard. Depending on where you focus geographically, do some research on wineries that produce a wide range of wines and where you might ask to taste the whole range ( “toute la gamme”) . This type of visit and tasting is broadly educational about Loire wines and will help you decide on your preferred type of wines. Enjoy your trip.
I love Domaine du Collier and Guiberteau in Saumur.
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We just came back from a trip to the Central Loire. Some comments:
Wine tourism in the Central Loire is not as developed as other regions of France. Most of the production is not exported outside the EU, and tasting rooms tend to be smaller with limited hours. We initially wanted to visit a few wineries, but ended up skipping most of them and spending time at the famous chateaus. However, we did do some research and some actual wine tourism. Some comments.
Chenonceau, which is probably the best chateau to visit in the Loire, has vineyards and a tasting room on site. The wines were OK and representative of the varietals in the region.
https://www.chenonceau.com/en/cave-des-domes/
The town of Amboise has two famous Chateaus, the Chateau Royal d’ Amboise and Chateau du Clos Luce which was Leonardo da Vinci’s home in France. Both are well worth a visit and are within walking distance of each other. Right in front of the Chateau Royal d’ Amboise are a number of restaurants as well as a small wine bar named “La Cave”. It was operated by an American, and it specializes in the wines of the Central Loire. The owner was very helpful in explaining the region and tasting wines and we ended up buying a number of bottles. The address is 58 Pl. Michel Debré, 37400 Amboise, France.
From our research, the town of Chinon seems to have the highest concentration of wine makers in the central Loire. There were several with shops in the old town, as well as several wine stores and wine tour companies (they advertise driving around in a vintage Citroen 2CV or VW microbus). We did not visit Chinon on this trip, but if you want to make your trip wine centric, they seem to have the highest density of wineries and wine tour providers in the region.
We visited Sancerre in the eastern Loire earlier on a different trip, and they are much more oriented toward wine tourism than the central Loire.
If you do visit the Loire, we found the best chateaus to visit were Chenonceau, Chambord, Blois, Clos Luce and Villandry.
Regarding Melon de Bourgogne, there’s a lot of praise, and rightly so for Domaine de la Pépière but I’ve been frequently happy with Domaine de l’Écu. In a different style, I really like Gadais for their Monopole Les Perrières and Domaine du Haut Bourg for their Muscadet Côtes de Grandlieu Origine.
If I remember correctly from my cb budget recs, one can distinguish between producers with a more lean, mineral style versus those with a more concentrated style. Do you agree? How do styles of loire cf/sb, and also Muscadet differ?
Francois Cotat
Pascal Cotat
Vacheron
Dagueneau
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Pretty much this and Lucien Crochet.
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The Muscadet wines of Ecu can be great, but their more experimental bottlings of other varieties tend to fall somewhere between a minefield and a crapshoot. Often very funky, volatile and way too often mousy. Especially the reds.
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And Vatan. I have a soft spot for G Bouley, understanding that those are not on the same overall quality level.
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Thank you for this head’s up. I only had the Muscadets.
I guess I’d rather be in a crapshoot than a minefield, but, to quote WC Fields’ deathbed words, on the whole, I’d rather be in Philadelphia.
There are some delicious PN and Gamay (and blends) from natural winemakers.
If that could be something then I would definitely recommend Christian Venier. Drinkability comes to mind, not serious in the aspirational sense but terrific energy, acidic tension and lovely fruit profile. if you like that style then yes burgundish fun. The more mostest alcohol vintages are more to my liking.
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Thank you, I’d love to try some in a restaurant or a wine bar, but I don’t think I want to seek out producers that don’t focus on muscadet, sb, cb, or cf for this trip. it doesn’t sound like loire pn would offer me something significantly different than burgundy, german, or swiss pn.
also, thanks for the sb and muscadet recommendations. that’s exactly what I was hoping for.
how would you distinguish sb, muscadet, cb, and cf producer styles? does it make sense to use the traditional/modern distinction, which a lot of folks rely on for burgundy/bordeaux? I think I’d like to do tastings at producers with contrasting styles. I always get a kick out of that.
oh, and I ordered wines of the loire valley- thanks for the recommendation! @JakobS
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No worries, if you feel like it keep an eye out for his wines. He makes a variety of different wines including white wines (as good if not better). One of my favorite producers from Loire (great energy, tension among the most delicious wines around), and not very easily available.
I don’t really think classical vs modern would work for the whites. The comparisons that could be fun and somewhat easy to accomplish could be:
For SB, I would do more structure and RS vs more freshness and less RS.
For Chenin, I would do unoaked vs oaked. That’s assuming you are talking dry wines.
For Muscadet, you could do what is expected (young, zingy, rock juice) vs more “serious” (more time on lees, use of oak, etc.).
For CF, you could kinda go rustic (pyrazines and tannins) vs new wave (fruity and approachable early).
Even in Bordeaux, classical vs modern is variable based on which era you consider classical and which era you consider modern 
.
When I go to Burgundy, which is pretty small and easy to drive around, I have traditionally gone around on my own. But, when I go to Bordeaux, I get a tour guide to drive me around and make appointments for me, with some input by me as to places or types of places I want to visit.
The OP seems like he does not know the Loire very well and seems to be flailing around a lot. My sense is that what he really needs is a local expert to drive him around, take him to excellent wineries and teach him about the region. Someone who will listen to all of his questions and put together an itinerary that will give him a comprehensive overview of the region.
I have such a person in Bordeaux in the name of Henri Challeau. A couple of days in Bordeaux (am I turning into Alfert and Julian?) - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers
My trip to Bordeaux - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers
Can anyone recommend for the Loirie someone like Henri? My sense is that someone like him is EXACTLY what Paul needs to make this the type of trip he is looking for.
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