Loire Valley

The Loire Valley follows France's longest river for some 600 miles, and it's less a single wine region than a chain of them — the most varied in the country. Follow it downstream and the wines change with the landscape. Around Nantes near the Atlantic, Melon de Bourgogne makes crisp, saline Muscadet. In the middle Loire — Anjou and Touraine — Chenin Blanc turns dry, sweet or sparkling at Vouvray and Savennières, while Cabernet Franc makes fragrant reds at Chinon, Bourgueil and Saumur. At the eastern end, Sauvignon Blanc reaches its flinty peak at Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé.

This is also château country: Chambord, Chenonceau, Villandry and Amboise sit among the vines, which makes the Loire an unusually easy place to combine wine with sightseeing. Tours, Amboise, Saumur and Angers all work as bases, and the region is well connected by rail from Paris — Tours is about an hour by TGV. Because the Loire spans so many appellations, most trips focus on one or two stretches rather than the whole valley: Vouvray and Chinon around Tours, or Sancerre in the east. Spring and early autumn are the sweet spots — active cellars, open châteaux and thinner crowds than high summer.