The Sauvignon, which is particularly sensitive to the quality of the terroir, achieves its more complex aromas in the vineyards of Centre-Loire. The origin of this grape variety is much debated (Centre or South West of France). It presents characteristic bunches with coned-shaped, very tight berries, a thick skin, a firm and crisp flesh. It has characteristic aromas marked by the soil and the climate. The character of wines is expressed more rapidly when they are grown on chalky soils. Marls and flinty-clay strata produce wines that need more time to develop and that are long-term cellaring wines (from 2 to 5 years or even 10 years). The range of aromas developed in the Sauvignon wines is particularly rich and complex: the great taste of "flint" but also fruity notes (black currant, passion fruits, lychee, orange, grapefruit, guava), floral notes (iris, elder, rose, acacia, linden), vegetal notes (box, broom, rhubarb, asparagus) and others such as musk or roasted meat. The Sauvignon represents 70% of the surface areas and 75% of the production of Centre-Loire vineyards.

Called “Fendant” in the “Valais” Swiss or “Gutedel” in German-speaking Switzerland, the history of Chasselas gives place to controversies, but one can suppose that this grape variety rank among oldest cultivated by the man. Switzerland, Savoy, Alsace, Nièvre and the country of Bade in Germany are about the only areas in the world to vinify it. Enough neutral, it is particularly sensitive to the soil in which it grows, and can thus be very different from one country to another. We recognize it with his coppery growths in spring, with his cut out leaves, his long tendrils and his beautiful translucent bunches of grape gilded with the sun, with the small round grains. Chasselas gives a savour of mixed flowers and honey and remains very sensitive to the climate and the soils in which the vines develop. Chasselas is vinified only in the appellation of Pouilly sur Loire and is planted on 33 hectares.

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