Loire 2021 red wines: vintage report and new releases

Dense and powerfully black fruited, this has some wood notes, good ripe tannins and a long finish. This is a lovely wine and is only...

This remarkable 2020 is their 'basic' red Sancerre. This deep coloured wine has ripe black fruit notes with a lovely opulent mouth-filling texture. The tannins...

The well-balanced 2020 Le Haut de la Butte is aged in oak barriques. It has black cherry and blackberry aromas, a ripe and full texture,...

Notes of black fruits including black cherry, raspberries and some delicate wood notes with a rich texture and a long finish. This fine Sancerre red...

Youthful purple in colour, with seductive black fruit aromas, especially black cherry, a lovely soft opulent texture and ripe tannins. This is a delicious wine...

Black fruit aromas along with some light wood notes, supple mouth-filling texture, ripe tannins and good length with good ageing potential. Les Chiens Chiens comes...

Vibrant and rich, this has attractive spicy black fruits, good length and has the potential to develop further in bottle. Domaine des Pothiers, in the...

The still very youthful, dense 2020 has powerful, ripe black fruits, a rich texture and a long finish. The organic Domaine Yannick Amirault was established...

A powerful, deep coloured wine made using carbonic maceration. It has sweet, spicy black fruits and a marked Gamay character, good structure with ripe tannins...

Dense and powerful, this is still very youthful. It has concentrated rich black fruits and a long finish. Ir needs time to knit together fully...

Ripe and black-fruited with good texture, although the wine is still quite tannic, needing more time in bottle. Good potential to age. The winery of...

Black fruit aromas and an opulent texture, with medium structure and good ripe tannins. Although not a heavy weight, the 2020 will age a surprising...

Irréductible is 100% Pineau d’Aunis, whose light, peppery charms have become fashionable. The juicy, easy drinking 2021 has attractive peppery aromas. Light-bodied, this is a...

With its vibrant, youthful purple hue, this is full of black fruit aromas, with a ripe fruit texture and slightly grippy tannins, so needs a...

This medium-bodied 2020 has attractive aromas of ripe fruit – red cherry and strawberry – with some smoky wood notes and ripe tannins. The 23ha...

This charming and well balanced 2020 Tradition comes from 20-year-old vines. It sees no wood and has attractive smoky Cabernet Franc aromas, some structure with...

Smoky red fruits aromas, followed by a decent mouth-filling texture. It’s medium-bodied with ripe tannins, although the wine needs more time in bottle to show...

This powerful wine is deep coloured with concentrated black fruits along with notes of violets and prunes. It is still tight in the finish and...

The Domaine des 7 Lieues Côt (Malbec) is a successful, very good value wine from Beaujardin, as the 2020 underlines. Deep coloured, it has black...

Appealing red fruit and spicy aromas, an attractive mouth-filling texture balanced with refreshing acidity. This is a good, easy drinking summer red. The dynamic and...

Red fruit aromas with some sooty notes, this is medium-bodied with an attractive texture and ripe, well handled tannins. This is a good example of...

Le Temps des Cerises is the domaine’s easy drinking cuvée de printemps. It’s got ripe black fruit aromas including notes of black cherry, and has...

A youthful and vibrant 2021 that has spicy Gamay notes and a medium structure. It needs a little more time to show its best. Lionel...

Designed to be an easy drinking Saumur-Champigny, it spends just six days on the skins and is bottled in the spring. It has ripe, red...

This is aged for 12 months in barriques and has attractive spice and wood aromas along with some sweet, ripe fruit. Still young, this needs...

A mid-plum coloured, powerful 2020 that has soft red fruit aromas and is well balanced, although it needs a little more time in bottle to...

Light in colour with red fruits aromas and notes of raspberry. Lightly structured but there are some quite dry tannins that need time to soften....

This has a really pleasing texture with quite a tannic structure, so needs either some more time in bottle to soften or strong flavoured food...

A soft wine with typical spicy Gamay aromas. This is an uncomplicated, light-bodied wine that should be served lightly chilled. Les Vignerons de Saint-Pourçain was...

Red fruit and smoky aromas, good texture, medium weight with currently quite grippy tannins, so needs time to soften. This Schistes Anjou-Villages cuvée comes from...

Grown on schist, the easy drinking 2020 Côt (Malbec), which is an IGP Val de Loire, is soft and juicy with some light tannins. Best...