Family-run Chinon at Ligre, 24 hectares of organic Cabernet Franc on a hillside plateau with commanding views over the Chinon fortress.
Signature wines: noblaie-les-chiens-chiens, noblaie-pierre-de-tuf
Tip: Jerome Billard trained at Petrus and Dominus; the Les Chiens-Chiens cuvee shows in the polish of the wines.
Address: 1 Les Chesnaies, 37500 Ligre, France, Loire Valley
Cravant-les-Coteaux estate where Philippe Alliet trained in Bordeaux and brought a Medoc-style approach (long extractions, new oak) to Chinon Cabernet Franc.
Tasting: Visits and tastings by appointment at Cravant-les-Coteaux
Signature wines: alliet-vieilles-vignes, alliet-coteau-de-noire, alliet-lhuisserie
Tip: Coteau de Noire is the high-end tuffeau-plateau cuvee; the Vieilles Vignes is excellent value.
Cravant-les-Coteaux estate where Philippe Alliet trained in Bordeaux and brought a Medoc-style approach (long extractions, new oak) to Chinon Cabernet Franc.
Tasting: Visits and tastings by appointment at Cravant-les-Coteaux
Signature wines: alliet-vieilles-vignes, alliet-coteau-de-noire, alliet-lhuisserie
Tip: Coteau de Noire is the high-end tuffeau-plateau cuvee; the Vieilles Vignes is excellent value.
Restigne natural-wine icons farming 11 hectares biodynamically since 1990, with low-sulphur Cabernet Franc Bourgueils that helped define the Loire natural-wine movement.
Tasting: Visits and tastings by appointment in Restigne
Signature wines: breton-trinch, breton-clos-senechal, breton-les-perrieres
Tip: Trinch! (chinkers!) is the entry-level low-sulphur Bourgueil; Les Perrieres is the old-vine tuffeau-plateau cuvee.
Bourgueil and Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil estate of 20 hectares, organic since 2007, with parcel-bottled Cabernet Francs across both appellations.
Tasting: Visits and tastings by appointment at the Bourgueil domaine
Signature wines: amirault-la-petite-cave, amirault-la-source, amirault-les-malgagnes
Tip: Les Malgagnes in Saint-Nicolas and La Petite Cave in Bourgueil are the long-ageing flagships.
Restigne family estate going back 14 generations, 38 hectares of Demeter-certified biodynamic Cabernet Franc with extensive parcel-bottling and a maze of tuffeau cellars.
Tasting: Visits and tastings at the cellar; underground tuffeau cave open to visitors
Signature wines: chevalerie-galichets, chevalerie-chevalerie, chevalerie-busardieres
Tip: The cellars house bottles dating back more than a century; book a vertical tasting of the Galichets cuvee.
Soings-en-Sologne family estate of 58 hectares mainly Gamay and Sauvignon, with 5.5 hectares of franc-de-pied (ungrafted) plantings and the 200-year-old Provignage Romorantin vine.
Tasting: Visits and tastings at the Domaine de la Charmoise; one of the few growers with ungrafted parcels
Signature wines: marionnet-premiere-vendange, marionnet-vinifera, marionnet-provignage
Tip: Provignage is bottled from a 200-year-old plot of ungrafted pre-phylloxera Romorantin vines at Domaine de la Charmoise (one of the few documented pre-phylloxera plots in France).
Monopole Savennieres-Coulee de Serrant, the seven-hectare Chenin Blanc walled vineyard biodynamic since 1984 under Nicolas Joly, France's biodynamic apostle.
Tasting: Monday-Saturday 9-12, 14-17:30; tastings without reservation; closed Sundays and French holidays
Signature wines: joly-coulee-de-serrant, joly-clos-de-la-bergerie, joly-les-vieux-clos
Tip: The wine needs 3-5 hours of aeration (or a year in bottle) to open; tasting at the domaine is the only way to see it served correctly.
