The appellation was recognised on 31 July 1937 and covers 26 communes of Indre-et-Loire. Vines line both banks of the Vienne, on slopes and plateau edges, and reach into the Véron, the more open land where the Vienne meets the Loire. The climate is mild, warmer and drier than in the rest of Touraine.

Three kinds of ground shape the wine. Terraces of gravel and sand along the Vienne give fruity, lighter reds. Slopes of soft chalk, the yellow tuffeau, give reds with firmer tannins. The plateaus above carry clay with flint and sand. Growers often blend wines from different sites.

Red and rosé Chinon come from Cabernet Franc, with up to 10 percent Cabernet Sauvignon allowed in the vineyard. The white comes from Chenin Blanc alone. Cabernet Franc came up the Loire from Nantes under the Plantagenets, hence its local name, Breton. François Rabelais, born around 1490 at La Devinière near Chinon, praised in Gargantua the good Breton wine that grows not in Brittany but in the Véron.

Red makes up the great bulk of the wine. Young Chinon smells of raspberry, cherry and strawberry. Lighter reds are for drinking within three to five years, while wines from the tuffeau can age 10 to 15 years or more, turning towards stewed black fruit, sweet spice and game.

Philippe Alliet, based at Cravant-les-Coteaux, farms south-facing slopes of clay, limestone and silica in the Chinon appellation.

The wines above are the Chinon wines in the cellar. See also Saumur-Champigny, Cabernet Franc from just downstream around Saumur, Vouvray for the Chenin of eastern Touraine, or all our Loire Valley wines.