Loire you ready?

The cup overfloweth with this French river valley

By TYLER BALLIET

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As the dollar continues to fall, the price of European bottles—especially from the fine wine mecca of France—are sliding beyond reach of the everyday sipper. There are other regions of the world to find high-quality yet reasonably priced wines, like South America, the Pacific Northwest and New Zealand; however, we're tired of walking by large French selections in a store and only gawking at bottles in restaurants. Instead of applying for another credit card, it's time to stock up on wines from the Loire Valley.

The "Garden of France" produces many of the wines you might find in Parisian bistros and cafés. They are the perfect everyday drinking wines, as they pair wonderfully with food without costing you a fortune.

SANCERRE

Sancerre produces mainly crisp and refreshing whites, made from 100% Sauvignon Blanc and graced with citrus flavors as well as a prominent minerality. What does this all mean? It means, for around 20 bucks a bottle, you can buy a perfect summer wine made for beach, patio or porch sipping. Directly across the river from Sancerre is Pouilly-Fumé (not to be confused with Pouilly-Fuissé in Burgundy). They are made from the exact same grape and in the exact same style as Sancerre, and few people can tell the difference.

CHINON AND SAUMUR

Cabernet Franc, used mostly as a blending grape in Bordeaux, reigns as king of the reds in the Loire Valley. Wines from Chinon are made entirely from Cabernet Franc and are light-bodied, fruity and have a nice acidity. Served slightly chilled, this red can also be refreshing in the summer. Saumur produces a fair share of loaded Cabernet Franc reds, but they are known for sparkling wines as well.

VOUVRAY

Couples take note: For the girl who likes sweet and the guy who likes dry, Vouvray is the perfect in-between. They have the body to make a red wine drinker happy and the slight sweetness and honeyed nose to pacify the sweetie. Vouvrays range from sweet (moelleux) to medium dry (demi-sec) to dry (sec), and are made entirely from Chenin Blanc. Vouvray's crisp acidity allows these wines to be fabulous after decades in the cellar. This region also produces fantastic sparkling wines from Chenin Blanc for a quarter of the price of traditional Champagne.

MUSCADET

Coming from the far west coast of France, Muscadet is the definition of simple table wine. On a French restaurant's wine list, this wine will often be the least expensive bottle of white. Don't underestimate these simple, crisp wines. Even though they are fairly cheap, they are good solid wines. They pair perfectly with coastal foods from the Atlantic, such as mussels, clams and other shellfish.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: THESECONDGLASS.COM