18 of the Best Wines From the Centre-Loire Beyond Sancerre

Those interested in French wine are undoubtedly familiar with the Loire Valley, but digging a little deeper, there are many subregions within this expansive viticultural area to get to know. One of them is the Centre-Loire. And although the slightly misleading name suggests it’s the center of France’s lengthy and endlessly fascinating Loire Valley, that is not the case. Instead, “Centre” refers to the center of France, where the region lies.

The Centre-Loire is located at the upper reaches of the river for which the region is named and along whose banks its vineyards lie — a relatively isolated region closer to Chablis in Burgundy than to Touraine, Anjou, or other parts of the Loire Valley.

Most notably, the Centre-Loire is home to Sancerre, the wine made from Sauvignon Blanc whose soaring popularity in recent years has turned it into a brand of its own. Sancerre is so successful that Chad Stephens, Hawaii sales director for Chambers & Chambers, a distributor and importer, says he can’t get enough of it for his customers. “We pretty much take anything and everything we can get,” he tells me at a recent lunch in Sancerre for visiting journalists and distributors.

No one in Sancerre is complaining, of course, but it’s perhaps even better news for Sancerre’s neighboring appellations, all of them within an hour’s drive of Sancerre and now getting a residual lift thanks to their famous neighbor: Pouilly-Fumé, Menetou-Salon, Quincy, Reuilly, and Coteaux du Giennois.

I tasted my way through them in the course of a week in the Centre-Loire this month, gaining new appreciation for the depth of the wines and their value. Like Sancerre, they mainly produce Sauvignon Blanc and a smaller amount of Pinot Noir, along with a little Gamay. When tasting the wines, they are clearly from the same neighborhood — maybe not quite so complex as the best Sancerres but not far behind in complexity and style.

Like Sancerre, they’re infused with a minerality and texture like the wines of Chablis. The soils are similar in both regions and include, most prominently, Kimmerdigian limestone and marl, while the Loire appellations also have areas of flint, called silex.

Credit: Edward Deitch

What’s most different about the other Centre-Loire appellations is the price. With many bottles of Sancerre now $40 to $50 or more, these other wines are often far less expensive, most of them $20 to $30 or so. The names might not roll off the tongue as “Sancerre” does, but that’s a small price to pay for some of the most memorable Sauvignons you might never have heard of.

“One of the ‘problems’ of Sancerre is it’s very easy to say,” says Clément Berthier, a producer and president of the appellation. “People know it worldwide but they don’t know the size of Sancerre.” They don’t realize that it’s far smaller than the outsized reputation it enjoys; and don’t know that Sancerre is at capacity, with no plans to plant more vineyards or produce more wine.

But with notable wines from Sancerre’s neighboring appellations, the “problem” comes with a welcome solution for those who might be frustrated by Sancerre’s ever-rising prices.

While almost three-quarters of Sancerre production is exported, with half going to the U.S., exports of wines from the other appellations are far smaller, although there’s a range of wines available, as you’ll see on the list below.

Whether from Sancerre or beyond, the region’s Pinot Noirs, with their slightly earthy and spicy character, deserve more attention as the quality improves. “The potential of our Pinot is becoming huge,” says Matthieu Delaporte, the winemaker at Domaine Delaporte, a well-known Sancerre producer. “In terms of the quality-price ratio it’s becoming a very nice alternative to Burgundy, with our own style.”

Credit: Edward Deitch

Recent vintages show excellent fruit concentration balanced by refreshing acidity, but some winemakers now openly worry about the impact of climate change. “In the past, sometimes we had too high levels of acidity,” says Emile Balland, who produces wines in both Sancerre and Coteaux du Giennois, “but now the challenge is to keep some freshness.”

Francois Dal, an agronomic engineer who advises the region on climate issues, notes that the harvest is coming sooner and sooner and could start as early as Aug. 20 this year, which is almost unprecedented. He says the region is experimenting with old varieties that were abandoned long ago because they were too acidic. “But perhaps if we blend them, 5 to 10 percent with Sauvignon Blanc,” he says, “we could keep the typicity of the Sauvignon and have more freshness, more acidity.”

Paul-Henry Pellé, who organically farms about 100 acres of vines at Domaine Pellé in Menetou-Salon similarly remarks that this year’s projected harvest in mid-August is “really crazy” and says he is “maybe a little bit late” in thinking about incorporating other varieties into his wines. Harvesting the grapes earlier, he notes, cuts short their ability to express terroir.

“The challenge is acidity now,” he says of the grapes. “Twenty years ago maybe it was just to be ripe. It’s a big change and it’s all going very fast.”

Here are 18 of the best wines from the Centre-Loire:

White Wines

Domaine Sylvain Bailly Quincy ‘Beaucharme’ 2024

Sancerre for $40 or $50? Or you can buy this excellent Sauvignon Blanc for around $20 from the Quincy appellation a few villages to the southwest of Sancerre. Sylvain Bailly has long produced wines from both appellations, and the Quincy stands out for its quality at this price point. Flint and citrus on the nose continue on the palate along with orchard fruit notes and a hint of creaminess from lees aging.

Price: $18
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Domaine Pellé Menetou-Salon Morogues 2024

Morogues is a village within the Menetou-Salon appellation that Domaine Pellé highlights on some of its labels. The Sauvignon Blanc vines here are grown biodynamically in Kimmeredgian marl soils, producing a wine with subtle citrus aromas and flavors along with fresh apricot and green apple notes. The wine is aged for eight months on the lees, providing balance to the fruit and acidity. Paul-Henry Pellé suggests that in general, the wines of Menetou-Salon are a bit more “gentle” than those of Sancerre.

Price: $24
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Domaine Mardon Quincy ‘Très Vieilles Vignes’ 2025

The aromas and flavors of this superb wine emerge as it warms up. Herb, white flower, and honeysuckle aromas are followed by green apple and orange notes on the palate with hints of baking spices and white pepper. The grapes are grown organically on vines that are more than 50 years old.

Price: $25
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Domaine de Villalin Quincy ‘Grandes Vignes de Villalin’ 2025

You wouldn’t know that this notable Sauvignon Blanc from Quincy is not a Sancerre. With its winning combination of richness, minerality, and tangy acidity, the wine shows ripe peach, apricot, and citrus notes balanced by a hint of cream on the long finish. Like many others from the region, it’s also an excellent value.

Price: $22
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Domaine Trotereau Quincy Vieilles Vignes 2022

Made from the oldest vines in the domaine, some more than a century old, this wine is rich and complex with ripe melon and tropical fruit notes along with touches of orange marmalade, vanilla, and baking spices. While freshness is a hallmark of Sauvignons from the region, Augustin Ponroy, the winemaker, says, “I don’t like acidity that attacks my mouth. I’m really looking for balance.” He has found it in this wine.

Price: $40
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Emile Balland Coteaux du Giennois ‘Les Beaux Jours’ Blanc 2024

This lovely, fresh Sauvignon Blanc shows excellent balance between its vivid fruit notes — lemon-lime, orange, and pineapple — and its ample acidity. The grapes grow on 50- to 60-year-old vines in clay-limestone soils. “I like wine with a lot of freshness,” Emile Balland says as we taste his range of wines. With global warming, he says, the biggest problem for winegrowers is maintaining refreshing acidity.

Price: $20
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Domaine de Villargeau Coteaux du Giennois Blanc 2023

One retailer is selling this Sauvignon Blanc for the almost unbelievable price of $14. It’s a beautiful, well-balanced wine with citrus, apricot, and white peach aromas and flavors. There’s also a touch of creaminess and a hint of the grassiness typically found in Sauvignons from other regions, especially New Zealand. The grapes are grown mostly in flint soils.

Price: $14
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Domaine de Reuilly ‘Les Pierres Plates’ Reuilly 2025

This is a spicy, full-bodied expression of Sauvignon Blanc from the Reuilly appellation. The grapes are grown biodynamically in clay and Kimmeredgian limestone and the wine is dominated by citrus and saline notes with a stony minerality.

Price: $23
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Remoortere Menetou-Salon 2025

This lovely expression of Sauvignon Blanc receives eight to 10 months of lees aging, which gives it a richness that frames stone fruit notes, touches of honey and vanilla, and a good deal of minerality. (The ‘23 vintage is currently available in the U.S.)

Price: $30
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Domaine de Loye Menetou-Salon 2024

The first-rate Sauvignon is grown in Kimmeridgian marl soil and shows bracing acidity, which provides freshness to the green apple, lemon-lime, saline, and spice notes. (The ‘23 vintage is being sold here.) The domaine also makes Pinot Noir and rosé wines worth seeking out.

Price: $27
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Henri Bourgeois Pouilly-Fumé 2025

“Acidity to us is the key,” says Arnaud Bourgeois, owner of the estate that bears his grandfather’s name. His Pouilly-Fumé certainly has it, but not overly so. This balanced, approachable Sauvignon is aged for eight months or so on the lees, giving it a rounded quality that frames pear, apricot, and grapefruit notes and a chalky minerality. (The ‘24 vintage is currently available.)

Price: $34
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Domaine A. Cailbourdin Pouilly-Fumé ‘Les Cris’ 2023

“Les Cris” refers to the pebbly limestone soils on which the vines are planted, and this elegant, mineral-driven wine shows subtle aromas and flavors of honeydew melon, peach, tangerine, and herbs. It’s made for fish and shellfish, although I enjoyed it with pan-seared pork chops dusted with adjika powder, the wine’s acidity cutting through the fat and spice of the meat.

Price: $29
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Nicolas Gaudry Pouilly-Fumé ‘Les Vignes de Berge’ 2024

This wine shows a pronounced chalky minerality that infuses notes of stone fruits, yellow grapefruit, and a touch of almond. It’s notable as well for its long finish, the texture and flavors lingering and beckoning you for the next sip.

Price: $29
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Domaine Francis Blanchet Pouilly-Fumé 2024

This fresh Pouilly-Fumé drinks well above its modest price point with a nice balance between fruit and herb notes. Apricot, lime, and touches of saline and cream add up to an easy-drinking and versatile Sauvignon Blanc that makes another convincing case for why you should look beyond Sancerre.

Price: $22
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Rosé and Red Wines

Domaine de Reuilly Pinot Gris Rosé 2025

Like other Centre-Loire appellations, Reuilly produces wines from Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. But Reuilly is also notable for something else: its wonderful pale rosés made from the Pinot Gris grape, which, unlike most other white varieties, has red skins that give the rosés their color. I sampled half a dozen of them or so at one of my tastings and was impressed. One of the wines available here is Domaine de Reuilly’s Pinot Gris Rosé. Its herb and spice notes accent strawberry and cherry flavors. It’s easy to drink and a nice departure from the ubiquitous rosés of Provence.

Price: $24
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Domaine Pellé Menetou-Salon Morogues Rouge 2023

From a biodynamic vineyard, this graceful Pinot Noir shows concentrated red fruit on the nose and spicy strawberry and raspberry notes on the palate along with a touch of earth, all of it framed by a smooth tannic structure. Red wines are a bit more prominent in Menetou-Salon, with Domaine Pellé’s production two-thirds Sauvignon and one-third Pinot Noir.

Price: $33
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Emile Balland Coteaux du Giennois ‘Les Beaux Jours’ Rouge 2023

In the Coteaux du Giennois appellation, the reds must contain both Pinot Noir and Gamay, and this one blends 70 percent Pinot Noir and 30 percent Gamay. It’s very light in color with aromas and flavors of spiced cherry, herbs, vanilla, and touches of cumin seed, with a refreshing river-rock minerality. (The ‘22 vintage is available here.)