Spotlight on Chinon, the unsung hero of the fall

As the nights become too crisp for your glass of white, and you start craving the warm sleepy glow of Red, try a bottle of Chinon to help you ease into the winter. With great complexity and unique savory notes, this is perfect match for autumn’s roasts, soups and veggies.

As always in France, this wine is named after the region of Chinon rather than the grape. Chinon is located in the heart of the Loire Valley, in the sub-region of Touraine. Cabernet Franc is the predominant grape for making Chinon, producing a medium bodied wine, with moderate tannin and high acidity. This grape often gets a bad rap for imparting bitter or vegetal flavors, but when handled properly it can, in fact, add beautiful savory notes of dried roasting herbs, such as Rosemary and Thyme, making it an excellent food wine.

The soils of Chinon also set this wine apart. Like many whites of the Loire, the stony hills on which the vines grow, distinguishes the wine from all others by adding a dry minerality and earthiness that is specific to this region.

The incredible complexity of this wine can be enormously enhanced by the right dish. Reciprocally, this wine will make the flavors of ….well, almost any roasted turkey (talk about a Thanksgiving wine!), chicken, duck, Cornish game hen, veal, etc, stand on their head. So next time you are scouring for a light body red, put the Pinot Noir down, and try a Chinon; the perfect complement to autumn flavors.