Sancerre (wine) up the eastern most extension of the Loire Valley. The area is more than 300 miles (483 kilometers) from the Atlantic Coast and the Loire region of Muscadet, and is actually closer to the Champagne wine region than it is to the Middle Loire city of Tours and the Vouvray and Chinon AOCs. The distance from the Atlantic gives this region more of a continental climate than typical of the rest of the Loire with short, hot summers and long, cold winters that may extend the threat of frost damage into early spring. The most dominating geographical influence of Sancerre
Châteaux of the Loire Valley place where most of the French royalty preferred to spend the bulk of their time. King Louis XIV in the middle of the 17th century made Paris the permanent locale for great royal châteaux when he built the Palace of Versailles. Nonetheless, those who gained the king's favour and the wealthy bourgeoisie continued to renovate existing châteaux or build lavish new ones in the Loire as summer residences. The French Revolution saw a number of the great châteaux destroyed and many ransacked, their treasures stolen. The overnight impoverishment of many of the deposed nobility, usually after one of its members