Loire Valley (wine) more pronounced mineral notes. The Cabernet franc based wines are also lighter in color with more vegetal or "weed"-like aromas. In riper vintages, a Loire Cabernet franc will develop aromas of raspberries and lead pencil shavings. The Loire Valley has a high density of vine plantings with an average of 1,600-2,000 vines per acre (4,000-5,000 per hectare). Some Sancerre vineyards have as many as 10,000 plants per hectare. With more vines competing for the same limited resources in the soil, the density is designed to compensate for the excessive yields that some of the grape varieties, like Chenin blanc, are
Loire Turner, Gustave Courbet, Auguste Rodin, Félix Edouard Vallotton, Jacques Villon, Jean-Max Albert, , , and Jean Chabot. Garrett, Martin, The Loire: a Cultural History. 2010, Signal Books. "Pays de la Loire, waterways guide No. 10", Editions du Breil. pp 8–27, for the navigable section (guide in English, French and German) Loire The Loire (; ; ) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains an area of , or more than a fifth of France's land area, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône.