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
Loire of losing its status as the last wild river in France". The reason for this is its sheer length and possibility of extensive navigation, which severely limits the scope of river conservation. The Federation, a member of the IUCN since 1970, has been very important in the campaign to save the Loire river system from development. In 1986, the French government, the Loire-Brittany Water Agency and the EPALA settled an agreement on flood prevention and water storage programme in the basin, involving construction of four large dams, one on the Loire itself and three on the Allier and Cher. The