Loire Valley (wine) by the Bretons of the area's wine stocks. By the 11th century the wines of Sancerre had a reputation across Europe for their high quality. In the High Middle Ages, the wines of the Loire Valley were the most esteemed wines in England and France, even more prized than those from Bordeaux. The Loire river has a significant effect on the mesoclimate of the region, adding the necessary extra few degrees of temperature that allows grapes to grow when the areas to the north and south of the Loire Valley have shown to be unfavorable to viticulture. In addition to
French frigate Loire (1796) action. The Royal Navy brought "Venteux" into service as "Eagle", and next year renamed her HMS "Eclipse". On 17 March 1804 "Loire" sighted a strange vessel on the Irish station and made all sail in pursuit. She came up with and captured what proved to be the French privateer "Braave", of 14 guns and 110 men. On 16 August 1804 "Loire" gave chase to a suspicious-looking sail. After a chase of 20 hours, including a running fight of a quarter of an hour, during which the British had one midshipman and five men wounded, and the French lost two men