Jonathan Maltman explores the wonderfully varied geology along the length of the River Loire.
Golden eagles and vultures soar overhead, while roaming down in the forests are wild boar, wolves, and, by some accounts, lynx. This is the Cévennes, one of France’s wildest and least populated regions, with the darkest of night skies. It is fitting, then, that from here flows France’s wildest major river, the Loire, barely navigable for parts of its 625-mile (1,006km) course. But ironic that farther downstream it acquires the sobriquet “royal” and glides past celebrated châteaux.
It’s a contrast further reflected by the wonderfully varied geology of the vineyards along the entire length of the river and the astonishing diversity of their wines. In this article, I will follow the geology of the river’s long journey, with pauses for a little more detail on some of the vineyard areas—geological vignettes, so to speak, of a regal river.
The Loire: A river is born Mont Gerbier de Jonc, where a confluence of springs forms the Loire. Photography © Martin Florent / Shutterstock.
Volcanic hills, geologically young, dot the Cévennes landscape. One of them, Mont Gerbier de Jonc, is unusual in both its rock composition (technically, a phonolite) and its being crisscrossed by cracks and narrow fissures. These allow the winter’s rainwaters to percolate down until they meet old granite-like rocks below, part of what geologists loosely call the “crystalline basement.” The waters can descend no farther, so they seep sideways until they eventually emerge at
This Article was originally published on World of Fine Wine
