This should not be considered a definitive list of wineries in the Loire Valley, but merely as a starting point.  Most wine travelers will proclaim the local "mom-and-pop" operation they discovered in the middle of nowhere as their best wine experience. Always be open to trying a new wine, as flavors and styles vary from vintage to vintage, village to village, and winemaker to winemaker.  The comments on the wines that we have provided should therefore be taken with a grain of salt.

Vouvray

Montlouis

Located east of Tours on the northern banks of the Loire River, Vouvray is the destination to seek if you enjoy sweeter wines.   100% of its wines are made from the Chenin Blanc into still (typically made sweet) and sparkling wines (typically made dry). In order to keep the balance between sweetness and acidity, Vouvrays are bottled early to capture as much of the naturally acidity as possible. In bad vintages, producers limit themselves to dry wines (an excellent match for rich cuisine served with heavy sauces) and sparkling wines.  In good vintages, the wines tend to be much like a very sweet golden nectar.  Top Vouvrays can age for upwards of a century under ideal conditions while basic Vouvrays are a more simple sweet wine with decent acidity and should be drunk while still young as there is little to no aging potential or staying power.  The grape harvest in Vouvray stretches well into November to maximize their sweet wines.

Rochecorbon (5 miles upriver from Tours)

Pouilly-sur-Loire's Patrick LaDoucette owns this house.  They make impressive sparkling wines.

Probably the most important house in establishing Vouvray's reputation for quality in today's market.  They make delicious still and sparkling wines from their huge (260+ acre) vineyard.

Vouvray (6½ miles upriver from Tours)

This château consistently produces high quality wines made from old vines.

The most famous and respected name in Vouvray, the Huët family consistently produces high quality wines for hundreds of years.  Most of their wines are made into sweet or sparkling wines, very few dry white still wines.

Split off from the Vouvray appellation in 1937, Montlouis still bears a remarkable similarity to its more famous neighbor across the Loire.  Like Vouvray, Montlouis makes their wines with Chenin Blanc.  These wines usually have less body, but they develop more quickly.  In Montlouis, you can find still wines made into bone dry, Demi-Sec, and medium-sweet (moelleux) and sparkling wines that are the traditional Brut style as well as Pétillant (a lightly sparkling style).

Montlouis-sur-Loire (7½ miles upriver from Tours)

Family estate that has been worked for generations, the Dardeaus make a wonderful medium-sweet Moelleux. 

Saint-Martin-Le-Beau (13 miles upriver from Tours)

A producer with a reputation for consistent quality, the Bergers only use grapes, which are split between sparkling and still wines.

All of their grapes come from their 50-acre vineyard outside St-Martin-le-Beau.  They specialize in sweeter wines, but also make sparkling wines.