“Drink constantly. You will never die”—Francois Rabelais

I really want to like the wines from Chinon, this Loire Valley village specializing in red wine. This has less to do with the wine per se than with Francois Rabelais. This bawdy 16th century Franciscan monk and extravagant humorist is Chinon’s favorite son and dedicated his great satirical novel Gargantua and Pentagruel to the “most noble and illustrious drinkers”. Legend has it that his father made his own wine on Clos de l’Echo, now widely considered the best plot in Chinon and the single vineyard flagship wine at Couly-Dutheil, perhaps Chinon’s most prestigious maker.

In English Rabelaisian has come to mean crudely humorous; “gusty and exuberant with the pleasures of life—food, drink, and lovemaking”; grotesquely exaggerated satirical”. Gargantuan means huge, prodigious, gigantic. Chinon wine should be, by all rights, something similar. It’s just the opposite: it has a wonderful initial aroma, is elegant on the palette, and tends to be light and fruity. There are no sharp edges to Chinon. It can even be “a bit restrained” a very anti-Rabelasian trait. Rabelais himself supposedly coined the term “taffeta wine” (soft and smooth like the silky cloth) to describe his beloved Chinon.

Much of this character comes from cabernet franc. In its native Bordeaux it is primarily used as a blending grape to soften cabernet sauvignon and merlot. In the Loire Valley cab franc shows what it is capable of on its own, and Chinon is 100% cab franc. The Loire is at the extreme northern limit for red wines and living on the edge creates some fantastic wines as is often the case.

This versatile, food-friendly wine marries with a full range of foods. Following the advice of the food-wine gurus I have tried it with fish. It is recommended for red-wine-with-fish combinations; even fairly neutral fish are not overwhelmed. It is very pleasant when drunk alone or with charcuterie. It works with a milder goat cheese and even sushi. I especially liked it with a cold roast-pork sandwich. They can also be more “serious”: I had a “Les Croix Boisse”2005 from local star Bernard Baudry--a maker who has the reputation for making woodier, bigger wines--with rosemary marinated Duck Breast at a Boston Legal Sea Food Loire Valley dinner and it was delicious.

Ironically, Chinon’s wines do not pair well with Chinon’s favorite literary son. I first read Rabelais in college and still enjoy the occasional dip in his grotesque bawdy world. I recently tried new friend Romanine du Roncee (2005) with a touch of old friends Gargartua and Pentagruel. They didn’t get along. This excellent smooth-in-the-mouth “taffeta” style Chinon was out-of-place with those over-the-top monsters of the imagination. The next time the mood strikes me maybe a riotous sauvignon blanc from , with just a delicate hint of cat pea.

More memorable wine quotes from Rabelais:
“I drink no more than a sponge”
“When I think, I drink. When I drink I think.”
“No clock is more regular than the belly.”
And my personal favorite, “There are more old drunkards than old physicians”