I have never asked vignerons outside of the Loire Valley how they feel about the region, but I imagine many of them look upon winemakers there with envy: given its breadth of territory and depth of talent, the Loire combines some of the best aspects of every other wine region into one. To start, it produces Cabernet Francs and Chenin Blancs that showcase the seriousness and age-worthiness of reds and whites made in Burgundy and the Rhône Valley. Many teem with the down-home soul of wines made in the south of France. The region boasts Alsace’s wide range of styles as well as the potential to make sparkling wines that reach the heights of many Champagnes. Some of the most talented Loire Valley vignerons—and their wines—share the joie de vivre of their peers in the Beaujolais or the experimental spirit of the Jura’s tinkerers. As you’ll taste in this sampler, in which no cuvée is quite like the next, the Loire Valley is home to some of France’s greatest and most diverse wines.