WineRegionsOld WorldFranceLoire
Anjou-Saumur is a microcosm of the entire Loire Valley, producing virtually every style of wine imaginable, from almost every grape available in the Loire. Angers, the ancient capital of Anjou, is as important for its textile industry as it is for its wines. Its attractions include a ninth-century castle, twelfth-century cathedral and the thirteenth-century Hopital St-Jean, which accommodates the small Anjou Wine Museum. The only other town of major interest in the district is Saumur, the Loire's sparkling wine centre, to which tourists flock in the summer to visit the numerous cellars hewn out of the solid tufa subsoil. The magnificent white tufa-stone castle that overlooks the town was built in the fourteenth century It is regarded as-one of the finest of the Loire chateaux, and is used by the Confrerie des Chevaliers du Sacavins (one of Anjou's several wine fraternities) for various inaugural ceremonies and celebrations.
THE WINES OF ANJOU
Although rose is on the decline, it still represents up to 55 per cent of
the total output. However, because it is essentially a blended wine based
on minor grapes such as the Grolleau and Pineau d'Aunis, the most famous
grape of Anjou is Chenin blanc. This vine has been cultivated in the area
for well over a thousand years. It has many synonyms, from "Pineau
de la Loire" to "Franc-blanc", but its principal name, Chenin
blanc, stems from Mont-Chenin in fifteenth-century Touraine. Under other
names it can he traced as far back as 845, to the abbey of Glanfeuil (south
of the river in the Anjou district).
The distinctive tang of the Chenin blanc grape comes from its inherently
high tartaric acid content and this, combined with a naturally high extract,
makes for unacceptably tart and often bitter styles of dry and medium-dry
white. Exceptions to this rule are few and mostly confined to the four sun-blessed,
southeast-facing slopes of Savennieres. Anjou growers go by the rule rather
than the exception, and the common practice has always been to leave the
harvest of this variety until as late as possible. This invites the risk
of rain, but by going other the vines several times in the time honored
tradition of tries, picking only the ripest and healthiest grapes
on each and every sweep of the vineyard, a miraculous wine may be made.
Although a time-consuming and labor intensive operation, the unique quality
of overripe grapes produced can result in the most succulent and immaculately
balanced of sweet wines. Unlike poor and boring dry Chenin blanc wines that
only deteriorate with age, these treasures are vinous investments that are
capable of great maturity and can achieve wonderfully complex honeyed characteristics.
THE SPARKLING SAUMUR INDUSTRY
With the rapid growth of the Champagne market in the nineteenth century
producers in the Loire began to copy the effervescent wine making practices
of their northern cousins, believing that at long last here was a potential
outlet for the surplus of thin and tart Chenin blanc wines with which even
the most quality conscious growers were often lumbered. The first sparkling
Loire wine was produced by dean Ackermann. In 1811 he founded the house
of Ackermann-Laurance, which monopolized the market for almost forty years.
Sparkling Saumur eventually turned into the largest French sparkling wine
industry outside of Champagne itself.
In many parts of the Loire the Chenin blanc grape has the perfect acidity
for a quality sparkling wine, although devotees of the true yeasty character
of Champagne can find its bouquet strangely sweet, maintaining that its
flavor is simply too distinctive to be properly transmuted by the methode
champenoise. However, the wines are enormously popular, and the admixture
of Chardonnay and other neutral varieties can greatly improve the overall
blend. Even the most ardent admirer of Champagne has been known to fall
prey to the charms of a superior pure Chenin blanc bubbly from this region.
