WineRegionsOld WorldFranceLoire
Anjou-Saumur is a microcosm of the entire Loire Valley, producing virtuallyevery style of wine imaginable, from almost every grape available in theLoire. Angers, the ancient capital of Anjou, is as important for its textileindustry as it is for its wines. Its attractions include a ninth-centurycastle, twelfth-century cathedral and the thirteenth-century Hopital St-Jean,which accommodates the small Anjou Wine Museum. The only other town ofmajor interest in the district is Saumur, the Loire's sparkling wine centre,to which tourists flock in the summer to visit the numerous cellars hewnout of the solid tufa subsoil. The magnificent white tufa-stone castle thatoverlooks the town was built in the fourteenth century It is regarded as-oneof the finest of the Loire chateaux, and is used by the Confrerie des Chevaliersdu Sacavins (one of Anjou's several wine fraternities) for various inauguralceremonies and celebrations.
THE WINES OF ANJOU
Although rose is on the decline, it still represents up to 55 per cent ofthe total output. However, because it is essentially a blended wine basedon minor grapes such as the Grolleau and Pineau d'Aunis, the most famousgrape of Anjou is Chenin blanc. This vine has been cultivated in the areafor well over a thousand years. It has many synonyms, from "Pineaude la Loire" to "Franc-blanc", but its principal name, Cheninblanc, stems from Mont-Chenin in fifteenth-century Touraine. Under othernames it can he traced as far back as 845, to the abbey of Glanfeuil (southof the river in the Anjou district).
The distinctive tang of the Chenin blanc grape comes from its inherentlyhigh tartaric acid content and this, combined with a naturally high extract,makes for unacceptably tart and often bitter styles of dry and medium-drywhite. 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 ratherthan the exception, and the common practice has always been to leave theharvest of this variety until as late as possible. This invites the riskof rain, but by going other the vines several times in the time honoredtradition of tries, picking only the ripest and healthiest grapeson each and every sweep of the vineyard, a miraculous wine may be made.Although a time-consuming and labor intensive operation, the unique qualityof overripe grapes produced can result in the most succulent and immaculatelybalanced of sweet wines. Unlike poor and boring dry Chenin blanc wines thatonly deteriorate with age, these treasures are vinous investments that arecapable 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 centuryproducers in the Loire began to copy the effervescent wine making practicesof their northern cousins, believing that at long last here was a potentialoutlet for the surplus of thin and tart Chenin blanc wines with which eventhe most quality conscious growers were often lumbered. The first sparklingLoire wine was produced by dean Ackermann. In 1811 he founded the houseof Ackermann-Laurance, which monopolized the market for almost forty years.Sparkling Saumur eventually turned into the largest French sparkling wineindustry outside of Champagne itself.
In many parts of the Loire the Chenin blanc grape has the perfect acidityfor a quality sparkling wine, although devotees of the true yeasty characterof Champagne can find its bouquet strangely sweet, maintaining that itsflavor is simply too distinctive to be properly transmuted by the methodechampenoise. However, the wines are enormously popular, and the admixtureof Chardonnay and other neutral varieties can greatly improve the overallblend. Even the most ardent admirer of Champagne has been known to fallprey to the charms of a superior pure Chenin blanc bubbly from this region.
