Home > Vintages and Regions > Loire > Focus on: Saumur

Focus on: Saumur

Hands in pockets, I sauntered along the Quai Mayaud towards the centre of town. On my right flowed the Loire, the muddy waters meandering lazily along between the river's ceaselessly shifting sandbanks, to be joined just downstream by those of the Thouet, yet another tributary emptying into Europe's greatest untamed river. High on the hill to my left, behind the rooftops, the famous château, keeping its eternal watch over the town. Behind me was my hotel, which I had just left; the Anne d'Anjou certainly wasn't the cheapest roof-over-my-head I could have chosen, but despite my dwindling finances - in fact, make that non-existent finances, as the bank balance was permanently negative in those heady student days - I figured I deserved a treat. Later on, I would be dining in the hotel's restaurant Les Ménestrels, an evening where I would single-handedly bring down the average age of the clientele by at least 20 years. Surrounded by seemingly wealthy late-middle-aged couples of British origin, I found myself viewed with suspicion. "I suspect he's a journalist", I heard one lady whisper, the final word layered with obvious disdain. Fortunately, the dining experience rose above the frostiness of my neighbours; it would a great meal.

As I continued my stroll into the town I discovered, upon turning a corner, a Maison du Vin, the display window festooned with bottles. Taking a perch at the tasting bar inside I chose a few wines to taste, names largely unfamiliar to me. The experience was thrilling; bright and vibrant raspberry fruit exploded on my palate. My tasting vocabulary at the time was poor, but looking back (yes, through rose-tinted spectacles I admit) the wines had vivacity and freshness, elegance rather than deep substance, and were endowed with deliciously crisp acidity. This was something new!

It was the summer of 1993, and I had just discovered Saumur.

Saumur: the Town and Château

Perhaps surprisingly that was the only time I have stayed within Saumur itself; although I have returned many times I have always laid my head outside of the city, either camping upriver at L'Etang de la Brèche, or in rented properties in the countryside to the north, amongst the orchards, vistas of sunflowers and the regimented rows of trees that characterise small-scale French forestry. Approaching Saumur from this direction always used to confuse me; whichever of the two almost-parallel routes you take into Saumur you will find yourself seemingly passing over two rivers before reaching the town proper. This illusion is caused by the Ile d'Offard, a large built-up island lying within the centre of the Loire. Having crossed the first bridge it is tempting to think that the Loire is behind you, but in fact you are only halfway across.

As you cross the second and rather wider channel of water you cannot fail to notice the aforementioned château, a 10th-century edifice built, like most of the town, from tuffeau, the soft, pale and elegant limestone that characterises this section of the Loire. Towering fortress-like over Saumur this impressive stronghold has, like many of France's best-known ancient monuments, seen a remarkable amount of destruction and restoration over the years. Rebuilt following damage in the 12th century, it has housed a military barracks, a Napoleonic prison and, more recently, a museum and restaurant. Although certainly not the prettiest of all the Loire's châteaux, nor the most extravagant (there are no Da Vinci double-helix staircases here, and it is well short of Chambord's reputed 365 chimneys) it is certainly worth a visit. Shown above is a view of the southern arm of the Loire and the Ile d'Offard, taken when standing alongside the château; it is a scan of a photographic print taken in 1993, included as an homage to that early journey of discovery, hence its rather hazy quality.

Other attractions in the town also reflect a military heritage; Saumur is home to the Cadre Noir, France's military equine academy, and a tank museum also appeals to some. The best day to visit is perhaps Saturday - the market, although officially located in the Place St-Pierre, snakes its way through the back streets of the town, inviting exploration. There are some good restaurants to be found, and if you know the right bar to go to you could soon find yourself chewing the cud with the best-known local vignerons.

The Wines of Saumur

Saumur provides us with a microcosm of the Loire, a feast of styles, sparkling and still, red and white, dry or occasionally sweet. Perhaps surprisingly, after that 1993 discovery, it took me a long time to really appreciate the quality offered by some of these appellations. I was suckered in by the apparently greater glory of Vouvray and Chinon, and for a while Saumur received little attention. But with time I came to realise that Saumur, and in particular Saumur-Champigny, gives us some of the greatest wines of the entire Loire vineyard.

The Saumur vineyards sit in a crescent to the south of the town, and within this arc lie those of the Saumur-Champigny appellation, the latter of which is the major focus of this missive and tasting. Both the Saumur and Saumur-Champigny appellations were created in 1957; there are just eight communes qualifying for the latter, all closely concentrated to the southeast of Saumur itself. The appellation permits only red wines from Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pineau d'Aunis, although many are pulling up this latter variety, also known as Chenin Noir, in favour of the two Cabernets. Yields are pretty high at an average of 77 hl/ha across the appellation over a ten year period, but producers with a mind to quality will harvest at significantly less than this. Nevertheless, the figures suggest some producers focus on quantity, not quality.

The appellation owes its existence largely to two characters, the first being Antoine Cristal who acquired, using wealth built up in the textile trade, the Château de Parnay near Saumur. He turned his attention to viticulture and winemaking, establishing one of the world's most remarkable vineyards, the Clos Cristal; a unique site, the vineyard is characterised by three kilometres of walls running east-west through the vineyard. On the north side are planted the vines, which grow up the walls a variable distance before being trained through holes to the south side. On this side, facing the sun, the vines erupt into foliage, benefiting not only from excellent exposure but also from the warmth of the wall, which absorbs the energy of the sun's rays during the day, slowly releasing its heat during the evening and night.

Within a few decades the wines of Père Cristal, as he became known, were to be found on the lists of the greatest French restaurants, and found favour both with the British regent Edward VII and the French war-time leader Georges Clemenceau. On the whole, though, the region was dominated by white wines, red vines being almost unknown within the commune. Today red dominates (in Saumur-Champigny exclusively so), although there are some who might wish for the pendulum to swing back a little, as it is increasingly realised how favourable some of the Saumur terroirs are for white varieties. This conversion to a predominantly red wine commune began with Père Cristal, whose vineyard is today in the ownership of the Hospices de Saumur.

Next up for Saumur was Paul Filliatreau, who in the 1970s was largely responsible for the creation of modern Saumur-Champigny. He spearheaded a move to a more vibrant style, vinified in steel rather than old wood, bottled for freshness and vivacious drinkability, his creation was clearly a direct ancestor of the wines I first tasted in 1993. The clean, mineral, stony-perfumed reds received a rapacious welcome in the wine bars of Paris, and soon all of Filliatreau's contemporaries with any business-sense were emulating his style. Today the pendulum has swung back from this quaffing style, however, and Saumur-Champigny is just as likely to be a serious, structured, ageworthy red wine of great substance and elegance. Oak has returned (although it is most successful where its use is restrained in my opinion) and many leading estates now produce a range of cuvées, moving from the easy-drinking wines from lesser sites and younger vines, through to very serious wines that demand time in the cellar. Cuvées such as Le Bourg (Clos Rougeard), Lisagathe (Château du Hureau), Les Loups (Domaine de Nerleux) and La Marginale (Roches Neuves) all fit comfortably within this latter category.

Saumur: Also White, Sparkling and Sweet

These other appellations also deserve some attention, although they are not strongly featured in the tasting written up below. Straight Saumur can be red or white, with 31 communes eligible for the former and 39 for the latter. The red wines are produced from the same varieties as Champigny, and the whites must be at least 80% Chenin Blanc, the balance Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. Although some of these reds can without doubt be delicious, it is probably the whites that provide most interest, as in the hands of a committed vigneron the Saumur terroirs can yield a Chenin just as worthy as once from Vouvray or Savennières.

A recently confirmed addition to the Saumur pantheon is Saumur Le Puy Notre Dame, a new appellation laid out in 2006 but only officially signed off in late 2009. There are 17 eligible communes, and like Saumur-Champigny the wines here will be red only, harvested at a lower yield than the surrounding Saumur vineyards. The first vintage will be 2009, and time will tell whether this appellation enjoys the same success as Saumur-Champigny. Reading the words of those vignerons who will be working within the appellation, they seem to be on course to do so.

That leaves us with two final components of the Saumur genetic code, Saumur Mousseux and Coteaux de Saumur. The former really deserves a dedicated piece, this being a huge and successful industry for the region. The major houses are largely based in St-Hilaire-St-Florent, just downstream of Saumur, whilst the vineyards cover not only the tuffeau vineyards around Saumur, but stretch west onto the schistous land around Angers, and there are even a few vineyards on the far side of the river. These cover 95 communes in all, with about 1400 hectares under production. Permitted white grape varieties include Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc (together these two must not comprise more than 20% of the blend) and Chenin Blanc (also sometimes referred to as Pineau de la Loire), permitted red varieties include Cabernets Franc & Sauvignon, Cot (the local name for Malbec), Gamay, Pinot Noir and Pineau d'Aunis; the red varieties must not exceed 60% of the blend. The appellation also allows for rosé, and as a point of interest these must be produced solely from the red grapes listed above.

Coteaux de Saumur, meanwhile, allows for the production of sweet wines around the town; delimited in 1962, the appellation refers to 31 communes which largely overlap the rest of the Saumur appellation. The wines tend to have a charming, tender style and have a certain academic appeal, rather than the more luscious style of Anjou, or the more majestic character found in Vouvray.

The tasting described below focused on the wines of Saumur-Champigny, with one sparkling and one white Saumur to open the show. The line-up also originally included a bottle of René Legrand's Saumur-Champigny La Chaintrée 2005 which sadly was corked. No back up was available. (12/1/10)

Focus on: Saumur - Tasting Notes

These wines were tasted in January 2010. Click to locate stockists.