Loire wines and tastings

The Loire Valley vineyards are characterised by a wide variety of natural environments due to the great variety of soils and sub-soils:

• In the Anjou vineyard, the subsoil is mainly composed of slate schists, sandstone and carboniferous schists as well as volcanic rocks, all originating from the Armorican Massif.
• Between the vineyards of Anjou and Saumur, there is a transition between the ancient basement in the west and the sedimentary basin in the east.
• In the vineyards of Saumur and Touraine, the subsoil is composed of chalk tuffeau and sands and flint clays of the Parisian Basin.
• The terraces on the banks of the Loire and Vienne rivers are made up of sands and gravels rolled by the rivers and deposited over time.

This geological diversity contributes to the appearance of a multitude of soils with different exposures, greatly influencing the choice of grape varieties and the practices of the wine growers. This brings us to the notion of terroir, which is so important to our vineyards.

Capital of the Huguenots under Henri IV, Saumur has been an important trading centre since the 12th century. The name of this appellation could come from the Latin campus igni or field of fire, due to the particularly hot microclimate of this area in summer.

With its luminous garnet red colour with purple to violet reflections, the AOC Saumur Champigny is recognisable on the nose with its bouquet of red to black fruits, floral notes of iris and violet with time, spicy notes, undergrowth, leather…

The grape varieties are Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pineau d’Aunis.

130 growers alone produce 9,960,000 bottles per year!