Wines By Region / Loire Valley / Anjou
Anjou
Anjou is a wine region around the French city of Angers, in the western Loire Valley. It produces red, rosé, and white wines in a wide range of styles: dry, sweet, still, and sparkling. Anjou is bisected neatly by the Loire river, in the final stages of its thousand-kilometer (620 mile) journey through central France. Just upriver to the east lies the Touraine district, while to the west are the Muscadet vineyards of the Pays Nantais. The district’s geographical area corresponds roughly to that of the former Duchy of Anjou. This corresponds closely to the modern-day Maine-et-Loire administrative department.
Anjou is balanced by continental climate to the east, found in the interior regions of large landmasses, and the maritime influence of the Atlantic to the west. The presence of the Loire river also contributes its own character. The district’s soil types can be roughly divided into two types. To the north can be found the carboniferous rocks and schist of the Armorican Massif while limestone-rich soils are more prevalent to the south and west.
Wines from Anjou and Anjou-Villages tend to ready to drink upon release, full of bright fruit and extremely versatile at the table. The dry whites are most usually made with chenin blanc (an extremely versatile grape that can be used for dry, off-dry, and sweet wines, as well as in sparkling wines), although sometimes small amounts of chardonnay and sauvignon blanc are employed. Coteaux de Layon wines are made with 100% chenin blanc and come in a wide variety of sweetness levels, which either make them pleasant as a light aperitif or, in their full-on botrytis versions, as grand accompaniment to foie gras or rich, pungent cheeses. The reds can be made with cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, gamay, grolleau, and pineau d’Aunis. They tend to be light and fruity, and whose forward appeal makes them ideal picnic wines.
Perhaps the most respected wine appellation in this part of the Loire is Savennières, located just southwest of Angers. Like the other white wines of Anjou, chenin blanc is the grape employed. Until the latter half of the 20th century, most of the appellation’s wines were sweet. Yet with changing consumer’s tastes, dryer wines emerged and brought with them added mineral intensity. The vineyards are located on four southeast facing slopes on the right bank of the Loire, planted on primarily sandstone schist with seams of volcanic rock and sand. Yields are limited to a low 20 hectoliters per hectares. As a result of the low yields, the wines are highly concentrated and can be surprisingly long lived. Some consumers find the most structured wines, to be too steely and tart in their youth, preferring to drink them several years after the vintage when those characteristics begin to soften and the wines begin to open up.
Anjou is balanced by continental climate to the east, found in the interior regions of large landmasses, and the maritime influence of the Atlantic to the west. The presence of the Loire river also contributes its own character. The district’s soil types can be roughly divided into two types. To the north can be found the carboniferous rocks and schist of the Armorican Massif while limestone-rich soils are more prevalent to the south and west.
Wines from Anjou and Anjou-Villages tend to ready to drink upon release, full of bright fruit and extremely versatile at the table. The dry whites are most usually made with chenin blanc (an extremely versatile grape that can be used for dry, off-dry, and sweet wines, as well as in sparkling wines), although sometimes small amounts of chardonnay and sauvignon blanc are employed. Coteaux de Layon wines are made with 100% chenin blanc and come in a wide variety of sweetness levels, which either make them pleasant as a light aperitif or, in their full-on botrytis versions, as grand accompaniment to foie gras or rich, pungent cheeses. The reds can be made with cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, gamay, grolleau, and pineau d’Aunis. They tend to be light and fruity, and whose forward appeal makes them ideal picnic wines.
Perhaps the most respected wine appellation in this part of the Loire is Savennières, located just southwest of Angers. Like the other white wines of Anjou, chenin blanc is the grape employed. Until the latter half of the 20th century, most of the appellation’s wines were sweet. Yet with changing consumer’s tastes, dryer wines emerged and brought with them added mineral intensity. The vineyards are located on four southeast facing slopes on the right bank of the Loire, planted on primarily sandstone schist with seams of volcanic rock and sand. Yields are limited to a low 20 hectoliters per hectares. As a result of the low yields, the wines are highly concentrated and can be surprisingly long lived. Some consumers find the most structured wines, to be too steely and tart in their youth, preferring to drink them several years after the vintage when those characteristics begin to soften and the wines begin to open up.