Appellation: Saumur Brut
Although there are six appellations that are entitled to use the Fines Bulles™ designation, Saumur accounts for nearly as much wine as all the other Fines Bulles® appellations combined. The sparkling wine industry in Saumur goes back to 1811, when Baptiste Ackermann, whose family owned a celebrated Champagne house, started making sparkling wines in the city. By 1859 there were six sparkling wine houses, by 1874 there were fifteen, and more than twenty by 1912.
Comparisons with Champagne are inevitable and, indeed, there are similarities between the winemaking conditions in Saumur and in Champagne, including a cool climate and miles of ancient, underground quarries that underlie the vineyards and in which the wines are cellared. The wines are made according to the same methods. However, such comparisons ignore the ways in which Saumur differs from Champagne and which make it unique.
The vineyards of Saumur lie atop tuffeau limestone, whereas Champagne is planted on chalk. In order to use the Saumur name, the wine must be made from the same grapes that make the best still wines of the region: Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Franc (neither of which is planted in Champagne) or a combination of the two. Chardonnay, one of the primary grapes of Champagne, is allowed but cannot make up more than twenty percent of the blend. The primary attribute of the wine - aside from the fine bubbles (Fines Bulles®) that result from the méthode traditionelle - is the fresh, fruity aromas that characterize most Loire Valley wines.
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Loire365 Factoid
What's In A Name?
Long before the concept of varietals had been invented (and when the same grape often had many different names), French winegrowers and wine makers had discovered that wines from one village or vineyard were very different from wines from the neighboring village or hillside. This is why French wines (including those of the Loire Valley) are identified by “appellations” or place names rather than by the grapes from which they are made. The words Appellations d’Origine Controlee, or the letters AOC on a label indicate that a wine is made in accordance with strict regulations that allow the producer to use the appellation.
