Situated on the left bank of the Loire, between Angers and Tours, Saumur is a historic city dominated by one of the most famous castles in France. Immortalized in the illustrations for Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, (among the most famous examples of French Medieval art), the castle, like many of the great Châteaux of the Loire Valley, is built with the same tuffeau limestone that underlies the great vineyards of the region. Tuffeau is easy to carve, making it the stone of choice for medieval castles and cathedrals. Excavations left from building castles and palaces resulted in a network of hundreds of miles of underground tunnels. These ready-made cellars make Saumur the ideal center for the Fines Bulles®, the sparkling wines of the Loire. The Méthode Traditionelle, the procedure by which a still wine is re-fermented in the bottle to become a sparkling wine, takes more than a year and requires extensive cellar space for storage. Many of the great sparkling wine houses of the Loire have their headquarters in Saumur. The wines can be made from Chenin Blanc or a blend of red and white grapes, depending on the style of the individual producer.

Saumur also produces excellent still wines. White Saumur (like the sparkling wines) is primarily Chenin Blanc. Red Saumur is mainly made from Cabernet Franc. Saumur-Champigny makes rich red wines that have seen a tremendous growth in popularity in recent years. They are made from Cabernet Franc, but this may be blended with Cabernet Sauvignon or Pineau d'Aunis, a grape unique to the Loire Valley. Cabernet de Saumur is a rosé that is generally dryer and lighter than the more famous Cabernet d'Anjou.

In addition, the tiny appellation of Coteaux de Saumur produces semi-sweet white wines from Chenin Blanc.

In short, Saumur produces a wide variety of wines for every kind of food and for every occasion.