Coteaux de Saumur

Appellations Coteaux de l’Aubance, Anjou Coteaux de la Loire, Coteaux de Saumur

These three appellations craft sweet white wines from Chenin Blanc. Racy and delicious in their youth, the wines can age up to a decade and, in exceptional vintages, for over 15 years.

 

Vineyard

Location: The designated terroirs of these three AOCs correspond to well-exposed and ventilated slopes, which encourage early plant growth and the production of extremely ripe fruit and often harvest replete with noble rot.

Surface Area:

• Anjou Coteaux de la Loire: Approximately 120 hectares / 296 acres
• Coteaux de l’Aubance: Approximately 160 hectares / 395 acres
• Coteaux de Saumur: The delimitation recognized a vast, well-exposed area, but generally only 12 hectares / 30 acres are declared in this AOC.

Soil: Anjou Coteaux de la Loire is an integral part of the Anjou Noir in the southeast part of the Massif Armoricain and comprises shallow brown soils. Coteaux de l’Aubance is the result of erosion by the Loire and Aubance, its tributary, which created a large number of small slopes, facing in different directions, on shallow schist soil. Coteaux Saumur is located on the Cretaceous cuesta on the southwestern edge of the Paris basin and is planted on limestone soil.

 

Wine

Annual Production: 

• Anjou Coteaux de la Loire: Approximately 1,000 hl / 26,417 gallons
• Coteaux de l’Aubance: Approximately 5,000 hl / 132,086 gallons
• Coteaux de Saumur: Approximately 400 hl / 10,567 gallons

Yield: 

• 38 hl/ha Anjou Coteaux de la Loire and Coteaux de Saumur
• 35 hl/ha Coteaux de l’Aubance

Grape Variety: 

• Chenin Blanc (aka Pineau de Loire)

Growing/Production Practices: Density 4,500-5,000 vines/hectare with double 2×3 eye Guyot (2×4 in Saumur) or 3×2 gobelet pruning. 

Technical Constraints: Multiple manual harvest passes are carried out to selectively pick over-ripened grapes presenting high sugar concentrations, whether or not due to noble rot.

 

Tasting Notes

• Appearance: Deep gold with hints of green, developing into old gold with auburn accents with maturity 
• Nose: Charming and subtle aromas of flowers and white fruits
• Flavors: Wines range from tender to lively ad are more supple and airy than those produced on the slopes of Layon. 

 

Food Pairings

• As an aperitif with fresh fruit
• Roquefort tart
• Sea Bass fillet