All about Savennières
The Savennières terroir is proud to belong to the part of the Loire Valley listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as a cultural landscape since 2001. Hillsides and coulees, castles and gardens, plateaus and mills, three landscapes meet.
The appellation is located 15 km south-west of Angers, on the right bank of the Loire on the communes of Bouchemaine, Savennières and la Possonnière.
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Key figures
Figures based on average harvests over the last 5 years
.140
Ha4033
Hl537k
Bottles35
hl/ha yield37
Producers
Origins
History
| <1053 | Foundation Angevine | The Count of Anjou, Geoffroy Martel (1006-1060), founded a collegiate church at the chapel of Angers castle and gave fiefs and lands to Bouchemaine. |
| 1191 | Des vins royaux | Jean sans Terre cites Anjou wines among those mainly used in his kingdom and buys them. King René himself was very supportive of winegrowing around Angers |
| 1214 | Battle and vineyard | The battle of La Roche aux Moines, which enabled Philip II to attach the provinces of Anjou and Maine to his small kingdom of France. The fortress of La Roche aux Moines, whose last tower collapsed after the war, has long remained in the landscape as a witness to this page in the history of the kingdom of France. Cistercian monks founded a small monastery in the Coulée de Serrant and planted vines in the 12th century. Until then, the cultivation of La bataille de la Roche aux Moines had had a monastic and seigneurial character, and the complant lease favored the extension of this cultivation. As the great abbeys declined, they ceded land in fiefs to their vassals in exchange for a cens in kind or in money. Rural seigneuries multiplied. Château de Chamboureau, Château d'Epiré, Château de Varennes and the fiefdom of Les Vaults were already pretty manors during the Renaissance, markers of the landscape and signs of a certain wealth: that of Angers notables. |
| XVIII | Seigniorial land | These small lords confessed to Antoine-Philippe Walsh, Count of Serrant, for his seigniorial land: "with the large gardens, terraces, orchards and groves, etc. which were formerly the Château de Savennières... followed by the vinages renderable at my press in the said town" |
| XVIII XIX | Landscape transformation | Watch the landscape transform with the arrival of investors from Parisian finance attracted by the vineyard's fame and modernity: the railroad promises a reliable means of transport replacing the sandy and dangerous Loire, until then the only means of transporting goods. An impressive number of estates were built on the hillsides and slopes, in a variety of styles, generally sober and elegant. The fashion for landscaped gardens or agricultural parks developed by the Comte de Choulot and the nurseryman André Leroy seduced the owners, who created parks, arboretums and gardens of great beauty, showcasing the residences and the vines, with majestic or poetic pathways leading the visitor to the most spectacular views of the vineyard slopes. The landscape was transformed with the arrival of investors from Parisian finance, attracted by the fame of the vineyards and modernity: The railroads promised a reliable means of transport, replacing the sandy and dangerous Loire, until then the only means of transporting goods. An impressive number of estates were built on the hillsides and slopes, in a variety of styles, generally sober and elegant. The fashion for landscaped gardens or agricultural parks developed by the Comte de Choulot and the nurseryman André Leroy appealed to owners, who created parks and arboretums, beautiful gardens showcasing residences and vines, with majestic or poetic pathways leading visitors to the most spectacular views of the vineyard slopes |
| XIX | Landscape evolution | Vineyard cultivation on the slopes of the Loire changed radically in the 19th century, as a result of the transformation of agricultural property following the Revolution, advances in oenology and plant protection. One of the architects of this transformation in Savennières was Constant Guillory (1796- 1878), known for his work with the Société agricole et industrielle de Maine-et- Loire, which he founded. The society's aim was to promote industrial and agricultural progress in Anjou. In 1842, Guillory launched the first Congrès des Vignerons de France, to improve vine cultivation and wine-making. In the Petites Coulées area on the Roche aux Moines hillside, he had terraces built to follow the curves of the land over an area of around 70 ares. It was while planting on these terraces that Guillory experimented with trellising using wire and slate stakes. As early as 1840, Guillory carried out varietal trials on his Savennières vines. In 1952, Bernard du Closel, together with Messrs Soulez, Bizard and Roussier, obtained the classification of this part of the Coteaux de la Loire as an Appellation Savennières Contrôlée. The 1952 decree in no way fixed the style of wine to be produced, but set stricter requirements than the Coteaux de la Loire specifications: the obligation to have 212 grams of natural sugar and a minimum of 12° acquired alcohol. Yields limited to 25 hl per hectare. The area selected for the Savennières appellation was thus differentiated from the Coteaux de Loire et de Maine appellation by this decree, which imposed higher standards. As the Coteaux de la Loire appellation is a sweet wine appellation, Savennières was culturally part of this sweet wine production group. However, as early as the 19th century, the name vin de Savennières, grand cru d'Anjou, was used in the catalogs of world fairs to describe other highly appreciated styles: dry, semi-dry and even sparkling. Winegrowers were faced with difficult vintages and a market increasingly demanding dry wines. It took Jean Baumard and Michèle Bazin de Jessey ten years of struggle to get the 1952 decree amended, officially adding the possibility of producing dry, semi-dry or sweet wines, depending on what the vintage offered. The story doesn't end there: the constraints of the vinification site meant that only a very small number of winegrowers could produce Savennières, which seemed to limit the development of its reputation. In the early 2000s, it was unanimously decided to authorize the vinification of Savennières grapes throughout the Anjou appellation area. This decision brought a new dynamism. |
Presentation
The Savennières terroir is proud to belong to the part of the Loire Valley listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as a cultural landscape since 2001. Hillsides and coulees, castles and gardens, plateaus and mills, three landscapes meet.
The appellation is located 15 km south-west of Angers, on the right bank of the Loire on the communes of Bouchemaine, Savennières and la Possonnière.
Soil and climate
In the primary era, before there was life, this whole part of the globe was under the sea. When the sea receded millions of years ago, the sand aggregated, became sandstone and then, under the effect of heat and pressure, was transformed into shale: a "metamorphic" rock. Erosion of the schist, plate movements and upwelling of magma gradually revealed a variety of magmatic rocks: rhyolites, spilites, phtanites, and quartz veins that outcrop the soil and heat up differently in the sun. This type of viticultural terrain is rare and spectacular, giving Savennières wines a very special minerality that makes them unique.
The oceanic climate rises in the Loire Valley and creates the Savennières microclimate. It's said that storms come and go. Hard soil, mild climate: a unique combination. The climate here is less humid than in Loire Atlantique and less continental than in Touraine. Like all plants, vines draw their energy from the sun. Located on the right bank, the south/southwest-facing hillsides are steeply sloping. Along the "coulées", small valleys perpendicular to the river, the south/south-west orientation works wonders.
Cultivation methods
The Savennières AOC covers some 300 hectares, of which 140 are in production today.
The appellation has literally been reclaimed by passionate winemakers: thirty years ago, the hillsides planted with vines covered just 75 hectares. Most of the 37 estates are run by the owners themselves. They welcome visitors to the property and share their experience with passion.
The appellation has set the authorized yield at 50 hl per hectare, but in reality, the average is more like 35 or even lower. It generally reflects a quest for quality. Vinification is traditional, but each winemaker is "master on board", experimenting according to his or her own style and intuition. In this way, wine lovers can discover an infinite number of nuances, the richness of diversity.