I’m delighted to share an extract from my book, Wines of the Loire Valley. It’s been a huge privilege to research and produce a new reference for this significant, but often overlooked, region of France.

Writing the book has allowed me to shine a light on a new wave of quality producers, mostly small family wineries, and the stunning array of wines they are crafting today. The book is organized geographically, with a strong focus on grower profiles throughout to highlight clearly the caliber of the top wines. 

Loire wines have evolved in recent decades to reflect changing tastes, fresh ideas, and a deeper understanding of terroir. They are hugely appealing to the modern palate: fragrant, refreshing, medium-bodied, and naturally low in alcohol. It is no exaggeration to say that the world’s best varietal wines today from Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, and Cabernet Franc all hail from the Loire Valley—not forgetting Muscadet, of course, dubbed last year "the new Montrachet” by the French national press.

Many of the wines and appellations of the Loire remain virtually unknown outside France. Here is an introduction to the richness and diversity that can be found in the dynamic region of Anjou. I hope it encourages you to dig deeper in discovering this fascinating region.

–Beverley Blanning, MW

Anjou means different things to different people. It is a contradictory place, simultaneously perhaps the most and least interesting region of the Loire Valley. Here, the most refined and sublime wines can be found, including world-class Chenins and the only real cult red wine of the Loire, Clos Rougeard. But alongside such vinous highlights are many uninspiring wines that have, over the years, eroded the region’s historic reputation for quality. But today, there is much to be both hopeful and excited about from the artisanal producers in the vineyards and villages of Anjou, whether from historic domaines or newly created enterprises. In recent years, some notable newcomers have moved into the area, taking advantage of Anjou’s under-the-radar status and inexpensive land. New terroirs are being discovered (or rediscovered) and there is now growing interest in the truly excellent wines that are coming out of the region. Although there are still many wines of limited interest in Anjou, in a way this makes unearthing its treasures a more rewarding pursuit. And today there are plenty of jewels to be found in the cellars of Anjou.

A third of all the wine produced in the Loire Valley comes from this large area, which covers land in 151 communes across three departments: Maine-et-Loire, Deux-Sèvres, and Vienne. Most of the vineyards are to the south of the Loire, following the broad sweep of the river from the edges of the Nantes conurbation eastward to Saumur. The most concentrated section of wine growing is between the riverside towns of Angers and Saumur. It is an area that spans a wide range of terroirs, multiple smaller rivers, and two distinct geological eras. 

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Two of the Loire’s tributaries feature prominently in the appellations of Anjou: the Layon and the Aubance. Both flow from the south to join the Loire close to Savennières. The Layon is geographically small but geologically significant, for its southeast to northwest course marks the line of the Layon fault. This is the frontier between the ancient volcanic and metamorphic rocks of the Armorican Massif to the west and the younger, limestone-based soils of the Paris Basin to the east. It marks the divide between the so-called Anjou noir (west) and Anjou blanc (east), named for the predominant dark or light color of the rocks and soils. This divide splits the region more or less down the middle. In places, the landscape reflects the drama of the earth’s past, with gentler slopes on the left bank of the river Layon and steep, rocky inclines to the right. The geology here is, as many a winemaker will tell you, “chaotic”—but it is precisely this chaos that allows creative winemakers to produce a seemingly endless selection of cuvées to reveal in their wines the multifaceted expressions of these diverse soils.

Today you can find every Loire wine style in Anjou, and many producers make a wide range of different wines, even though some are clearly better adapted to their terroir than others. Before phylloxera, the picture was quite different: Chenin Blanc was by far the dominant grape, and it was especially valued for its ability to produce sweet wines in an era where sugar and sweetness were hard to come by. Post-phylloxera the quality hillside vineyards were abandoned in favor of sites that were easier to work to facilitate mass-market, high-volume production. This was sent largely to the western parts of France where wine production was not possible. The reputation of Anjou diminished over the course of the century following phylloxera until it became little more than a distant memory. The goals of fulfilling demand and following fashion led to the demise of the region’s signature Chenin Blanc in favor of reds, often of lower quality varieties, or varieties generally unsuited to this northerly climate (Cabernet Sauvignon, for example). A good way to sell the wines from these tart grapes turned out to be converting them into rosés, with the acidity softened by a good dose of sweetness. Even today, most producers make a wide range of styles of wine, and it is not uncommon to find vignerons turning their hands to reds and rosés as well as Chenin in all its guises.

Within France, Anjou is still most readily associated with basic quality, off-dry and semisweet rosés made under the appellations Rosé d’Anjou and Cabernet d’Anjou. As these wines are little seen outside the country, it is easy to forget just how important they are to the local economy. Together, these two appellations account for well over half of Anjou’s vinous output. What’s more, Cabernet d’Anjou (the sweeter of the two styles) is the largest-volume appellation of the entire Loire Valley: one in ten Loire wines is a Cabernet d’Anjou. Producers trying to establish Anjou as a quality wine-producing region might be exasperated that this is the most common association some people have with Anjou, but others celebrate its undeniable commercial success. It has even been suggested that these rosés could be marketed as a viable alternative to coffee as an afternoon pick-me-up for tired mothers.

Some producers see little value in using the generic Anjou appellation and abandon the label altogether, preferring to bottle their wines as Vin de France. As in other parts of the Loire, Anjou has its fair share of winemakers who prefer to have the freedom to make wines in any way they wish and from any grapes they choose, which also leads them down the Vin de France route. But outside of France, Anjou is a bit of an unknown quantity, which may prove to be its trump card. The name carries no negative quality associations for the vast majority of wine drinkers around the world. For most of us, the new wave of high-quality wine that has emerged under the Anjou appellation is simply an exciting discovery.

An important category that falls within the Anjou region is sparkling wine production, which centers around the town of Saumur. Jean Baptiste Ackerman developed the sparkling industry here in the early nineteenth century. After spending some time in Champagne, he came to work in Saumur and quickly realized that here was an ideal environment for producing and maturing sparkling wines similar to those in Champagne. His success led other companies to follow suit. Today Saumur is the most important center for sparkling wine production in the Loire, and the Ackerman business continues to thrive along the banks of the river in Saumur. Wines are made in the traditional method and age for at least nine months on lees. The large houses produce a wide range of wines of consistent quality at a fair price. This is an increasingly important and growing market.

Rosé and sparkling dominate the quantity of wine produced in Anjou, but when it comes to quality it is the minority white wines that are gaining the most attention. Anjou is the almost certain birthplace of Chenin Blanc, and the grape has been growing here continuously for centuries. The Anjou vineyards are the source of some of the world’s most outstanding wines from this versatile variety. Anjou was historically best known for the quality of its sweet wines, since it has naturally favorable conditions for the late-ripening Chenin: sunny slopes, a relatively dry climate, and autumn humidity from small rivers encouraging development of noble rot (Botrytis cinerea). Even if sweet wine is less fashionable than it once was, there are still no fewer than seven separate appellations for sweet wine here, including the Loire Valley’s only grand cru vineyard, the 40-hectare Quarts de Chaume. (Chenin is also the main ingredient in Saumur sparkling wine.) Even though Chenin no longer dominates the Anjou landscape as it once did, for 12 of the region’s appellations, it remains the only permitted variety growers can use.

While the sweet wines from Anjou can be superb, there is more interest today in quality dry wines from Chenin. Whether from the long-established bourgeois properties of Savennières or Saumur, or the plain, generic Anjou appellation, a new quality standard has been established for these wines, from newcomers bringing ideas that are influencing other producers, or from the younger generations of existing family growers. Often grown on terroirs better known for sweet wines, these dry expressions have immense character and interest. Depending on the soils where they are grown, they show power, finesse, minerality, and longevity, demonstrating Chenin’s ability to express myriad nuances of terroir. The winemakers of Anjou and Saumur have been working with the INAO on a long-term project to attempt to gain recognition for the best sites and to create crus within the appellations. In Anjou these currently number nine and in Saumur six, the latter including the locally renowned Brézé. If past INAO wine reforms are anything to go by, change will occur at a snail’s pace, and at this early stage the growers still need to agree among themselves on what it is that they want. In Saumur, for example, the drawing of the boundaries of the different crus is causing some predictable upset, while for the Anjou crus one of the most contentious issues is that the INAO insists that crus be for dry styles of wine only. This is a problem for growers who wish to retain the option of making either sweet or dry wines, depending on the vintage conditions of the year (which is how the basic appellation system operates in Vouvray, for example). For now, the dry wines produced from sweet wine appellations are labeled simply as generic Anjou blanc.

Anjou reds center on Cabernet Franc and come in a range of styles. The best known are those grown on the warm tuffeau-based soils of Saumur-Champigny where most comprise 100 percent Cabernet Franc. Elsewhere in Anjou, blended wines are more common. Cabernet Franc remains in the majority, usually blended with a little Cabernet Sauvignon. Some light, early drinking wines are made under the appellation Anjou Gamay, which is usually made wholly from this juicy, red-fruited variety.

One of the beauties of Anjou is its variety, but it is nevertheless encouraging to see it increasingly playing to its natural strengths. Chenin Blanc is making a comeback as the grape of choice for new plantings, and even replacing red wine grapes. This is in recognition of its historic presence in the region, its adaptability to the soils and growing conditions of Anjou, and a rise in demand for white wines worldwide. Sparkling wines are following the global trend toward drier, more elegant styles, and red wines too are moving to a lighter and more restrained style that suits the terroir where they are grown.

This excerpt first appeared in Wines of the Loire Valley, written by Beverley Blanning, MW, and published by Académie du Vin Library in December 2024. It has been minimally edited for style, length, and audience. Used with permission.

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