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Val de Loire · Saumurois · Sweet white

Coteaux de Saumur — terroir, soils & grape varieties

The sweet side of the Saumur area. On tuffeau chalk, overripe-harvested chenin gives rare, fine off-dry whites, little known today but of great elegance.

The Sweet Wine of the Saumur Area

Granted AOC status in 1962, the Coteaux de Saumur appellation covers about thirty communes in the Maine-et-Loire, Vienne and Deux-Sèvres, within the Saumur area. Production today is scarce, exclusively sweet chenin whites — the sweet counterpart to Saumur's dry whites and reds.

Terroir and Style

The subsoil is that of "Anjou Blanc": soft, cool Turonian tuffeau chalk, as opposed to the schist of western Anjou. Here chenin is harvested overripe, by hand in successive pickings, for a high sugar concentration. The result is sweet whites of great finesse, carried by the grape variety's typical acidity.

The grape varieties of Coteaux de Saumur

Chenin →sole variety — richness and freshness
Buy a Coteaux de Saumur →
Sources: Wikipédia — Coteaux de Saumur (AOC)