The area runs south from the Loire along the Thouet and its tributary the Dive, over communes of Maine-et-Loire, the Vienne and the Deux-Sèvres. Here the chalk of the Paris basin covers the older rocks of the Armorican Massif, so locals call it Anjou blanc, as opposed to the dark schist of Anjou noir around Angers. The vines grow on thin chalky soils, topped in places by sand and clay. The hills of the Mauges to the west keep rainfall between 550 and 600 millimetres a year.
Still white Saumur was recognised on 14 November 1936, still reds and rosés in 1937, sparkling white in 1938 and sparkling rosé in 1957. The still white is made from Chenin Blanc alone. The reds rely on Cabernet Franc, with up to 30 percent of Cabernet Sauvignon and Pineau d'Aunis among the vines. They are pleasant young and can gain complexity over a few years. Sweet Chenin from overripe grapes has its own appellation, Coteaux de Saumur.
Sparkling Saumur took off in the early nineteenth century, when Jean-Baptiste Ackerman put the second fermentation in bottle to work. It must spend at least nine months on its lees. Cellars cut into the tuffeau keep a cool, steady temperature for this ageing.
Clos Rougeard grows Chenin on the limestone hill of Brézé. Domaine Guiberteau, run by Romain Guiberteau since 1996, farms Chenin and Cabernet Franc around Montreuil-Bellay, Brézé and Bizay. La Porte Saint-Jean is the estate Sylvain Dittière set up at Montreuil-Bellay in 2010, after working at Clos Rougeard and other estates.
The wines above are the Saumur wines in the cellar. See also Saumur-Champigny, the separate appellation for the reds of eight nearby villages, Anjou to the west, Chinon for Cabernet Franc upstream, or the full range of Loire Valley wines.
