A walk through the vineyards of Saumur Champigny

We used the afternoon travelling by way of the special terroir of the Saumur-Champigny AOP in the heart of the Loire Valley. The Champigny appellation is for nine villages and we walked as a result of a person, the pretty picturesque location of Souzay-Champigny.  The whole region has 100 winemakers farming 1,600 Ha of vines and all 9 villages produce a whole of 10 million bottles annually.  The AOC was established in 1957 and 99% of generation is Cabernet Franc.

The critical to the high-quality of the wines from this area is the Tuffeau/Limestone soil that the grapes are grown on. Souzay-Champigny has a exclusive meso-climate the identify Champigny comes from the Latin Campus Ignis meaning “fields of fire”, a reference to the climatic enclave discovered listed here. Rainfall is low and the typical winery temperatures are larger than in the other villages. This means that Cabernet Franc thrives below as we walked by the vineyards on an afternoon tour, we stopped at numerous details to style the wines. The first detail of take note is the soil, typically chalk it absorbs rain and Cabernet Franc demands moisture to prosper.  The soil also retains the warmth from the sun also very important to ripening the grapes. We tasted 16 wines and the high-quality quite a great deal in proof, with a couple stars in the blend, regrettably not offered on  the Irish market.  I have long been a fan of Cabernet Franc but my go-to was Chinon and St Nicholas de Bourgueil, I can now most definitely increase Saumur Champigny to my record.

I was delighted to see that two of the wines we tasted are at present offered on the Irish marketplace. I tasted the 2020 Châteaux de Villeneuve €21.95 his wines are imported by Le Caveau https://lecaveau.ie/ but I suspect they may well have an older vintage.  The wine I tasted is made from outdated vines, developed in a grand clos (walled vineyard).  Jean-Pierre Chevallier owns the 28-ha home found in Souzay.  We achieved him and his daughter Cecile to style their most recent classic which was 2020.  This is 100% Cabernet Franc made from organically grown grapes.  It was one particular of the extra structured wines we tasted that afternoon.  Floral notes on the nose, but when tasted a whole lot of sophisticated darkberried fruit, with a very good lenght and finish. Framework but with a hint of softness, this wine will previous a although, a  actual uncover!.

The other wine now obtainable on the Irish market is the 2020 Domaine Langlois AOP Saumur Champigny.  2020 is their initial organic vintage. 100% Cabernet Franc it was a attractive straightforward ingesting wine, refreshing and fruity. O’Brien’s Wines currently have the 2018 vintage on offer you at €14.76.  The wine had superb floral aromas, peony roses arrived to head, and  tons of fruit. Throughout the summer months, when lighter pink wine designs are extremely significantly in desire, this a person is undoubtedly truly worth a appear. https://www.obrienswine.ie/merchandise/langlois-saumur-champigny

We began our wander in the cave dwellings, the now famous troglodyte homes which were, for several hundreds of years, residence to a enormous underground group.  Now deserted you can nonetheless see the stays of these underground villages, hewn out of the rock. The Tuffeau was quarried and the chalk blocks ended up employed to make most of the charming houses, châteaux and church buildings in the region.

Currently there are bicycle and walking excursions of the quite popular route du vin.  If you are thinking about a getaway with a variation, this categorized UNESCO planet heritage web page is worthy of a check out.  Troglodytic caves, beautiful gardens and 80 estates welcoming guests all 12 months spherical.

For a lot more information:  www.saumur-champigny.com

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