On a rainy Saturday morning in Saumur, in a pub just off the busy market, everyone seemed to be drinking the same thing. Flat-capped pensioners and gangly teenagers alike had glasses of bright pink Pinot d’Aunis rosé in front of them, and nobody was making the slightest fuss about it. Back home, Loire wine is often treated as an acquired taste, adored by the natural wine crowd, who can be forgiven for getting a little carried away, and puzzling to almost everyone else, who have to wade through a good many bottles before finding one that reminds them why the region’s classics are classics. In Saumur, it’s simply what you drink.
I’d like to suggest that Saumur has the right idea. Over our long weekend there, every meal began with a glass of the local sparkling wine, made the same way as Champagne and wonderfully refreshing. At an Argentine restaurant in town, the steak came with a Saumur-Champigny rather than the Malbec you might expect, and the elegant, crisp red made perfect sense alongside it. I can’t help thinking a great many people are missing out, because these wines, the reds in particular, are packed with fruit.
Rain stops play
Our original plan was to cycle along the Loire, but the rain had other ideas, and it fell steadily all weekend. So we did the next best thing and spent our time in an excellent wine shop in Saumur, buying bottles under 20 euros to get a feel for the latest vintage. I can recommend it as a rainy-day activity.
The 2014 reds remind me of 2009, with a bit of flesh on their bones, and there’s a great deal to love about them. As an aside, the 2009 Saumur-Champigny is delicious, if you’re lucky enough to find a bottle.
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