A wine from around the city of Angers in the Loire Valley, France.
The most famous Anjou wine is Rosé d'Anjou, which accounts for around half
of the region's production, but a wide variety of wines are made in the area and
can be labelled as Anjou — this can make selecting a wine from a list
somewhat hazardous if one does not pay careful attention.
As with other French wine producing regions, Anjou uses the designation
Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (or AOC) to indicate wines which conform to
some basic production and composition standards. There are a number of different
Appellations available for different regions and styles of wine — some of
these are tiny and are only available on-site or from specialist wine
merchants.
Anjou wines do not carry further classifications.
Red Anjou wines are lighter than those from Bordeaux or Burgundy, and do
not require as much aging — most are best drunk at around three years
from the vintage. These wines should be served at slightly cooler temperatures
than heavy reds.
Anjou Appellations which can be used on red wine include:
- Anjou, Anjou-Villages
- A mixture of cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon. Best served with
game.
- Anjou-Gamay
- Made solely from gamay noir. Best served with cold meats.
- Saumur, Saumur-Champigny
- Mostly cabernet franc. Saumur-Champigny is typically of higher quality
than Saumur. Very fruity, this wine goes nicely with cheese.
The most important thing to be said about Anjou rosé is that it is generally not
particularly good. Better regions for rosé are Bordeaux and Pays d'Oc, or
Vesuvio from Italy; for fans of new world wines, Australia also produces
a good selection.
Anjou Appellations which can be used for rosé include:
- Anjou
- A mixture of cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon. Reasonably
sweet. Best served with cold or white meat.
- Cabernet d'Anjou
- A mixture of cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon. Medium dry. Best
served with less sweet desserts.
- Rosé d'Anjou
- Made from grolleau. Best served with light starters.
Anjou whites come in several varieties. Some are dry, whilst others are
sweet and sparkling. Appellations include:
- Anjou
- Made from chenin, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc. Can come in a
range of sweetnesses and styles.
- Coteaux de la Loire
- Made from chenin. Medium dry. Can be served with lighter, non-oily
fish.
- Bonnezeaux
- Made from chenin. A fortified dessert wine.
- Coteaux de l'Aubance
- Made from chenin. Sweet. Should be served as an aperitif.
- Coteaux du Layon
- Made from chenin. A fortified wine which comes in a variety of
sweetnesses. Ages well. Can be served as an aperitif or as a dessert
wine.
- Saumur
- Made from sauvignon blanc and chenin. Comes in two varieties. The dry
kind is best served with fish; the sparkling variety is sweeter and is best
served as an aperitif.
- Savennières, Savennières Roche aux Moines,
Savennières Coulée-de-Serrant
- Made from chenin. Usually sweet. Very highly regarded by some.
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