Savennières AOC

Savennières lies 15 km south-west of Angers on the right bank of the Loire, in the communes of Bouchemaine, Savennières and La Possonnière. Its hillsides face south to south-east, stretch about 6 kilometres along the Loire and run 500 to 1,500 metres back from the river, with a colder, windswept plateau to the north given over mainly to livestock and cereal farming. The slopes are steep, and some of the finest vineyards sit in the coulées, small valleys perpendicular to the river. The AOC covers some 300 hectares, of which 140 are in production. Savennières belongs to the part of the Loire Valley listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as a cultural landscape since 2001.

• Right bank of the Loire, 15 km south-west of Angers
• Three communes: Bouchemaine, La Possonnière and Savennières
• Hillsides about 6 km long and 500 to 1,500 m deep along the river
• About 300 ha in the AOC, 140 ha in production

Savennières has an oceanic climate, tempered by a foehn effect from the Mauges massif to the west. Average annual rainfall is 650 millimetres, against more than 800 millimetres on the Mauges hills, and average annual temperatures are about 12°C (figures from the 2022 specification text). The Loire regulates temperatures on the nearby slopes, keeping nights warm, and at harvest time it encourages the morning mists that are essential for noble rot. The climate is less humid than in Loire Atlantique and less continental than in Touraine. The bedrock is schist and schist-sandstone from the Upper Ordovician to the Lower Devonian, cut locally by volcanic veins of rhyolite and spilite, with some Quaternary wind-blown sands where the plateau begins. Phtanites and quartz veins also outcrop in the vineyard.

• Oceanic climate tempered by a foehn effect from the Mauges massif
• 650 mm average annual rainfall, against more than 800 mm on the Mauges hills (2022 specification text)
• Schist and schist-sandstone bedrock with rhyolite and spilite veins
• Loire morning mists at harvest favour noble rot

Vine growing first spread from the great abbeys of Angers to the hillsides of Pruniers and Bouchemaine in the 4th century. Around 1130, monks of the abbey of Saint-Nicolas d'Angers planted a hillside above the Loire that gave its name to La Roche aux Moines, and the Coulée de Serrant vineyard was planted in 1130 by Cistercian monks. In the 15th century King René I of Anjou called the wines "goutte d'or". The Savennières AOC was recognised by the decree of 8 December 1952, and Bernard du Closel, together with Messrs Soulez, Bizard and Roussier, obtained the classification. The 1952 decree mainly defined wines with fermentable sugars and later evolved, under successive presidents of the growers' syndicate including Michèle Bazin de Jessey, toward defining dry wines while keeping the possibility of wines with fermentable sugars. It took Jean Baumard and Michèle Bazin de Jessey ten years to get the 1952 decree amended. The two crus later became separate appellations: the AOC Savennières Roche aux Moines was recognised in 2011, and the Coulée de Serrant specification was approved in November 2011 as Savennières Coulée de Serrant, which later became Coulée de Serrant.

• Around 1130, monks of Saint-Nicolas d'Angers planted La Roche aux Moines
• Coulée de Serrant planted in 1130 by Cistercian monks
• AOC recognised by the decree of 8 December 1952
• Roche aux Moines AOC recognised in 2011; Coulée de Serrant specification approved in November 2011

Savennières is a white wine from Chenin Blanc alone, mostly dry, with demi-sec, moelleux or doux wines possible when the grapes are overripe and the weather allows. The wines are pale yellow to golden yellow. Aromas typically include floral notes (acacia, lime blossom) mingled with fruit recalling pear, peach and quince, along with toasted almond, raisin and honey. The palate is ample and complex, balanced by freshness, minerality and a hint of bitterness. The specification requires hand harvesting by selecting bunches on the vine, bans harvesting machines and pieces of wood, and requires ageing until at least 15 March of the year after the harvest. It sets a yield of 50 hectolitres per hectare for dry and demi-sec wines and 35 for other wines; in practice the average is more like 35 or even lower. The wines tend to come into their own after several years in bottle, and those with fermentable sugars can age remarkably well.

• Chenin Blanc only; mostly dry, with demi-sec, moelleux or doux possible
• Acacia, lime blossom, pear, peach, quince, toasted almond and honey aromas
• Hand harvest by bunch selection; harvesting machines banned
• Ageing until at least 15 March after the harvest

Averaged over the last five harvests, the appellation counts 37 producers, 140 hectares, 4,033 hectolitres and 537,000 bottles. In 2009 the vineyard was worked by 34 operators. Writing for Decanter in 2019, Rebecca Gibb MW named Evelyne de Pontbriand of Domaine du Closel, Tessa Laroche of Domaine aux Moines, Damien Laureau, Eric Morgat and Thibaud Boudignon among the producers reviving the appellation. In the same piece, appellation head Jean-Claude Taddei estimated that about 60% of its 36 producers worked organically, and Gibb called Nicolas Joly a biodynamic champion. The Coulée de Serrant is a 7ha monopole farmed biodynamically by the Joly family.

• 37 producers and 537,000 bottles (five-harvest average)
• Coulée de Serrant: a 7ha monopole farmed biodynamically by the Joly family
• Domaine du Closel, Domaine aux Moines, Damien Laureau, Eric Morgat and Thibaud Boudignon named by Rebecca Gibb MW in 2019 among the producers reviving the appellation
• About 60% of 36 producers organic, an estimate by appellation head Jean-Claude Taddei in 2019

Primary sources (INAO and InterLoire): https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/savennieres-18121, https://extranet.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/3.9-CDC-Savennières-modifié.pdf, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/coulee-de-serrant-15061, https://extranet.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/3.4-CDC-Coulée-de-Serrant-modifié.pdf, https://www.vinsdeloire.fr/en/loire-wines/savennieres, https://www.vinsdeloire.fr/en/loire-wines/savennieres/all-about-savennieres, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/savennieres-roche-aux-moines-16953, https://extranet.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/3.10-CDC-Savennières-Roche-aux-Moines-modifié.pdf. Secondary sources: https://www.decanter.com/premium/regional-profile-savennieres-412880/, https://www.decanter.com/wine/the-sommelier-suggests-savennieres-by-pascaline-lepeltier-506802/. Last verified 2026-10-05