Savennières wine is produced around Savennières

Savennières

Savennières is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France.It lies near the Loire River south west of Angers and is best known for its production of highly-rated white wine....

 in Loire Valley

Loire Valley (wine)

The Loire Valley wine region includes the French wine regions situated along the Loire River from the Muscadet region near the city of Nantes on the Atlantic coast to the region of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé just southeast of the city of Orléans in north central France. In between are the regions of...

 wine region, and the production region is situated on the north bank of the Loire River, in the Anjou-Saumur

Saumur (wine)

Saumur is a French wine region located in the Loire Valley. The region is noted for sparkling wines produced by the traditional method, and for red wines made primarily from Cabernet Franc...

 subregion. Savennières is a white wine produced from the grape variety Chenin Blanc

Chenin Blanc

Chenin blanc , is a white wine grape variety from the Loire valley of France. Its high acidity means it can be used to make everything from sparkling wines to well-balanced dessert wines, although it can produce very bland, neutral wines if the vine's natural vigor is not controlled...

, and is almost always dry.

There are three Appellation d'origine contrôlée

Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée

Appellation d’origine contrôlée , which translates as "controlled designation of origin", is the French certification granted to certain French geographical indications for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products, all under the auspices of the government bureau Institut National...

s (AOCs) for Savennières wine: Savennières, covering most of the vineyards, and the enclaves Savennières-Roche-aux-Moines and Savennières-Coulée-de-Serrant.

The area allowed for Savennières AOC spreads over 3 hills of schist

Schist

The schists constitute a group of medium-grade metamorphic rocks, chiefly notable for the preponderance of lamellar minerals such as micas, chlorite, talc, hornblende, graphite, and others. Quartz often occurs in drawn-out grains to such an extent that a particular form called quartz schist is...

, located on the right (northwest) bank of the Loire river, totaling about 300 hectares (741.3 acre), situated in three communes: Savennières, Bouchemaine

Bouchemaine

Bouchemaine is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France....

 and La Possonnière

La Possonnière

La Possonnière is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France....

. Of these, about 146 hectares (360.8 acre) are actually planted with vineyards. Savennières-Roche-aux-Moines covers 33 hectares (81.5 acre) and Savennières-Coulée-de-Serrant covers 7 hectares (17.3 acre).

Savennières was originally defined as an AOC in 1952, and was revised in 1996 to introduce designations for sweet wines.

Coulée de Serrant

The top enclave of Savennières, Coulée de Serrant, consists of a single estate run by Nicolas Joly

Nicolas Joly

Nicolas Joly, born 1945, is a French winegrower in the Loire wine region, and one of the pioneers and leading personalities of the biodynamic wine movement.- Biography :...

. The wine produced by Joly from this appellation is labelled Clos

Clos (vineyard)

Clos, from the French for Closure or enclosed, is a walled vineyard used to protect the grapes from theft as well as improving the mesoclimate...

 de la Coulée de Serrant, and is mentioned by many critics as one of the world's top dry white wines.

Coulée de Serrant was first planted in 1130 by Cistercian monks.

Wine style

Savennières is typically more full-bodied than dry Vouvray, and a significant step up in concentration and quality from basic Anjou blanc. As a wine produced from Chenin Blanc in a relatively cold climate, Savennières is relatively high in acidity and tends to be a quite long-lived wine. The traditional, long-lived style of Savennières wine can be somewhat austere and unapproachable in youth. In recent years, some producers have aimed at producing wines that are more approachable when young, but that probably will be less long-lived.

Nicolas Joly, the most well-known producer of Savennières, only produces biodynamic wine

Biodynamic wine

Biodynamic wines are wines made using the principles of biodynamic agriculture. Biodynamic refers to both the agricultural methods and the handling and processing of the fruit post-harvest.-Biodynamic viticulture:...

s. In some vintages, Joly's wines (especially Coulée de Serrant) may include grapes affected by noble rot

Noble rot

Noble rot is the benevolent form of a grey fungus, Botrytis cinerea, affecting wine grapes. Infestation by Botrytis requires moist conditions, and if the weather stays wet, the malevolent form, "grey rot", can destroy crops of grapes...

, which is unusual for dry wines.

Historically, Savennières was a producer of sweet wines, but today almost only dry wines are produced. In those rare instances when semi-sweet or sweet Savennières is produced, the wine is often less sweet than most wines produced across the river in Coteaux du Layon

Coteaux du Layon

Coteaux du Layon is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée for sweet white wine in the Loire Valley wine region of France. Coteaux du Layon is situated in the Anjou district of the region, along the river Layon, which is a tributary of the Loire River...

 and its subappellations. From 1996, the following regulations apply to Savennières wine with respect to residual sugar:

• Regular Savennières may not have more than 8 grams sugar per liter.
• Wines marked demi-sec have 8 to 18 grams sugar per liter, and would typically be perceived as off-dry.
• Wines marked moelleux have 18 to 45 grams sugar per liter, which normally corresponds to semi-sweet.
• Wines marked doux have more than 45 grams sugar per liter.