Saumur Wine Region: Discover the Underground World of Loire Valley Wines
There is another Loire Valley beneath your feet
Drive east along the Loire from Nantes and the wine landscape slowly changes.
Muscadet gives way to Anjou. Around Savennières, Chenin Blanc takes centre stage. Continue towards Saumur and another landscape begins to appear: vineyards, limestone villages, historic estates and hills overlooking the Loire.
But some of the most fascinating things in Saumur cannot be seen from the road.
They are underground.
Beneath the vineyards and villages lies an extraordinary network of galleries carved into the limestone. Today, many of these former quarries have become wine cellars, creating one of the most distinctive wine experiences in the Loire Valley.
Welcome to Saumur.
Why are there so many underground wine cellars in Saumur?
To understand Saumur, you first need to understand tuffeau.
This pale limestone is one of the characteristic rocks of this part of the Loire Valley. For centuries, it was quarried and used as a building material throughout the region.
Removing the stone gradually created kilometres of underground galleries.
And when quarrying stopped, these vast spaces found new purposes.
Some became homes, farms or mushroom-growing caves. Others proved particularly suitable for wine.
Protected from outside weather conditions, underground cellars offer naturally stable conditions for storing and ageing wines.
Today, entering one of these caves is often one of the highlights of a wine tour around Saumur.
You leave the sunlight behind, walk directly into the rock and suddenly find yourself surrounded by barrels, bottles and wines ageing several metres beneath the vineyards.
It is wine tourism with a sense of adventure.
Cabernet Franc: the great red grape of Saumur
If Muscadet is closely associated with Melon de Bourgogne, Saumur's red wine identity is strongly connected to Cabernet Franc.
Cabernet Franc is one of the Loire Valley's emblematic red varieties.
Here it can produce wines combining freshness, aromatic complexity and elegance. Depending on the terroir and winemaking choices, you may encounter notes of red and dark fruits, flowers, herbs and spices, alongside the freshness that makes Loire Cabernet Franc so distinctive.
Among the appellations visitors may encounter is Saumur-Champigny, one of the area's best-known red wine appellations.
And this is precisely why travelling through several Loire wine regions is so interesting.
Within the same valley, the wine in your glass can change completely after only a few hours on the road.
Chenin Blanc: another face of Saumur
Cabernet Franc may dominate the conversation around Saumur reds, but Chenin Blanc is equally important to understanding the region.
It is one of the Loire Valley's great white grape varieties and is capable of producing remarkably different styles.
Around Saumur, Chenin Blanc can be used for still white wines as well as sparkling wines.
This versatility is part of what makes a tasting here so interesting: a single day can reveal very different expressions of the Loire, from fresh whites and elegant sparkling wines to structured Cabernet Franc reds.
For travellers interested in wine rather than simply collecting famous labels, Saumur offers plenty to explore.
Saumur and the Loire: wine, landscape and history
A wine tour here is also about understanding the landscape.
The Loire is never far away.
This relationship between river, rock, vineyards and human history is one of the reasons we believe the Loire Valley should be experienced rather than simply tasted.
A great wine visit isn't only about standing at a tasting counter.
It might mean walking through the vines with a winemaker, descending into a centuries-old cellar, learning why vines grow differently from one parcel to another, tasting several vintages – and then emerging from underground to find the Loire waiting outside.
That's when the wine begins to make sense.
A very different experience from Muscadet
For travellers staying in Nantes, Muscadet is naturally the closest major wine region and an essential introduction to Loire Valley wine.
But it is only the beginning.
Travelling east reveals just how diverse the Loire really is.
Around Nantes, Melon de Bourgogne and the influence of the Atlantic define much of the landscape and wine culture.
Continue towards Anjou and Savennières, and Chenin Blanc becomes increasingly important while schist soils help shape another identity.
Travel farther towards Saumur, and tuffeau limestone, Cabernet Franc, Chenin Blanc and underground cellars create yet another experience.
Continue again towards Chinon and Bourgueil, and Cabernet Franc reveals still more expressions.
This diversity is exactly what makes the Loire Valley such a rewarding destination for wine lovers.
Can you visit Saumur with Nantes Wine Tour?
Despite our name, Nantes Wine Tour isn't limited to the vineyards immediately surrounding Nantes.
Our aim is to help international visitors discover the wider Loire Valley through its wines, landscapes and winemakers.
Alongside our Muscadet experiences from Nantes and Clisson, private itineraries can take travellers farther into the Loire Valley and towards regions such as Anjou, Savennières, Saumur, Chinon and Bourgueil.
Depending on your itinerary and where you are staying, tours can also be organised with departures from other Loire Valley locations, including Angers and Saumur.
This is particularly interesting for travellers spending several days in the region.
Instead of seeing the Loire Valley as a single wine destination, you can experience it as a journey.
Start with the Atlantic-influenced vineyards of Muscadet. Continue towards the great Chenin Blanc terroirs of Anjou and Savennières. Then discover the underground cellars and Cabernet Franc of Saumur.
Each stop tells a different part of the same story.
Discover Saumur beyond the tasting room
Wine is always at the heart of our tours, but it is not the only reason we travel through the Loire Valley.
What makes a day memorable is often everything surrounding the glass.
The road through the vineyards.
A conversation with a winemaker.
The temperature suddenly dropping as you enter an underground cellar.
The texture of tuffeau beneath your hand.
A bottle opened where it was actually made.
And, a few moments later, the Loire appearing through the landscape.
These are the experiences that turn a wine tasting into a journey.
And Saumur is one of the best places in the Loire Valley to experience them.
Explore the Loire Valley with Nantes Wine Tour
From the vineyards of Muscadet to Anjou, Savennières, Saumur, Chinon and Bourgueil, the Loire Valley offers an extraordinary diversity of wines within a single journey.
Our private wine tours are designed for travellers who want to go beyond the labels and understand the people, landscapes and terroirs behind the wines.
Because sometimes, discovering the Loire means going a little further.
And in Saumur, it sometimes means going underground. 🍷
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