Maison des Vins de Saumur ★ 4.3
InterLoire tasting and information centre on the Saumur quayside, pouring a rotating selection of 50 wines from Saumur, Saumur-Champigny and Coteaux de Saumur.
Sparkling-wine house founded 1811 by Jean-Baptiste Ackerman, with three kilometres of tufa cellars and contemporary art alongside the riddling racks.
Address: 19 rue Leopold Palustre, 49400 Saint-Hilaire-Saint-Florent, France, Loire Valley
InterLoire tasting and information centre on the Saumur quayside, pouring a rotating selection of 50 wines from Saumur, Saumur-Champigny and Coteaux de Saumur.
Sancerre Wine Council interpretation centre on the medieval esplanade with a Kimmeridgian-flint-limestone exhibit and tasting bar pouring from 50 estates.
Tufa-cut cellars in Rochecorbon with library Vouvray vintages back to 1874, set against bin racks of historic bottlings in a vaulted tasting room.
Vouvray reference estate founded 1928, biodynamic since the 1980s. Tastings cover Le Haut-Lieu, Le Mont and Clos du Bourg in dry, demi-sec and moelleux styles.
Family-owned Chinon house founded 1921 with cellars cut into the cliff beneath the medieval fortress, pouring the Clos de l'Echo Cabernet Franc and full range.
Jean-Pierre Chevallier's biodynamic Saumur-Champigny estate, tastings in the 18th-century chateau on Le Grand Clos. Reference Cabernet Franc producer.