Summer Wines: Saumur-Champigny

Procrastinating, as I'm wont to do in the middle of the day, by wandering around a supermarket browsing the wine aisle with no intention of purchasing anything (as I can't be assed to carry the one or two, or five bottles that catch my eye around with me for the rest of the day) I came across a bottle of Saumur-Champigny on sale that I recalled had been recommended in the newspaper last year. I can remember wine reviews from a year ago, but can't remember my own phone number, go figure. (I can also often enough recall pub quiz questions that I've heard years before, unhelpfully, without quite as often recalling the answer)

It was like seeing an old friend. In my undergraduate days I had chanced upon a Saumur Champigny. Whatever it was about that day, the sun must have been shining fondly, as I easily remembered it as one of the nicest drops of red I had encountered amiably sitting by myself on a bar-stool at the counter in my kitchen.

Saumur-Champigny is made in the Loire Valley of France from the Cabernet Franc grape. Distantly related to the more heavyweight Cabernet Sauvignon grape, Cab Franc is still planted in its homeland of Bordeaux. Requiring less sunshine to ripen than Cab Sauv, it is used to round off blends on the left bank and comes into its own somewhat in St. Emilion where it is actually the majority grape of superstars Chateaux Ausone and Cheval Blanc. 1947 Cheval Blanc is often considered the best wine of the 20th century, so not a bad pedigree.

vineyards at Saumur on the Loire

In the Loire, a region better known for its whites, Cab Franc comes up with fairly priced wines that combines the pleasant aspects of claret with the fresh strawberry taste of some lighter burgundies.
Wines from the Saumur-Champigny appellation are at their best two to five years from the vintage date. Regularly labeled Saumur is also Cab Franc that is drawn from a wider net of vineyards around the eponymous medieval town on the Loire, and has long been part and parcel of Parisian bistro patios. As noted wine writer Jancis Robinson describes "they respond well to being lightly chilled and so are particularly useful for red wine lovers in high summer".

If you can't get your hands on any Saumur-Champigny, Cab Franc is also making cautious in-roads as a varietal wine outside of France. Washington state, probably my favourite untapped wine region, is reputedly having success with Cab Franc in the same growing conditions that has made them good Merlot for decades. In Niagara and New York's Finger Lakes it is also poised as the red grape with the most distinct promise.
Meanwhile, in Italy's Veneto, a lot of what has been planted as Cabernet has turned out to be of the Franc rather than Sauvignon variety. Although I would be a bit skeptical on its quality, especially the cheaper mass produced stuff that is more likely to be exported.

As summer has now arrived officially, and afternoon drinking of beaujolais (back properly in vogue- I swear it!) drifts towards the supper hour, I heartily subscribe to searching out this delicious wine from the Loire for light to medium sauced meals. Grilled salmon or roast pork would be good.