One of the largest and most established sparkling wine producers in the region, this company gets…read morefive stars for many reasons, but most of all for making Zéro - a sparkling wine without sugar for the crispest, best sparkling around. In addition to tastings (of many delicious offerings), they offer tours of their facility with education on how wine is made in English and French. Note that the facility you tour is not their main production facility, but you still get the idea. This is a must stop for anyone in Saumur looking to try sparkling wines!

Wine tasting in the middle of a more "industrialized" setting. There is no vineyard here. You…read morepark the car, enter the building and taste some wine Have to say I did not care for anything we tasted & I tried really hard to like their wine. Even the "famous" Gerard Depardieu wine was not to my liking. The staff didn't provide any kind of history about the grapes or region or how the wine was made - it was as if she was purely there to pour wine Mr ended up purchasing 2 bottles to give away as gifts as he felt so guilty we had tasted so many varieties.....but the tastebuds know what they know & we have tasted better

Gratien & Meyer is France's premier sparkling wine specialist! Located on the high hills above the…read moretown of Saumur, the Chateau is a friendly place to spend an afternoon. All staff are knowledgable about their sparkling wines, and the vast majority are thoroughly fruent in English. The chateau produce a wide selection of wines - sparkling and still (tranquille!), from the oaky Flamme D'or (Golden Flame) to the sweet fizzyness of Cardinale - a highly recommended sparkling red wine, especially enjoyed in a glass with strawberries on a hot summer day. The Chateau Gratien & Meyer invite people for wine tasting all year round, any time of the day (they do not close for lunch). The wine caves are currently being renovated, but when they re-open in June they will be available to tour. The chateau hosts a famous Jazz festival every June which is worth checking out - jazz and wine on the hill looking down at the river and town of Saumur is a perfect way to spend a summer Saturday! All in all, I highly recommend Gratien & Meyer, especially to those visitors to the region who are not fluent French speakers, or those who know very little about wine. The chateau is friendly and accessable, in gorgeous surroundings and the prices are very reasonable (6 euros for an award winning bottle of Cardinale or Saumur Dry, prices from 3 euros to 15 euros). Do note: the chateau is on a steep hill - there is parking both at the top and the bottom, but if you have difficulty walking make sure you park at the top, it's quite a climb!

We had an experience très sympa at the tasting room at Grande Vignolle off of the D947 in the…read morelovely and pleasant Tourquant cliffside location. Friendly welcome and a "free form" tasting, where we learned about the local grapes and wine varietals, how they're aged (if aged) and when and with what they are enjoyed by the locals. We also learned about the methods of production --strictly natural -- and had a wonderful tasting of both the local cremant (bubbly) and flat wines. As much as you're willing to learn and taste, that's what you'll get if you go when it happens to be a quiet day, as it was when we visited. The wines were delicious and tasted of the pure, rich terroir of the Saumur region...Filliatre is à ne pas manquer, if you're in the area.

Highly recommend spending a day with Nigel and Cathy when visiting the Loire valley. They planned…read moreall of the tastings and the winery visit based on our preferences and even accommodated dietary restrictions and a baby! Their home was beautiful and the lunch was one of my favorite meals in France. They were experts on the wines of the region, but were very approachable and poured a variety of wines including value wines. Overall a lovely and unique wine tasting experience!

Perfect day trip away from Paris. Easy trip by TGV train connections from Metro. Posted photos…read moredon't show the 1/2 of it! Letastingroom is a terrific site, location, experience and delicious too! Their location is right along the Loire river...beautiful countryside. Cathy picked us up at the train in Angers and took us on a little driving tour of the area before bringing us to her lovely house/home/workplace...a converted and very updated old stone house set partially into a hillside. Cathy is a lively and very knowledgeable teacher and her husband Nigel is a wonderful point man. Together they made our whole day extremely enjoyable as well as educational. After our "lesson" they served us an absolutely scrumptious 4-course luncheon in their farmhouse kitchen. Thank goodness we went for a walk along the Loire and around the village after lunch so we could begin to walk off the delicious calories. After that they drove us back to the train. And we just glowed on our ride back to Paris. We heartily recommend this experience to everyone. Louise Winheld. San Diego, Ca