A wine from around the city of Angers in the Loire Valley, France. The most famous Anjou wine is Rosé d'Anjou, which accounts for around half of the region's production, but a wide variety of wines are made in the area and can be labelled as Anjou — this can make selecting a wine from a list somewhat hazardous if one does not pay careful attention.

As with other French wine producing regions, Anjou uses the designation Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (or AOC) to indicate wines which conform to some basic production and composition standards. There are a number of different Appellations available for different regions and styles of wine — some of these are tiny and are only available on-site or from specialist wine merchants.

Anjou wines do not carry further classifications.

Red Wines

Red Anjou wines are lighter than those from Bordeaux or Burgundy, and do not require as much aging — most are best drunk at around three years from the vintage. These wines should be served at slightly cooler temperatures than heavy reds.

Anjou Appellations which can be used on red wine include:

Anjou, Anjou-Villages
A mixture of cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon. Best served with game.
Anjou-Gamay
Made solely from gamay noir. Best served with cold meats.
Saumur, Saumur-Champigny
Mostly cabernet franc. Saumur-Champigny is typically of higher quality than Saumur. Very fruity, this wine goes nicely with cheese.

Rosé

The most important thing to be said about Anjou rosé is that it is generally not particularly good. Better regions for rosé are Bordeaux and Pays d'Oc, or Vesuvio from Italy; for fans of new world wines, Australia also produces a good selection.

Anjou Appellations which can be used for rosé include:

Anjou
A mixture of cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon. Reasonably sweet. Best served with cold or white meat.
Cabernet d'Anjou
A mixture of cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon. Medium dry. Best served with less sweet desserts.
Rosé d'Anjou
Made from grolleau. Best served with light starters.

White Wines

Anjou whites come in several varieties. Some are dry, whilst others are sweet and sparkling. Appellations include:

Anjou
Made from chenin, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc. Can come in a range of sweetnesses and styles.
Coteaux de la Loire
Made from chenin. Medium dry. Can be served with lighter, non-oily fish.
Bonnezeaux
Made from chenin. A fortified dessert wine.
Coteaux de l'Aubance
Made from chenin. Sweet. Should be served as an aperitif.
Coteaux du Layon
Made from chenin. A fortified wine which comes in a variety of sweetnesses. Ages well. Can be served as an aperitif or as a dessert wine.
Saumur
Made from sauvignon blanc and chenin. Comes in two varieties. The dry kind is best served with fish; the sparkling variety is sweeter and is best served as an aperitif.
Savennières, Savennières Roche aux Moines, Savennières Coulée-de-Serrant
Made from chenin. Usually sweet. Very highly regarded by some.