Caves Ackerman

Useful Information

Location:	Northwest of Saumur, at the suburb St Hilaire St Florent
Open:	All year daily. [2010]
Fee:	free. [2010]
Classification:	Cellar
Light:	electric
Dimension:
Guided tours:
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Caves Ackerman - Remy Pannier, 19 Rue Léopold Palustre, Saint-Hilaire Saint-Florent, 49400 Saumur, Tel: +33-241-530330.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1811	company founded by Jean-Baptiste Ackerman.

Description

Ackerman is a rather famous local winery, which offers tours through their cellars and warehouses. The winery is located at the Thouet river, a tributary of the Loire. A permanent exhibition in the warehouse recounts the history of the company since 1811. The cellars here started as limestone quarries, like all cellars along the Loire, but they were enlarged for wine storage. The result are spectacular long galleries which are up to 120 m below ground.

Ackerman was founded by Jean-Baptiste Ackerman, who was the son of a rich Flemish banker. At this time the champagne became popular, so he went to the Champagne to learn how it was produced. He knew about the fine wines of the Loire and the kilometers of abandoned quarries. And he knew the white wines of the region had a tendency to sparkle naturally. So he went there on horseback and purchased seven kilometers of cellar, some of them eight meters wide and five meters high. This huge cellar was able to store some 6,000 barrels of wine. And he was the first to produce sparkling wine with the same method which is used in the Champagne. Because of copyright quarrels (the guys from the Champagne tend to be very nitpicking with their name) this method is today called méthode traditionnelle.