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It is the leader in wines and fine bubbles from the Loire Valley, one of the main French competitors of champagne. It is also a brand particularly invested in wine tourism and the discovery of its activity. For more than 30 years, the Ackerman house opens the doors of its cellars to the general public. “It’s part of our DNA,” insists Julien Goudeau, the company’s tourism manager. More than 60,000 visitors are received each year, including around 40,000 on its historic site of Saint-Hilaire-Saint-Florent, a few minutes from the city center of Saumur (Maine-et-Loire). It will also be one of the essential places for Regional company visit days in Pays-de-la-Loire, which take place from Friday until Sunday.

However, the Ackerman headquarters has not housed any wine production since the 1980s. Only a storage activity for a few thousand bottles is maintained. But what attracts the visitor is elsewhere, it is first and foremost the atypical decor. Because the cellars were dug directly into the tufa stone, like the many troglodytes in the region. Nearly 7 kilometers of galleries are connected to each other, lit and ventilated by wells drilled into the rock ceiling. Monumental, in places they reach up to 20 meters high.

“He was a visionary but also a copier”

“Jean-Baptiste Ackerman bought these cellars in 1840 for their natural qualities conducive to the conservation of wine. It is around 12°C, whatever the season, the hydrometry is constant, the light is low. But their origin is much older. It is estimated that they have existed since the 15th century,” says Anaïs, one of Ackerman’s guides. ” It is very impressive. I didn’t expect something so profound,” says Martial, who came to visit with his family. “It’s the showcase of our house. An exceptional, fragile heritage, which we must maintain and promote,” considers Julien Goudeau.

The history of the brand, told and explained by period objects, also fascinates the public. It is that of a Brussels resident passionate regarding physics and chemistry who, having become a wine merchant, is convinced that the geological potential of Saumur would make it possible to produce “sparkling wines equal to those of Champagne”. Jean-Baptise Ackerman will be the first to import the Champagne method to the banks of the Loire, which should rather be called “traditional method” since a legal battle at the end of the 19th century. “He was a pioneer who marked its era », Describes the guide. “He was a visionary but also a copier if I understand correctly,” laughs Martial.

“Their value is inestimable”

Imitated by other wine houses in the region (Bouvet-Ladubay, Langlois, Veuve Amiot, etc.), Ackerman developed strongly, particularly abroad (United Kingdom, United States, etc.), without however managing to acquire the prestige great Champagne wines. The company now produces more than 20 million bottles per year, while the Loire Valley has become the second largest production area for “fine bubbles” wines following Champagne.

Witness to this commercial success: the meeting room, visible on the historic site, where the most precious bottles of the brand since 1900 are still kept today. “What can they taste like today? » asks a visitor. “We will probably never know,” smiles Anaïs, the guide. Their value is inestimable. They will probably never be opened. »

Ackerman, which employs 250 people, is also opening up to contemporary art. Its troglodyte galleries of Saint-Hilaire-Saint-Florent have hosted several spectacular works for fifteen years, as part of a collaboration with the center d’art modern of the Royal Abbey of Fontevraud.