1 The chalky soil around Saumur produces the famous Anjou wines.

2 The vineyards of Anjou extend from west of Angers to up-river of Saumur.

3 Anjou wines are so distinctive, that in 1920 a competition was held to design a glass to do them justice.

4 Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, as depicted in his tomb effigy.

5 United with Anjou in1126, it passed to England when Henry Plantagenet became king in1154. Maine reverted to the French crown in1481.

6 We were in fine fettle , drinking Anjou all the way to the coast.

7 No one in Anjou had better hearing or could speak the local dialect more clearly than the wily wine grower .

8 Perch, Salmon, Pike and Eel; regional specialities from the freshwater fish are perfect accompaniment to the wines of Anjou.

9 Matilda has the reputation of being a shrew - do you think she will stay tamely in Anjou?

10 She was a lady of unearthly beauty who married a Count of Anjou and bore him four children.

11 Many marriages were more satisfactory than Matilda's alliance with the count of Anjou.

12 Henry, on the other hand, had secured the southern borders of Anjou, and at a single stroke had elevated his status from duke of Normandy and pretender to the English throne, to major European player.

13 In the West his most dangerous enemy was Charles of Anjou , who became King of Sicily.

14 For three days, the most powerful ruler in the west – king of England, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, count of Anjou – did not leave his room.

15 Subsequently lost all autonomy, subject to the House of Anjou who ruled the territory from 1245 until 1482, when the region fell under the rule of King Louis XI of France, being annexed in 1486.

1 The chalky soil around Saumur produces the famous Anjou wines.