 However, wine writer Oz Clarke believes that the grape was named after a priory known as "Aunis" that existed outside of the commune of Saumur during the Middle Ages.Today what is left of the Aunis priory belongs to the Fontevraud Abbey in Chinon.Author Michel Freyssinet speculates that Pineau d'Aunis may have originated in the Vendée region and was brought to the Loire region by salt merchants sailing up the Atlantic coast.