Moulin Touchais, Coteaux du Layon 750ml 2007

Moulin Touchais, Est. 1787, may possibly have the largest collection of vintage wines in the world; holding 2 million bottles dating back to the mid-19th century. With 15kms of underground tunnels in the Coteaux du Layon, they keep each vintage for 10 years before release. These long-ageing late harvest Chenin Blancs from schistous soils really need 2 decades to show their best and, remarkably, are guaranteed a century of life.

Tasting notes:
'Dusty lemon and lanolin nose with dried herbs and mint leaf. Finely textured, creamy palate weight, wonderfully harmonious with a pithy orchard fruit finish.' – Greg Sherwood MW, 94+/100

About the estate:
Situated within the confines of the Loire’s Coteaux du Layon appellation, Moulin Touchais guarantees its customers a century of longevity. However impractical this guarantee may be, Moulin Touchais is renowned for being one of the world’s longest lived and most well-priced wines. Picked at various stages of maturity, this is a Chenin Blanc made in a sweet, late-harvest style where noble rot doesn’t play a large role. It is released a decade from vintage in order to benefit from tertiary complexity, but still possesses wonderful freshness and purity. The sugar level is around 80g/litre, but as the wines mature they tend to taste drier and the high acidity creates wonderful balance. The older and especially the tougher vintages show some nutty, almost rancio characters that, as Richard Kelley puts it, are for ‘proper’ Chenin lovers only! The great vintages such as 1971 and 2002 have many decades of maturation ahead.