This 1994 Coteaux du Layon is a beautifully matured Loire sweet wine that balances richness with restraint. Aromas of dried flowers, candied orange peel, tobacco, and spiced marmalade lead into a textured palate of dried fruits, lemon peel, and earthy minerality. Firm yet expressive, with a gently bitter-sweet finish, this wine shows the depth and intrigue that only time can bring. Demands attention—and rewards it.

Antonio Galloni | AG 92
Published: Sep, 2020

The 1994 Coteau du Layon offers an intriguing range of sweet tobacco, dried flowers, candied orange peel and earthy notes. Time in bottle has given the 1994 notable complexity, but it also retains a palpable sense of firmness that differentiates it from the lusher 1997 taste alongside it. Even though the 1994 has the depth and character of a 25 year-old Coteaux du Layon, it also has the sense of reserve that I find intriguing. It’s the sort of wine that demands the attention of the taster. The 1994 is a touch rustic, and yet immensely pleasing.

Touchais.fr

Once in the winery, the grapes immediately go into the press for a gentle pressing. 

This is followed by a spontaneous fermentation, brought on by indigenous yeasts and at a controlled temperature, in order to express the terroir, vintage and climate of MOULIN TOUCHAIS. This fermentation can last until January.

According to age-old tradition, the wine is bottled immediately after the cold weather in winter in order to preserve all the freshness of the wine. The bottles then spend at least 10 years ageing down in the cellars. No bottle is released for sale until its tenth birthday. This ageing allows the wine to develop a fabulous character in the bottle.

The wines are tasted regularly by Jean-Marie Touchais to ensure that only the finest bottles of wine are shipped to our customers around the world. This guarantee of high quality is somewhat unique in the world of viticulture.

- 1994 - 

Hints of woodsmoke, tree fruits, lemon and wet wool, but a touch muted. The palate, on the other hand, is very expresive, with a rich, ripe, almost dried fruit quality, wrapped around a core of steely/stoney minerality, with further notes of spiced marmalade, ginger and lemon peel. Finishes rich and gently bitter-sweet.