1996 | Moulin Touchais | Coteaux du Layon

1996 is a complex mature wine with aromas of orange marmalade, bruised apples and honey. Good acidity on the palate with added flavours of ripe pears and stone fruit.

Reviews:

• Wine Enthusiast: Editor's Choice. This estate, owned by the same family since 1787, has amazing stocks of old sweet wines maturing in its cellars. With red apple, honey and apricot aromas, this wine, mature and yet so fresh, is proof of the aging ability of Chenin Blanc. It is the balance between the ripe honeyed flavors and the intense acidity that keeps it so vibrant. Drink this superb wine now.

• Wine Advocate: The most recent release of Moulin Touchais (for more about whose unusual operation, see my report in issue 172) is a 1996 Coteaux du Layon that illustrates the striking combination of mineral and nobly sweet characteristics that were possible in this unusual vintage, though its notoriously high acidity is scarcely noticeable thanks to the balance lent by high sugar and the harmony conveyed by time in bottle. Alkaline and wet stone aromas here approach the effect of sticking one’s head down a moss- and algae-covered cistern, accompanied by scents of lily, narcissus, quince preserves, stale bread, musk, and sweat. The rich quince character is carried and complimented by a juicy and not at all heavy palate impression, and this finishes with remarkable refreshment and pronouncedly alkaline and stony minerality, as well as snuffed candle wick smokiness and bitterness of quinine. Prices for these wines continue to be quite reasonable considering their combination of quality and late release that permits access to mature nobly sweet Chenin. Such access was still nearly universal in the early ‘80s, when Terry Theise first piqued my interest in nobly sweet Loire Chenin, but gradually the art of holding old stocks died, along with the fashion for these wines – indeed, along with many once-renowned domaines.

Producer Information

Created in 1787, Domaine Touchais is one of the oldest wine domaine in Anjou and it is still one of the most traditional properties in the Loire Valley today. The same ancestral methods have been used over the generations, both in the vineyards and in the winery, in order to create the fine sweet white wines for laying down for which the domaine is renowned. Back at the end of the Second World War, Joseph Touchais decided that, after bottling the wines immediately after the winter, he would age them in the cellars for at least ten years before releasing them for sale, in order to let time do its work. This long ageing allows the wines to develop a wonderful character in the bottle while preserving the freshness of their youth. Today, the domaine is one of the few (or maybe the only one!) to offer such a wide range of vintages, which are often 30 to 40 years old, or even older. Down in the domaine’s impressive underground cellars in Doué la Fontaine, there is one of the finest and oldest stocks of wine in the world. Through the wines’ balance and freshness, the domaine seeks to express the quintessence of its appellation. The wines also possess the power and sumptuousness typical of the finest of fine wines.

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