River Layon at Rablay-sur-LayonI have been meaning to comment on this remarkable Decanter tasting of Layons from the 2007 vintage, which appeared in the January 2010 issue. The tasting was held at Decanter's offices in London in early September and it underlined what a brilliantly successful sweet wine vintage 2007 is despite the poor wet summer. The wines have great precision and purity.
Out of the 50 wines tasted – four received a Decanter award (five stars – max number possible), 21 were highly recommended (four stars), 24 recommended (three stars) and just one was described as fair (two stars). 98% of the wines recommended – must be virtually unheard of for a Decanter tasting.
The following wines were the Decanter Award Winners: Domaine de la Petite Croix, Cuvée Victoria, Vieilles Vignes, Bonnezeaux (270g/l rs); Domaine du Petit Métris (Joseph Renou et Fils) Les Tetueresm, Chaume* (165g/l rs); Château la Varière (Jacques Beaujeau), Les Melleresses, Bonnezeaux (248g/l rs); and Château Pierre-Bise (Claude and Joëlle Papin), L'Anclaie, Coteaux du Layon-Beaulieu (220g/l rs).
Both Jacques Beaujeau and Claude and Joëlle Papin have been past winners of the Decanter World Wine Awards Loire Regional Sweet Wine Trophy.
* This would have been bottled before the 2007 Chaume appellation was annulled earlier this year by the French courts. In view of the controversy over Quarts de Chaume and Chaume , it is interesting to note that within the award winners and highly recommended there were five Chaumes and four Quarts de Chaume. One of the Chaumes was an award winner with no Quarts de Chaume in the top category. On this evidence if the consumer was confused by Chaume and Quarts de Chaume, they should not have been disappointed by the the quality from either appellation. Nor on this showing there is no evidence that producers in the Quarts de Chaume are making better wines than those Chaume, despite QdeC's superior terroir.
Near Beaulieu-sur-Layon looking across to Château Soucherie
During the discussion following the tasting, Decanter asked the panel 'why don't we hear more about Loire sweet wines?'. Unfortunately they then proceeded to illustrate why these wines are not better known by failing to highlight the tasting on the magazine's front cover instead highlighting a tasting of 2005 Riojas, where the results were much more patchy with only one Decanter award winner!
The tasting panel: Sarah Jane Evans MW, Andy Howard (wine buyer, Marks & Spencer), Margaret Rand, Stephen Skelton MW, Steven Spurrier and myself.
Out of the 50 wines tasted – four received a Decanter award (five stars – max number possible), 21 were highly recommended (four stars), 24 recommended (three stars) and just one was described as fair (two stars). 98% of the wines recommended – must be virtually unheard of for a Decanter tasting.
The following wines were the Decanter Award Winners: Domaine de la Petite Croix, Cuvée Victoria, Vieilles Vignes, Bonnezeaux (270g/l rs); Domaine du Petit Métris (Joseph Renou et Fils) Les Tetueresm, Chaume* (165g/l rs); Château la Varière (Jacques Beaujeau), Les Melleresses, Bonnezeaux (248g/l rs); and Château Pierre-Bise (Claude and Joëlle Papin), L'Anclaie, Coteaux du Layon-Beaulieu (220g/l rs).
Both Jacques Beaujeau and Claude and Joëlle Papin have been past winners of the Decanter World Wine Awards Loire Regional Sweet Wine Trophy.
* This would have been bottled before the 2007 Chaume appellation was annulled earlier this year by the French courts. In view of the controversy over Quarts de Chaume and Chaume , it is interesting to note that within the award winners and highly recommended there were five Chaumes and four Quarts de Chaume. One of the Chaumes was an award winner with no Quarts de Chaume in the top category. On this evidence if the consumer was confused by Chaume and Quarts de Chaume, they should not have been disappointed by the the quality from either appellation. Nor on this showing there is no evidence that producers in the Quarts de Chaume are making better wines than those Chaume, despite QdeC's superior terroir.
Near Beaulieu-sur-Layon looking across to Château SoucherieDuring the discussion following the tasting, Decanter asked the panel 'why don't we hear more about Loire sweet wines?'. Unfortunately they then proceeded to illustrate why these wines are not better known by failing to highlight the tasting on the magazine's front cover instead highlighting a tasting of 2005 Riojas, where the results were much more patchy with only one Decanter award winner!
The tasting panel: Sarah Jane Evans MW, Andy Howard (wine buyer, Marks & Spencer), Margaret Rand, Stephen Skelton MW, Steven Spurrier and myself.
