Coteaux du Layon: the Loire's great sweet Chenin Blanc

The short answer: Coteaux du Layon is a sweet white wine from Chenin Blanc, grown on the slopes of the Layon, a small river that joins the Loire in Anjou. The grapes are left on the vine until they shrivel, by noble rot or by drying in the autumn sun, then picked by hand in several passes. The result tastes of quince, apricot, honey and candied citrus, with Chenin's bright acidity keeping it fresh. Good bottles age for decades.

Coteaux du Layon in one minute

• Pronounce it: “koh-TOH doo lay-ON”.
• Where: the Anjou part of the Loire Valley, south of Angers, along the Layon river.
• Grape: Chenin Blanc only, called Pineau de la Loire locally.
• Colour and style: still white wine, always sweet. An AOC since 1950.
• Harvest: by law, by hand, in successive passes (tries) through each vineyard, picking only the berries that are ready.

Why the Layon makes sweet wine

• A sheltered, dry pocket. The hills of the Mauges and the Choletais block the wet Atlantic air. The appellation's own rules note about 550 to 600 mm of rain a year here, against more than 800 mm in the Choletais hills nearby, and a flora with a southern touch: holm oaks and umbrella pines.
• Two ways to concentrate. In autumn, morning mists rise from the river and bring noble rot. In drier years the grapes simply shrivel on the vine, which the French call passerillage. Most wines have some of both.
• Slopes and schist. The vineyards sit on the valley sides, steep on the right bank (up to 40% slopes), gentle on the left, on mostly schist soils with patches of volcanic rock and sandstone. The soils hold little water, so the vines ripen slowly and keep their acidity.

To understand the fungus behind the style, read what noble rot is.

Reading the label

The rules set a minimum of sugar left in the wine, higher for the village wines and higher again for Premier Cru Chaume. Quarts de Chaume has its own story: in the Middle Ages the slope belonged to the abbey of Ronceray in Angers, and the tenants paid the nuns with “the best quarters of the harvest”, which gave the name.

The villages, and how they differ

• Rochefort-sur-Loire: its slightly north-facing slopes give the most mineral wines; its south-facing Chaume slope gives candied fruit and quince paste.
• Beaulieu-sur-Layon, Faye-d'Anjou, Saint-Aubin-de-Luigné: south-facing slopes, often marked by noble rot.
• Rablay-sur-Layon, Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay: gentler slopes on the left bank, for powerful, rounded wines.

The growers to know

A long history

From the 16th century, Dutch merchants shipped Layon wines north, and in 1780 the river was worked so their boats could reach the vineyards. Picking the shrivelled grapes in several passes has been recorded since the 18th century. Locals have a saying the appellation's rules quote with pride: “Coteaux du Layon never die; it is the cork that dies.”

How to serve it, and what to eat with it

• Chilled, in a white wine glass; small pours.
• As an aperitif, too, not only with dessert.
• Blue cheese and foie gras, the classics.
• Fruit desserts that are less sweet than the wine: apple or pear tart, apricots.
• Spiced dishes and sweet-and-sour flavours: a young Layon with Thai or Chinese food.

Chenin Blanc's dry side is in Chenin Blanc is the friend who always gets you. For the whole region, see the Loire for Level 1. Studying? The Court's syllabus asks for the principal wines of the Layon at Certified level and its villages at Advanced level.

Questions people ask