Paul-Eric Chauvin and his brother-in-law, Philippe Cesbron, operate their 36 acre estate with great respect for their land and the environment: chemical fertilisers are therefore excluded completely. Five grape varieties are grown, with Chenin Blanc being the estate’s staple and accounting for almost one third of the production. Picking is by hand and a selection process is pursued to choose the finest grapes. For the sweet wines, grapes are left on the vines until the autumn mists of the River Layon, a tributary of the Loire, have created ‘Noble Rot’ and the vineyard is combed two, three or four times to ensure that these grapes are gathered in the optimum condition. While the sweet white Coteaux du Layon wines are perhaps the stars of their repertoire, all Domaine Chauvin wines are very well made and the Anjou ‘La Fontaine des Bois’ dry white is in our view especially stylish. The Coteaux du Layon wines are wonderful dessert wines, very much the equal of any German late-harvest, or the best from Sauternes: as well as a fresh sweetness, they have a residual acidity which gives them power and structure. Domain Chauvin wines have not previously been imported into the U.K. and this is certainly our loss.
Paul-Eric Chauvin and his brother-in-law, Philippe Cesbron, operate their 36 acre estate with great respect for their land and the environment: chemical fertilisers are therefore excluded completely. Five grape varieties are grown, with Chenin Blanc being the estate’s staple and accounting for almost one third of the production. Picking is by hand and a selection process is pursued to choose the finest grapes. For the sweet wines, grapes are left on the vines until the autumn mists of the River Layon, a tributary of the Loire, have created ‘Noble Rot’ and the vineyard is combed two, three or four times to ensure that these grapes are gathered in the optimum condition.
