Château Pierre-Bise: The Coteaux du Layon and Crus
Although the dry wines have taken on new dimensions in recent years, the tour de force remained the sweet wines, from the Coteaux du Layon, Coteaux du Layon Chaume and Quarts de Chaume appellations. That this should be so seemed fitting bearing in mind Claude Papin held the post of president of the Syndicat des Producteurs des Quarts de Chaume for many years, and he was instrumental in pushing forward its recognition as a grand cru. Having said that, in today’s market it is extremely difficult to sell sweet wines, and during the course of the past ten years René Papin has shifted the portfolio of wines away from these sweeter cuvées, to drier wines. I provide full details of which wines survived, and which have been culled, below.
An exploration of his sweet cuvées always allowed something more of Claude’s character to shine through, especially his deep understanding of the local soils and geology, and how this manifested in his range of wines under the Coteaux du Layon appellation, each of which related to a specific vineyard and terroir.
As I have already written, Château Pierre-Bise is located in a small hamlet of the same name, very close to Beaulieu-sur-Layon, and so it is no surprise that his portfolio of Layon cuvées have the Coteau du Layon Beaulieu appellation. There is one exception though, and that is a Coteau du Layon Rochefort cuvée of extraordinarily rich potential made from fruit originating from the upper slopes of the Haut de la Garde vineyard, as explained in my account of Claude’s Anjou cuvées on the preceding page. The style of this wine has shifted under René Papin’s hand though; he now produces a lighter, more entry-level style from these vines, and he has dropped the Rayelles designation, which appeared for the last time in the 2017 vintage.
