Moulin Touchais, 2021 – 1953
I scuttled along the subterranean passageway as quickly as I could, keen not to lose sight of my companions, who were a few dozen metres ahead of me. My breath misted in the air ahead, the cellar temperature icy cold. Either side of me the walls were a faded and dusty yellow-grey hue, the paint old and flaking, although I know from photographs I have seen, taken perhaps forty years ago, they once gleamed a pure and brilliant white.
As I hastened along the corridor, one of many that make up a small network of tunnels beneath the cellars of Moulin Touchais in Doué-la-Fontaine, I passed numerous openings on either side, each one home to a stack of dusty bottles. In some cases the bin was filled to capacity, many rows deep, the bottles stacked almost to the ceiling. Other bins, meanwhile were in comparison quite depleted, a couple of rows of ancient bottles huddled against the wall. But no bin stood entirely empty. And given the wealth of vintages on display, that was perhaps not surprising.
I found a bin stacked high with the 2010 vintage.
And, should you fancy a bottle from the 2004 vintage, I found your bin.
And here, should you be interested in an older Coteaux du Layon, is the domaine’s current stock of the 1980 vintage.
And there are even older, more precious vintages, stacked here. From the 1970s, 1960s and 1950s.
“What’s this stack here, against the wall?”, I asked.
“That’s the Réserve du Centenaire XIXème – it’s a multi-vintage blend from the 19th century, the ‘average’ vintage in the blend is probably about 1875”, came the reply.
My quick pace slowed to a halt, as I realised I no longer wanted to catch up with my companions. I was suddenly open to the idea of getting lost in these cellars, and perhaps locked in overnight.
But there was no need, because my bottles had already been opened and were waiting patiently upstairs for me, pretty much every available vintage from 2021 back to that fabled 19th-century blend. Before I get to the wines though, first a few words on Moulin Touchais, and on the tasting itself which took place one cold February morning this year.
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