2016 Chateau Pierre-Bise 'Coteaux Du Layton Chame' 1er Cru Chenin Blanc, 500 ml,Loire Valley, France   

Les Rouannières, perhaps the finest, firmest, slowest-to-evolve and longest-lasting of all Papin's moelleux, is from very meager, superficial soil whose base is the volcanic rock spilite. The soil is so superficial it cannot be plowed: it would erode and disappear. So instead, the Papins plant grass, which serves to keep the soil from eroding, competes with the vine thus keeping yields low and provoking the vine to send its roots down into the bedrock, and, when it is turned, mulches the soil with organic matter. The effect of proximity to the Layon, the elevation and exposure to the wind, and the extremely meager soil which dries up very quickly in the fall, is to produce very powerful, firm moelleux. This is in principle the Domaine's single best site. Aged in vat only.