Moulin Touchais 1997

95/100p Vinous: Starting to take on a deep golden hue, the 1997 Moulin Touchais Coteaux du Layon is a sensuous sweet wine (92g/L of residual sugar) that offers ripe and concentrated flavors of apricot jam, cooked oranges botrytis-derived spices (60% of the fruit was affected by botrytis, a high proportion for this wine). It is intense, rich and honeyed, coating the palate with its sucrosity. There's just enough acidity here to keep things going but it does not have the vivacious refreshment of cooler years, providing a weightier, fully charged expression. The finish is lengthy and fragrant.

95/100p The Wine Spectator: Shows the power and depth of this great vintage, with a core of still-youthful mango, guava and creamed peach flavors streaming along, backed by light heather, honeysuckle and quince notes. The long finish is creamy and pure, displaying a lovely lining of brioche and lemon curd. Drink now through 2037. 1,750 cases made.