More photos from early November 2007. Starting near Bonnezeaux and heading eastwards.

Looking across the Layon towards Bonnezeaux

Looking across the Layon towards Bonnezeaux

The ruined château at Martigné-Briand and its landmark chimneys

Ripe Chenin Blanc for Coteaux de Saumur@Domaine de Nerleux

Château d'Eternes, AC Saumur

Château d'Eternes, AC Saumur

Looking towards Beaulieu-sur-Layon from south bank

Looking towards Beaulieu-sur-Layon from south bank

River Layon@Rablay-sur-Layon

River Layon@Rablay-sur-Layon
Japanese overtones I think

River Layon@Rablay-sur-Layon

Vines and colours at Rablay-sur-Layon

Pink château near Bonnezeaux:
its name anyone please?

View across the Layon towards Pierre-Bise

Showing how steep and rugged this part – between Beaulieu and the Quarts de Chaume – of the Layon Valley is. I think the recently planted and very steep vineyard in photos 2 and 3 may well be Jo and Isabelle Pithon’s Les Treilles. I would be very grateful if someone could confirm this or not as the case may be (see next para).

Thanks to the assistance of Micaela Frow this does appear to be part of Les Treilles, the steep south facing coteau that Jo and Isabelle Pithon have brought back to life. Les Treilles was a thriving hillside of vines until arolund the end of the Second World War when it was abandoned in favour of less steep vineyards that could be worked by machine. The hillside, whose slopes vary from 30 %-70%, became over-grown and virtually impenetrable.

Is this Les Treilles? Can anyone confirm please?
(Now confirmed)

In 1996 the Pithons began a project to reclaim the hillside and replant vines there. This involved buying 70 parcels from 25 owners. Three hectares have been planted with Chenin and are now in production. There are a further two hectares that will be replanted in the future. Following his split with Domaine Jo Pithon in January 2008, Jo has kept control of Les Treilles. Further information is on the Domaine Jo Pithon site including a detailed pdf on Les Treilles.

Is this Les Treilles? Can anyone confirm please?
(Now confirmed)


View across the Layon towards Pierre-Bise

Vines in the Layon – Saint-Lambert-sur-Lattay looking
towards the A87 autoroute and the village of Beaulieu

La Poste@Rochefort-sur-Loire

Across the Layon: October 10th 2005 from near Pierre-Bise
and looking towards St-Lambert

Château Pierre-Bise

Managed a quick chat with Joëlle Papin (Château Pierre-Bise, Beaulieu-sur-Layon) over the phone this afternoon.

“We are in the middle of the harvest – about half way through. We’ve done the first passage for the dry white, the Cabernet Franc and the rosé. Still to do are some of the rosé, some reds plus a bit more in Savennières as well as the sweet wines. The quality isn’t bad. It’s sunny but quite fresh, which is good. We have a problem with the birds eating the grapes – maybe nets would be the answer. We will be slimming down the size of our picking team next week as the sweet wine grapes aren’t ready to pick yet, so we’ll just keep a small team.”

Chenin Blanc, Beaulieu-sur-Layon October 2005

I’ve been very caught up this week with finishing off the 88th edition of Circle Update, the Circle of Wine Writers newsletter. Now this is out of the way I should have more time to check up on progress of the latter stages of the 2008 harvest.

Claude and Joëlle Papin, Château Pierre-Bise, 49750 Beaulieu-sur-Layon.
Tel: 02.41.78.31.44
Email: chateaupb@hotmail.com