Appellation
Coteaux du Layon
Identity card
VillageAOPSweet
Loire Valley · Recognised on 18 February 1950
- Village
- Regional
Key points
- Overripe grapes, hand-picked in successive passes.
- At most 35 hl/ha; at least 14% natural alcohol and 34 g/l of sugar.
- A Quarts de Chaume grand cru may be downgraded to premier cru Chaume.
Grape varieties
Production rules
35
hl/ha
Maximum yield
14
% ABV
Minimum natural alcohol
Minimum ageing: At least until 15 January of the year after the harvest
- Maximum yield
- How much wine a hectare may produce under the appellation (a higher, exceptional ceiling often exists). The lower it is, the less can be made: one of the levers on how concentrated the grapes are. For reference: 20 hl/ha to 50 hl/ha across 9 Oenopia appellations of the same colour.
- Minimum natural alcohol
- The alcohol the grapes' own sugar must be able to give, without enrichment: a ripeness threshold at harvest. For reference: 12 % ABV to 18 % ABV across 9 Oenopia appellations of the same colour.
- Minimum ageing
- A minimum ageing period the specification requires before the wine may be sold to consumers.
Terroir
- Lie of the land: Steep right bank (up to 40%), gentle left bank
- Soils: More or less weathered schist; shallow soils
- Climate: Sheltered by the Mauges: 550 to 600 mm a year
Wine style
- sweetness and freshness
- power and finesse
- complex aromas
- long ageing
Boundaries: INAO, AOC vineyard plot delimitation (September 2026 edition) · Open Licence
Specification
5 December 2025
Order of 5 December 2025 approving the specification of the AOC “Coteaux du Layon” (AGRT2527081A), JORF no. 0295 of 17 December 2025, text no. 28 (BO no. 52 of 25 December 2025). Appellation first recognised by the decree of 18 February 1950.
Labelling terms
- One of the six commune names: at most 30 hl/ha; at least 15% natural, 51 g/l
- Premier cru "Chaume": at most 25 hl/ha; at least 16.5% natural, 80 g/l
- "Sélection de grains nobles" (SGN): at least 19% natural alcohol, vintage shown
- The geographical name "Vin de Loire" may be added
- A registered lieu-dit may be named, in smaller type
Nearby appellations
Sources
- Official sourceCahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine contrôlée « Coteaux du Layon »— Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité (INAO) / Ministère de l'agriculture
Along the Layon, a tributary of the Loire south of Angers, the appellation covers thirteen communes of Maine-et-Loire, on both banks of the river. It makes only medium-sweet or sweet white wines from Chenin Blanc alone, from overripe grapes concentrated on the vine, with or without noble rot, and picked by hand in successive passes. Six communes (or delegated communes) may add their name to the appellation's, and the Chaume slope, at Rochefort-sur-Loire, carries the "premier cru" term.
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Coteaux du Layon
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