Gilman loved this great vintage, too, and it’s the second best ever for both Vinous and the Wine Enthusiast.
Gilman says:
The 1985 Moulin Touchais is drinking brilliantly and has now reached its apogee of peak performance. The superb bouquet jumps from the glass in a blaze of honeyed apples, apricot, chalk, a touch of new leather, oranges and yellow plums. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, deep, complex and brilliantly focused, with great acids, outstanding focus and a very, very long, racy and honeyed finish. Just the essence of late harvest chenin blanc in the clay and chalky soils of the Coteaux du Layon. The 1985 Moulin Touchais is at its zenith, but clearly still has many decades of great drinking ahead of it and may yet improve with further bottle age! 2009-2060+.
The Wine Enthusiast says:
This amazing wine, gold in color, is one of the treasures that appear from time to time from the underground cellars of this great producer. It is old, but its sweetness has not been impaired by age. Rather the sweetness has become intense richness and intense acidity. The wine, full and opulent, is, of course, ready to drink.
And Vinous says:
Hailing from a warm vintage that was one of the best in what would otherwise have been a fairly ordinary decade, the 1985 Moulin Touchais Coteaux du Layon is starting to take on a deep golden appearance, commencing to amber. It offers a gorgeous, suave texture and a very complex nose that's a touch oxidative but that adds a layer of additional intrigue: it's all nuts, raisins, walnuts, olives, warm pastry, cinnamon, cooked orange peel. It's round and sweet (95g/L) but not unctuous with richness on the mid-palate while retaining enough acidity to refresh the mouth on the long finish. A wine that is very comfortable in its own skin, providing a very relaxing experience.”
