2005 Loire vintage in the Layon, Anjou – some photos from that October

 Pickers' vehicles in the Layon 

 Looking west along the Layon towards Château Soucherie 

from Pierre Bise 

In October Nigel Wilkinson (RSJ Restaurant) I spent a week or more in the Loire seeing how the 2005 vintage was coming. Because of the ideal conditions during the autumn of 2005, the vignerons were very relaxed during the harvest. They were able to choose exactly the moment when to pick. I suspect that the 2016 harvest is unlikely to be as relaxed – still it is some way off so we will have to see.  

Ripening Chenin Blanc at Château Pierre Bise
(above and below)

A steep slope overlooking the River Layon 

Cabernet Sauvignon – if I remember rightly

Claude Papin (Château Pierre Bise)

making a point

Looking westward along the Layon 

Château de Breuil on extreme left

Nigel Wilkinson with Vincent Ogereau 

in a parcel of Vincent's vines in 

Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay 

Cabernet Sauvignon – Côte de la Houssaye

(Domaine Ogereau)

above and below 

 In Les Bonnes Blanches 

ripening Chenin Blanc destined for Coteaux du Layon

above and below   

Vincent Ogereau checking on progress of his Chenin