Coteaux de l'Aubance l'Embrumée 2022 Domaine du Matin Calme

The Coteaux de l'Aubance L'Embrumée 2022 from Domaine du Matin Calme is the most ambitious and precious cuvée from this young Angevin domaine, a limited release of just 500 bottles, awarded two stars in the 2025 Hachette Wine Guide. It captures the singular magic of Coteaux de l'Aubance, a botrytised Chenin of remarkable richness, density and opulence, born from the morning mists of the Aubance valley that encourage noble rot to develop on carefully selected grapes.

Terroir and domaine

Anne-Laura Aulon and Victor Robion settled in Juigné-sur-Loire after working and travelling throughout France and abroad, including five years in Sancerre that instilled in them a taste for precision and terroir expression. Their 16.5-hectare domaine sits across four distinct terroirs of remarkable geological richness: schist, schistose sandstone, alluvial sands and pebbles, and volcanic rock. A mosaic of soils that gives rise to the diversity and complexity of their wines. L'Embrumée comes from a parcel selection of Chenin planted on schist, the terroir that gives the variety its natural tension, fine minerality and the capacity to concentrate natural sugars of incomparable richness and aromatic complexity in years favourable to botrytisation. The morning fog of the Aubance valley, a small tributary of the Louet that runs alongside the vineyard, is the key climatic phenomenon of the appellation. It encourages the development of Botrytis cinerea, the noble rot fungus, which concentrates the berries and develops aromas of honey, saffron and candied fruits that are the signature of great Coteaux de l'Aubance. Ageing takes place in oak casks, with a careful balance that brings complexity and depth without masking the purity of the fruit and mineral tension of the schistose terroir. The domaine is undergoing organic certification.

Tasting profile

The colour is a deep gold with amber glints, luminous and dense, the characteristic hue of a botrytised Chenin aged in oak. The nose is richly generous and shimmering: notes of candied apple and honey emerge with elegance, accompanied by hints of dried apricot, beeswax and soft spices, saffron and cinnamon, with a carefully measured oak backdrop that adds complexity without heaviness. The botrytisation brings that characteristic roasted hazelnut and dried fruit note that marks the great sweet wines of the Loire. On the palate, the wine is fleshy, dense and opulent, a fine sweet wine that unfolds in layers of nuance: the sweetness of residual sugars is perfectly balanced by the natural acidity of Chenin, which brings freshness, tension and length to the rich, enveloping texture. The finish is long, golden and persistent, trailing notes of candied fruits, honey and schistose minerality that confirm the excellence of the terroir. A wine to cellar and contemplate, best kept for at least ten years to reveal its full complexity.

The domaine

Anne-Laura Aulon and Victor Robion represent a new generation of Angevin vignerons, attentive to terroir and precise in their approach to Chenin, capable of drawing from their four distinct terroirs a range of remarkable coherence and personality. After their years of training and travel, they chose Anjou as their land of expression and Chenin as their chosen variety, a demanding and temperamental grape that in the hands of the most rigorous vignerons reveals a depth and complexity that rivals great Burgundy Chardonnays or Alsatian Rieslings.

Food pairings

This Coteaux de l'Aubance L'Embrumée pairs beautifully with lightly cooked foie gras with soft spices, aged Roquefort with caramelised walnuts, pear and Gorgonzola tart, a dessert of yellow fruits such as Tarte Tatin or apricot moelleux, or a board of blue-veined cheeses like Stilton or Bleu des Causses. It can also be enjoyed alone, in quiet contemplation, served slightly cool at 10-12°C to fully appreciate the richness and complexity of a great botrytised Loire Chenin.