Domaine Banchereau was established by Paul Banchereau in 1950; he began with just 4.5 hectares of Chenin Blanc, and worked from cellars located on the Rue du Canal de Monsieur in Saint-Aubin-de-Luigné, not far from the banks of the Layon. If you are wondering about the identity of the Monsieur who had his own rue, it was a reference to Louis XVIII (1755 – 1824), the French monarch who agreed to fund the canalisation of the Layon during the 1770s.

Yes, the Layon was once canalised. You would never know it to look at this small, sleepy and leaf-strewn river today, but it was once widened and dredged, and then locks, embankments, jetties and wharfs were added. Barges sailed downriver towards the Loire, laden with coal (the valley of the Layon is home to a rich Carboniferous seam), lime, wood, local stone and agricultural produce.

And, of course, barrels of wine.

Anyway, back to the 1950s. Under Paul's direction the domaine grew rapidly; this was no small-scale artisanal affair. Paul Banchereau’s approach to winemaking was somewhat industrial, and by the 1980s he was tending over a hundred hectares of vines (larger than the vast majority of Bordeaux classed growths), from which he produced close to 3,000 hectolitres of wine per annum - that's as much as 400,000 bottles of wine each year.

During the 1990s the domaine came into the hands of the next generation, Marc Banchereau.

He rationalised the domaine’s holdings a little, bringing the area of vines under his control down to a ‘mere’ 47 hectares, of which about half was planted to Chenin Blanc. Despite continuing to turn out a prodigiously large volume of wine Marc prided himself on selling the vast majority direct to customers, through a mailing list of 8,000 individual clients scattered all across Europe.

It was thus Marc who was in charge during this golden age for the sweet wines of the Coteaux du Layon and its famous crus. Across the region there was a move away from chaptalisation, and towards obtaining better physiological maturity and potential alcohols as the fruit hung on the vine. Benevolent weather, in 1990, 1995, 1996 and 1997 allowed many vignerons to turn out a string of good-quality wines, in many cases the best they had ever made. This week's Weekend Wine, the 1997 Cuvée Privelège from Chaume, one of the villages of the Coteaux du Layon appellation, is a case in point. Chaume is the most highly regarded of the seven villages (these days it enjoys premier cru status), the vineyards wrapping themselves around those of the Quarts de Chaume appellation (a grand cru, don't you know), and the wines are always worth looking out for. A good Chaume from a handful of parcels - Les Onnis is a particular favourite - can, without a doubt, come out ahead of a less accomplished Quarts de Chaume.

Eventually, after a string of successful vintages, the Banchereau era came to an end.

I suspect there was no willing heir to take the mantle from Paul. The vineyards and cellars were acquired by newcomers Philippe and René Socheleau, who christened their new project Domaine des Deux Vallées. Today the Socheleau vineyard includes 11 hectares in Chaume, mostly from the Banchereau domaine but - like many others along the banks of the Layon - today much of the crop is vinified dry, on the basis that it is better to make a dry wine which sells, than a sweet wine which does not. They do still make a little Coteaux du Layon Chaume though, sold for a song, and it is worth tracking down if you can't find any of the old Banchereau wines for sale at your local wine auction.