Luneau-Papin Muscadet Sur Lie Clos de L'Allee 2023

Vines planted in 1974 in the village of Le Landreau. Weathered mica schist and gneiss rock from the Armorican Massif. Clos de l'Allée is a place steeped in history. 2.3 hectares in a single block bordered by paths, the historical boundaries of three late 18th-century lordships that gave rise to the village of Le Landreau. 75 owners were recorded according to Cassini's maps. This walled vineyard, the ancestral home of the Luneau family, is adjacent to the estate's cellars. Spontaneous alcoholic fermentation using indigenous yeasts. Aged in underground tanks lined with concrete and glass tiles for 16 months without racking before bottling in February 2025. Beautiful aromas, both expressive and detailed, with ripe fruit and plant aromas hinting at the textural suppleness and shimmering minerality that the mica-schist soil conveys to the silky very long palate. Always a favourite of ours returning in the beautiful 2023 vintage.

Long-term fans of this cuvée will remember the Clos de l’Allée as the one with the metallic green label; these days it has a rather more hip label design to match the rest of the Luneau-Papin range. Here the vines are on micaschist and gneiss around Le Landreau, and like others on the domaine they were planted by Pierre Luneau-Papin in 1974. Aromatically this feels more old-school than the rest of the portfolio, classic eye-popping Muscadet with notes of lime, thyme, green pepper and herbs. The palate is charming and fresh, with a supple texture, riven with lively herb and mint notes, but also a delightfully incisive acid backbone. An impressive construct, and I think this will develop in bottle very well, once it gets there anyway; here bottling has been delayed until March 2025. 92-94/100 thewinedoctor.com Feb 2025

Domaine Luneau-Papin

One of the leading domaines of the Nantais, Pierre Luneau-Papin, hails from a long line of vignerons. The Luneau family is well established in the region; their presence here may be traced as far back as the late 17th Century and Pierre Luneau is the thirteenth generation of his family to bear the name Pierre. Pierre and Monique, his wife, are the seventh generation of vignerons to run Domaine Luneau-Papin, which was founded by Pierre's forebears in the 18th Century.

Having studied at Briacé and gained experience with Emile Peynaud and Pascal Ribéreau-Gayon, both of the Faculty of Oenology at the University of Bordeaux, it is perhaps no surprise that Luneau-Papin is one of Muscadet's leading lights. In his immaculate winery, Pierre proceeds to vinify in small batches according to the origin of the fruit. The harvest is done by hand, also a rarity in the region, to avoid any oxidation before pressing. There is an immediate light débourbage (separation of juice from gross lees), then a 4-week fermentation at 20 degrees, followed by 6 months (or longer for some cuvées) of aging in stainless-steel vats on fine lees. This is the classic Muscadet-sur-lie process, where the wine is kept on its lees, with a fair amount of CO2 as protection, until bottling in the spring following the harvest. The only modern technique used here is macération pelliculaire (maceration of lightly crushed berries before pressing), which varies in proportion according to the cuvées.

The family estate now consists of approximately 40ha, with 38ha planted to Melon de Bourgogne located about 20 kilometres from Nantes itself. This is a landscape characterised by gently rolling vineyards and a remarkable variation of terroirs, which include micaschist, gneiss and schist and other rocks of volcanic origin, as well as the sandy soils that first spring to mind when thinking of the region. The vines have a good age, 45 years on average although some are well into their seventh decade. The wines produced at this estate are strikingly pure, with each cuvée expressing its unique soil-signature. They never fail to impress.