Domaine de l'Ecu - 'Granite' - Melon de Bourgogne - Muscadet, Loire Valley, FR - 2023

Satellite's Hot Take

One of our all-time favorite Melon de Bourgogne's by one of our all-time favorite pproducers. Domaine de l'Ecu is in the pantheon of wineries that made us fall in love with natural winemaking and taught us that "funky" isn't necessary - the wines can be made perfectly as much as grown perfectly - and so much more than the sum of their parts. Amazing stuff as always.

Notes from the Winery/Importer

From the domaines granitic soils comes this full and focused Muscadet from one of the Loire's leading natural winegrowers. In the 2020 vintage, the domaine was told their Muscadets were "atypical" for the appellation. Rather than fight it or resubmit for tasting, Ecu pivoted and bottled the wines as VdF. As is customary, VdF wines cannot list a vintage on the label. Biodynamic Certified Vineyard 3 hectares parcel with 45-55 year old vines Soil Top soil is stony. Sub-soil of two-mica granite Viticulture Organically farmed since 1975, biodynamic-demeter certified since 1998. Soil worked manually and yields are kept low. All grapes are hand harvested. Vinification Gravity fed with no use of pumps. Wild yeast fermentations with no racking of the must. Aging Aged on the lees in underground vats. Production 1,500 cases Notes

Notes on the Producer

Domaine de l’Ecu was founded by pioneering Guy Bossard in 1972, certified organic in 1975 and certified biodynamic by Demeter in 1998. The domaine has been producing unique, single terroir Muscadet for almost 40 years running and makes a stunning array of Vin De France bottlings as well. Fred Niger, who trained extensively with Guy before taking over the estate in 2012, is an equally hands on owner and fanatic in the vineyards. He crops extremely low, and produces Muscadets that have remarkable depth, precision, as well as ageability. Like Guy, Fred is deeply committed to biodynamic and organic practices but he takes these commitments even further by incorporating various types of energy work, working in terracotta amphora, and using minimal to no sulfur. Fred continues to make the domaine's stunning single parcel Muscadets maintaining their benchmark quality, while expanding the domaine's offerings with myriad single variety bottlings beyond the appellation's Melon de Bourgogne and fermenting and ageing in amphora.

In the vineyard, soils are worked and green harvesting is essential in order to keep the high yielding, workhorse Melon de Bourgogne in check. This helps aerate the vines protecting them from mildew and also encourages greater expression of site in the fruit as the vine spends less energy on non fruit-bearing growth. Everything is harvested by hand. There is no modern technology in the the cellar, not even pumps. All cuvées are fermented with native yeast and gravity is used throughout the cellar, from receipt of the harvest and pressing into the fermentation and ageing vessels, whether it be an underground cement tank for the Muscadets or neutral barrel or terra cotta amphora.

Why amphora? Amphora are made of the earth, and therefore the perfect medium for working as close to the earth and naturally as possible. Fred believes amphora are the natural extension for the domaine and allows for a more pure expression of the terroir without any outside interference. In addition, ageing in amphora harmonizes the texture, softening tannins and giving a wine, even when young, structured and age-worthy, a rounded, velvety mouthfeel. These wines are as delicious as they are beautiful to look at!

Depending on the cuvée, sulfur is either used minimally or not at all. Total sulfur levels at a max are 30/40mg/l, which is less than half of the max allowed by Demeter (their limit is 90mg/l), which itself is already far more restrictive than the max levels allowed with "Agriculture Bio" certification ( French organic certification), which is 150ml/l. As Fred likes to say, he makes wines "without fuss, farce, or make-up".

Most notably, Fred continues to go beyond the limits of standard Muscadet and the Melon de Bourgogne grape with his stunning VDF wines, impressive not in the least because they have no added sulfur and yet ring with a purity, vibrancy and clarity that defies what one thinks is possible with natural wines. The Estate VDF bottlings use mature vines originally planted by Guy Bossard. Fred has also recently spearheaded two new projects, Les Temps de Copains and Love & Grapes.

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