Jo Landron Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Les Houx 2020 (6 Bottles) Muscadet, France

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Les Houx, in La Haye-Fouassière, is one of Landron’s oldest vineyards. The mature, low-yielding vines are rooted in shallow sandy/clay soils, rich in quartz and shot through with iron (which gives the wine a flinty nature), over a bedrock of gneiss and clay. It’s brilliant terroir that gives a denser, fleshier, more complex style of Muscadet. Although more opulent and layered than Landron’s other wines, the rocky, acid soils of this parcel impart a balancing freshness, even in warmer years.

Harvested by hand and fermented with wild yeasts, the wine aged on its lees for 12-14 months before bottling. Its dense, structured, and lingering palate delivers textural stone fruits interwoven with the smoky mineral signature of these sandstone soils. It’s a dynamic Muscadet that goes far beyond the “drink with oysters” cliché, so match it with substantial fish or white meat dishes that call for something savoury and mineral.

“From a site with a little altitude, with a gravelly component to the soils, which Jo says is not common in the Muscadet region. The nose is softly composed, with fragrant notes of minty chalk. On the palate it feels broad and supple, with a sweetly polished texture, and a chalky presence which lends a touch of freshness to the midpalate’s plush breadth. A wine with minty lift and good grip, but most important of all in this warmer vintage it has some bright acidity as well. Fine potential here.” 91-93 points, Chris Kissack, The Wine Doctor

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REVIEWS

“The wines of Jo Landron are now the reference in the – too small – genre of terroir driven Muscadet.” La Revue du Vin de France

“Jo Landron remains one of his region’s most conspicuous over-achievers, and his name (or that of one of the domaines with which he is affiliated) on the label a virtual guarantor of fine quality.” David Schildknecht

TASTING NOTES

Much like the man himself, the engaging Muscadets of Jo Landron brim with life and personality. These finely-etched soil-specific wines represent the antithesis of the bland, neutral, overcropped produce that has sadly become the regional norm. Jo Landron, who learnt to farm the land from his father, took control of the family domaine 1990. His philosophy, driven by the conviction that the essence of great Muscadet is expressed through the minerality of its terroir, has raised the regional bar so high that only the granite-infused bottling from the great Guy Bossard rivals these Muscadets for sheer intensity of flavour and distinctive, electric energy.

The unique expression of Landron’s cuvées are the result of the diversity of soil types that are found within his vineyards. All are farmed organically using biodynamic practises. Vines are planted densely (8,000 per acre) to naturally control yields, which are kept to a maximum 8 bunches per vine, lower in some cases. Yields stay between 40 and 45 hl/ha – incredibly low by Muscadet standards – and naturally no herbicides or pesticides are used.

Manual ploughing and hand harvesting are followed by a direct, soft pneumatic, pressing of whole clusters. Only indigenous yeasts are used, and after a cool fermentation lasting 15-20 days, the wines are aged in glass-lined temperature-controlled cement vats, on their lees for 7-12 months. At this point, the wines are bottled using gravity flow. This traditional, minimalist approach preserves the natural freshness and minerality that is a trademark of the very best wines of this genre.

Like the Muscadet of fellow visionary (and friend) Guy Bossard, you’ll notice how much more amplitude and texture, not to mention minerality and softer acidity, these Muscadet’s possess. As well as being among the finest vignerons of the wider Loire Valley, these are the two avant-garde Nantes producers that are ploughing the front line in a mini Muscadet Renaissance, producing lovely wines that refuse to be pigeon-holed.

These are wines of Riesling like freshness and clarity yet with the mineral drive of a Dauvissat Chablis. They represent some of the finest quality/price white values from Europe today. If you think you know all you need to know about Muscadet, but have not tried these wines, then… time to think again.

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