Domaine de la Louvetrie

Jo Landron and his wife Jocelyn are the wonderful, energetic, creative, honest and downright nice people behind the farming and the winemaking at Domaine de La Louvetrie.  Jo is famously photogenic thanks to his remarkable mustache, but really, it’s the sparkle in his eyes that make him such a star in the Loire Valley.  That, and his decades long devotion to elevating Melon de Bourgogne to the ranks of France’s noble grapes.

Jo oversees all of the farming, and under his guidance the estate has flourished as a certified organic vineyard.  This is true of the parcels that produce all of the wines, from his “Domaine” to the single vineyard Fief de Breil.

The focus at Domaine de La Louvetrie is the production of distinct Muscadets from diverse parcels.  ”Amphibolite” is the crispest of the wines and comes from a section of the vineyard filled with blue-gray amphibole stones.  The nature of this soil is such that Jo chooses not to age the wine on it’s lees – a key component of his other Muscadet’s.  Bright and fresh, this is perhaps the wine of the lineup when it comes to pairing Muscadet and Oysters.  The other two single vineyard offerings include “Hermine D’or” and “Fief de Briel”, sites that produce complex, age worthy whites that can be paired with a broad array of complex dishes.

Initially made for a bit of fun on the side, Jo’s bubbles blend Pinot Noir and Folle Blanche to great effect.  ”Atmospheres” has become one of our best selling sparkling wines with it’s racy citrus and wild yeast aromas.  This is the only wine in our portfolio to have inspired a tatoo.  Seriously.  

Jo took over from his father in the early 1980′s and quickly broke from the family and the local traditions of producing large amounts of decent, if unexciting wines.  His transition was aided by advice from Guy Bossard at Domaine de L’Ecu and Jo has emerged as a leading proponent of single vineyard Muscadet’s whose expression is the result of biodynamic farming and a tremendous amount of work done by hand in the vineyard.

La Haye Fouassiere is a tiny town in the heart of the Muscadet Sèvre et Maine near the city of Nantes on the Atlantic coast of France.  The Atlantic Ocean is a key marker, influencing as it does the climate throughout the region.  This is a part of the Atlantic with cold, salty waters, perfect for the production of oysters, rich grasses that “pre-salt” the lambs that eat them, and of course Melon de Bourgogne grapes.

Jo Landron’s vineyards sit atop a diverse collection of soils that are in part the result of ancient volcanic activity.  This is why the wines can be so diverse in their flavors from one site to the next .

Jo and Jocelyn Landron are among a small group of pioneers in Muscadet who have awoken the appellation and driven it forward one vineyard and one vintage at a time when others were content with mediocrity.  We love great Muscadet and we love the Landrons.  There, we said it, and that is why it is a Candid Wine.

Native yeasts start fermentation and most of the wines will be raised “Sur-Lies” to develop broad flavors and provide a foundation for a long life. Amphibolite Nature is an important exception as it sees no lees contact and maintains razor sharp acidity that comes in part from the “Amphibole” stones in the vineyard.  Tasting it alongside the Domaine is a wonderful lesson in how a winemaker interprets his or her soil.