Home > Weekend Wine > Luneau-Papin Muscadet Sèvre et Maine s/lie Le L d'Or 1996
Luneau-Papin Muscadet Sèvre & Maine s/lie Le L d'Or 1996
It
is no secret that I am in love with the Loire. Not only the wines, but also
the place; it is in my opinion one of France's most beautiful regions. It seems
to be widely appreciated, judging by the number of tourists that visit the
region each year, so I think I am not alone in my thoughts. The same is not quite
true of the wines, of course. Even those appellations which I would argue turn
out wines of world class quality, which would stand up to any from France's
other wine regions - I'm thinking of
Vouvray in particular,
although I think strong cases can also be made for the
Coteaux du Layon and its
crus, and recently
Savennières too - remain niche interests compared to the wide appreciation
of Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne. I myself am thankful to have discovered
these wines many years ago, because they have given me much pleasure over the
years. But there is one wine that I have paid lip-service to over the years,
when secretly I have wondered, from time to time, whether it is really all some
people say it is. That wine is Muscadet.
But that's all over now.
Perhaps unsurprisingly in view of Muscadet's history, there are many bottles that contain something more akin to dishwater than the fresh, zippy, perfect-partner-for-seafood that the wine is often puffed up to be. I have certainly encountered a few that are closer to the former than the latter. But even with the latter, few really moved me. They are bistro wines, petit vins, workhorse wines, neutral wines for slugging back rather than pondering over. Well, in many cases, this is true. But there are, allegedly, a few producers capable of producing great wines.
Pierre
Luneau-Papin is one of them, and his cuvée Le L d'Or, Muscadet
Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie is one of his better wines in my experience. This
particular vintage, the 1996, has an attractive depth of colour, a very
pale lemon-green gold, suggesting a richness which certainly shows through on
the nose, which offers up aromas of smoke, thyme, garrigue and crisp minerals
aplenty. It is a long time since I recall encountering a nose as entrancing as
this on a Muscadet. The palate is fresh, crisp, laser-like in its precision,
with desperately straight acidity backed up by just a little flesh which is
mouth-watering when in combination with the crisp, acidic structure. On the
midpalate and towards the finish it has a zippy character, with an appealingly
sour, slightly sherbetty edge, with a little sea-salt character, that just keeps
me coming back for more. But I think it is the fabulous acidity cutting through
the ample, slightly rounded style that really sells it to me. This is just
divine. It certainly shows that a committed winemaker can turn out truly great
wine, even working in the sandy vineyards of the Nantais with a poor man's
variety like the Melon de Bourgogne. And it also throws out any misconceptions
there might be concerning Muscadet's ability to age; this has held together beautifully over
the last eleven years. I look forward to trying more of Luneau-Papin's wines
over the next few months, including some vintages even older than 1996, but they will have to
be impressive to top this one. 18/20 (12/2/07)
Find Luneau-Papin Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Le L d'Or 1996 on Wine Searcher:
Find all Pierre Luneau-Papin wines on Wine Searcher:
