Domaines Landron
If this site’s purpose was not to explore some of the world’s most fascinating wines, but instead to discover and describe some of the world’s most magnificent moustaches, there is a fairly good chance I would still be a regular visitor to the Loire Valley. Voluminous facial hair seems to be de rigueur on the Ligérian wine scene, leading me to wonder whether we could rank these extravagant displays in the same manner as we have ranked Bordeaux châteaux. Surely the concept of rating moustaches as premier, deuxième and troisième cru, with some sort of cru bourgeois-type system for sideburns, has at least some merit? And there is no doubt in my mind that the munificent moustache belonging to Jo Landron would easily secure a place near the very top of this new whiskery classification.
Sadly (and I know you will be as deeply disappointed at this next statement as I am) the likelihood of such a useful classification (well, more useful than the 1855 classification) being drawn up seems very slim indeed. And so we should perhaps stick to judging wine for the time being. Happily for Jo, if judged purely on the many wines he has produced, and not his bounteous handlebars, he would still rank very highly. During his winemaking career Jo established a well-deserved reputation as one of the leading vignerons of the Muscadet Sèvre et Maine region with a string of well-known labels, including Amphibolite Nature, Clos la Carizière and the iconic Le Fief du Breil.
Having long cemented this reputation in place, during the early years of the 21st century Jo began to hand responsibility for the domaine to his daughter Hélène Landron. She and her husband now run the Jo Landron domaine, subtly rebranded as Domaines Landron. In this profile I look back at every aspect of this domaine, from its origins with Jo’s father Pierre, through to this modern-day transition, along with details of the vineyards, winemaking and all my tasting notes.
History
The story of Domaines Landron can be traced back as far as 1945, when a vigneron named Pierre Landron and his brother Julien Landron established what would be known as Domaine de la Louvetrie. The two brothers worked together to develop the domaine, returning land that had been abandoned after World War II to viticulture. It was a small beginning; by 1950 the siblings had just 3 hectares of vines to work with.
