Domaine Ménard-Gaborit: Vineyards
The hamlet of La Minière is located close to Monnières, and also close to the waters of the Sèvre. On the opposite bank of the river lies Le Pallet, like Monnières-St-Fiacre another of the crus communaux. The Ménard-Gaborit vineyards are largely located close at hand, around the domaine, although they do have some parcels across the river in the aforementioned cru of Le Pallet. Although at its peak there were 75 hectares of vines here, the move to organic viticulture promoted the Ménard family to divest themselves of some of their lesser parcels in order to better focus on the higher-quality sites, and to be able to manage the conversion. The vineyards on which they released their hold were all being managed on a fermage basis, meaning the Ménard family were effectively renting the vines, so it was probably a wise decision to let go. As a consequence the domaine has contracted to about 60 hectares.
As committed fans of the Muscadet region will know the slice of land between the region’s two most famous rivers is a combination of gneiss and orthogneiss, and the majority of the Ménard-Gaborit vines are planted in siliceous clay soils over a gneiss bedrock. The exception is found across the river, in Le Pallet, where they have vines planted on gabbro. Of the 60 hectares in their possession. about 54 hectares are planted to Melon de Bourgogne, so this is a serious domaine with a focus on Muscadet and not alternative labels. On the remaining 6 hectares they have planted some Folle Blanche (or Gros Plant, if you like), as well as Chardonnay, Gamay and some Cabernet Franc. As noted in my introduction, the domaine is farmed organically.
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