Jo Landron, 2024 Update
Jo Landron is undoubtedly one of the best-known names in Muscadet. Along with Domaine Luneau-Papin and Domaine de la Pépière, two domaines on which I recently presented my newest tasting notes (here and here), his was another of the four domaines which I was quick to latch on to in the early days of my Muscadet ‘awakening’. And it is a domaine I continue to follow closely today.
Since those early days I have kept up with Jo’s wines, tasting with him or some member of his family every year, Covid-years excepted. During this time Jo’s fame has only grown; I have seen his image on flyers, posters, mugs, t-shirts and even printed on the front of a newborn’s babygro. It could be something to do with the fine quality of many of his wines, but it could just as easily be his magnificent moustache, I guess.
In this latest report I was a little surprised to find myself tasting so many wines. In any one vintage the number of new cuvées released here might number half a dozen. Here I report on double this number of wines, starting with the 2022 before moving back through older traditional and cru communal prototypes, followed by a ragtag selection of other cuvées, including unfinished and sometimes yet-to-be-christened wines from 2023 and a smattering of both still and sparkling wines made with varieties other than Melon de Bourgogne.
The Wines
As already noted in some of the reports cited above, 2022 was a very warm and dry year which has not instilled the Muscadets of this vintage with the greatest possible levels of energy or freshness. This certainly shines through in the entry-level Louvetrie cuvée in 2022, which is best slated for early drinking. The same goes for the 2022 Amphibolite, but the 2021 Clos la Carizière showed a little more freshness and would be good for drinking over the next couple of years.
