Famille Lieubeau, 2024 Update
Following on from last week’s reports on the latest releases from Domaine Luneau-Papin and from Domaine de la Pépière, two domaines I have been following since I discovered the truth about Muscadet (surely you saw that episode of The X-Files?), this week I turn first to a much more recent discovery.
The domaine in question is Famille Lieubeau, home to the Lieubeau family (I admit this is perhaps stating the obvious), who can trace their presence in the region back to the early-19th century. Having said that, it was in the 1970s and 1980s that the modern-day domaine began to take shape, under the aegis of Pierre and Chantal Lieubeau, viticulteurs who at this time took over the running of Domaine de la Fruitière.
These days, however, it is the younger generation who have hold of the reins. The three amigos (well, siblings) are François Lieubeau, who I first met back in 2013 (ten years ago already – time really does fly!) when I was in the region getting under the skin of the various new and proposed cru communal zones; Vincent Lieubeau, winemaker and all-round viticultural and oenological boffin; and their sister, the marvellous Marie Lieubeau. They have control over a large domaine, in the order of 100 hectares, and in the time I have known the domaine and its wines I have seen prototype cuvées such as the long-lees-aged M de la Fruitière disappear, while three stylish examples of the seven ratified crus communaux, namely Clisson, Château-Thébaud (both of which are on the Lieubeau family’s doorstep) and Goulaine (more distant), instead take prominence.
This is a family which has taken all the potential within Muscadet – which is considerable – and from it fashioned a distinctive range of wines. I enjoy tasting them. And so I was glad to meet up with the Lieubeau kinfolk earlier this year to check out some of their current releases.
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