Pierre Luneau-Papin, 2011 Update
With a huge wad of new tasting notes on 2009 Bordeaux piled up on my desk (metaphorically speaking – the reality is they’re in a spreadsheet on my hard drive), dozens of Bordeaux updates to be made, vertical tastings of Brane-Cantenac, Phélan-Ségur and other châteaux waiting to be written up following my visit to the region, and – by the time I’ve finished at this week’s tasting at The Institute of Masters of Wine – a whole bunch of new 2007 Bordeaux notes ready to go, it’s only natural that I should get stuck in with….err, Muscadet.
Please let me explain. The truth is, despite all my recent Bordeaux tastings, I still have quite a pile of tasting notes from one of my regular visit to the Loire Valley earlier this year, in particular quite a few following my tastings of the latest releases from a number of top Muscadet estates. There are updates yet to come on Domaine de l’Ecu (Guy Bossard), Domaine de la Louvetrie (Jo Landron) and Domaine de la Pépière (Marc Ollivier). There have been significant developments at some of these estates over the last year or two (including new blood at l’Ecu and Pépière), so I’m looking forward to publishing my notes and making the appropriate updates. I’m kicking off though with what is almost always the grandest of all Muscadet tastings, the wines of Pierre Luneau-Papin (pictured). The last time I tasted through the range with Pierre-Marie, Pierre Luneau-Papin’s son, was two years ago. At that time we tasted multiple cuvées and vintages, right back to the 1982 L d’Or. This tasting was not quite as far-reaching, but was no less thrilling, taking in not one but two new cuvées.
The Wines
As is the norm we started with a range of brut de cuve samples, essentially what might be referred to elsewhere as barrel samples. But whereas Bordeaux barrel samples are usually prepared as representative of the final blend (some of course are nowhere near that, and of course it is often said some are much more than the final blend, if you see what I mean), these are true barrel samples. Or, to be more correct, they are cuve samples, as much Muscadet is fermented in subterranean cement cuves. Whatever the terminology, in many cases these samples are not blended to represent the final wine. I view my assessment of these brut de cuve samples as analogous to walking through a cellar and tasting barrel after barrel; each one is in some way related to the finished wine, but cannot be used to accurately describe it. I find tasting them enjoyable, educational and instructive, as I learn something about the vintage and the relevant lieu-dit or terroir, but I resist the temptation to label them as the finished wine for this reason….even though some, such as sample number three, are perhaps more representative of a particular wine than this introduction suggests.
