Pierre Luneau-Papin, 2019 Update

While the great man himself, Pierre Luneau-Papin, has now firmly retired, checking in with the Luneau-Papin clan and their wines remains a fabulous and worthwhile experience. Pierre’s son Pierre-Marie always greets you with a smile, ready to pour his wines in his preferred rapid-fire machine-gun fashion. And his daughter-in-law Marie has a similarly warm and welcoming nature, and she has an attentive eye. If you are not quite en forme, perhaps feeling a little bleary-eyed or sluggish from that last glass of Folle Blanche the night before, you can be sure Marie will notice.

And as for the wines, the portfolio remains as strong and as interesting as ever. Alongside old favourites such as Le L d’Or, one of the best classically aged sur lie cuvées that exists, and Excelsior, a long-lees-aged cuvée which heralds the coming of the Goulaine cru communal, recent years having seen the introduction of two very worthwhile new cuvées, Le Verger and Vera Cruz. With this report I introduce a third new name, christened Gula Ana, which is sourced from a very special spot in the Muscadet Sèvre et Maine vineyard and which becomes the domaine’s new Goulaine prototype.