Domaine Le Fay d’Homme, 2019 Update
Vincent Caillé may not be as widely recognised in the Muscadet region as cult figures such as Marc Ollivier or Pierre Luneau-Papin, but this is surely set to change. A fifth-generation vigneron based near Monnières, he has overseen the conversion of his family’s domaine first to organic viticulture in 2007, followed soon after by the introduction of biodynamic methods. He makes a trio of terroir-specific cuvées worth looking out for (I know for a fact they converted at least one Chinon wine-bar proprietor to pouring Muscadet, ahead of more local wines – “I never realised they made wines this good in Muscadet”, he told me last year), and he also happens to make two of the most impressive crus communaux wines in existence.
Vincent has had it far from easy though, although to be fair this is true of many in the region in recent years. He lost 80% of his crop across the 2016 and 2017 vintages due to frost. Losing that much of your harvest in one year can be a make-or-break situation, across two years is a disaster. I am delighted that the 2018 vintage has been a little kinder here, and once again Vincent has vats (and amphora, and cement eggs) full of wine for him to bottle and sell.
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