Domaine Luneau-Papin - Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine Cru Goulaine Excelsior 2020

Bettane & Desseauve

About the domain :

Pierre-Marie and Marie Luneau are one of France's most dynamic winegrowing couples. Their expertise and knowledge of the 42-hectare vineyard are unrivalled in the region. Their work in the vineyard is based on organic and biodynamic principles, and their cuvées are great gourmet wines, whose evolution over time is a model of its kind. Our tastings always place this estate at the top.

Decanter

About the wine:

Exceptionally layered. Delicate honeysuckle scents tinged with white pepper and crushed stones. The palate is powerful and silky, beautifully textured and fluid, with abundant acidity. The finish is interminable, bringing out smoky, flinty characters. One gets the impression that it's bursting with potential, quivering with energy. Vines from the Massal selection planted in 1936.

Robert Parker - Wine Advocate

About the wine:

The 2020 Excelsior is made from vines planted in 1936 with massal selection on schist and mica-schist soils. Evoking aromas of herbs, smoke, lemon oil and pear, it is fleshy and taut with excellent concentration, a structuring extract of schist and a long, saline finish. This well-made, direct and balanced wine will drink well from release and over the next decade.

RVF - La Revue du Vin de France / Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France

About the wine:

Excelsior 2020, whose salinity develops over time and brilliantly fuses the savory fullness that characterizes it. It will evolve gracefully over the coming decades.

About the domain :

Pierre and Monique Luneau-Papin have left their mark on their generation by crafting great Muscadet wines. They are responsible for the magnificent Excelsior cuvée, a benchmark among Nantes whites for aging and a pioneer for the Goulaine communal cru. Their son, Pierre-Marie, and his wife, Marie, continue the story and go even further in their quest for terroir identity. These qualities are accurately reflected in all of their wines, from Vera Cruz (quartz, mica schists, and two-mica schists) to Gula-Ana (peridotite and serpentinite from the fabulous Butte de la Roche, one of the most captivating places in Muscadet). The wines are aged primarily in buried concrete vats lined with glass tiles, sometimes supported by amphorae for certain vintages. These 40 hectares of vines have been managed using biodynamic agriculture since 2019. A domain in great shape, delivering contemporary muscadets, at once distinctive, precise and invigorating.