This Loire bubbles has been enjoying plenty of love among those who know the wine, and no wonder. It’s a hand-harvested, estate-grown, biodynamic, naturally fermented, low-dosage fizz that shows up many conventional Champagnes for both quality and value. Topping off an impressive package is the marvellous label designed by legendary French illustrator, Michel Tolmer (of Mimi, Fifi and Glouglou fame).

Jo Landron is not a fan of using Muscadet’s Melon de Bourgogne for sparkling wine, preferring instead a blend of around 75% Folle Blanche (grown on sandy clay), with a balance of Pinot Noir (grown on gravelly soils). Vine age varies between 18 and 30 years. The yields are typically between 50 and 60 hl/ha—far lower than the average yields in Champagne. The base wines are fermented naturally and then go through a traditional second fermentation in bottle, where they remain for a minimum of 24 months. The dosage ranges from zero to a low five grams per litre (depending on the bottling). Moreover, the fruit for this cuvée is always from a single vintage.

Biodynamic. Landron's most mineral cuvée derives its name from the greenish, metamorphic bedrock (amphibolite) that dominates the soils in which it is grown. Produced from vines aged between 35 and 40 years, this unique wine was vinified with only a short period on lees, as Jo Landron wanted to retain as much freshness and minerality as possible. Only minor doses of sulphur were used to block malo. Bottling occurred early (in March, and without filtration), to retain the earth-to-glass essence of the wine.

Biodynamic. This cuvée derives its name from the greenish, metamorphic bedrock (amphibolite) that dominates the soils in which it is grown. Produced from vines aged between 35 and 40 years, this unique wine was vinified with only a short period on lees, as Jo Landron wanted to retain as much freshness and minerality as possible. Only minor doses of sulphur were used to block malo. Bottling occurred early (in March), and without filtration, to retain the earth-to-glass essence of the wine. 

With some lovely textural padding this year it's an ultra-pure, racy expression of Muscadet loaded with white floral notes and all kinds of citrus underpinned by the iodine minerality that is a hallmark of this cuvée.

Jo Landron’s La Louvetrie cuvée originates from soils rich in amphibolite, sand, clay and gneiss. It remains the estate’s only wine made from a blend of different sites (and includes younger-vine fruit from Landron’s top vineyards). The vines for this release are 15-30 years old and cropped low (for Muscadet) at just 50hl/ha. It was bottled with a low dose of sulphur after an élevage between eight and 12 months.

Biodynamic. The Château de la Carizière in Haye Fouassière dates to 1926. Jo Landron took over the estate’s vines in 1998, and immediately began converting the vineyard to organics. The vineyard covers 10 hectares of orthogneiss terroir, planted with vines aged between 55 and 70 years. This wine is drawn from four hectares, where the yields are strictly curbed as low as 38 ha/hectare. Harvested by hand and fermented with wild yeasts, the wine aged on its lees for 10 months before bottling. 

Le Fief du Breil comes from a single, six-hectare biodynamically farmed vineyard, situated on a south-facing slope above the Sèvre river in La Haye-Fouassière. Fief is a term from the Middle Ages which means a piece of land once associated with (and probably owned by) the local Abbey or Duke. This in turn infers quality, as the local rulers tended to keep the best parcels for themselves. Breil means ‘next to the forest’, indicating the woodland this parcel borders. The vines are also surrounded by old walls, another sign of its historical significance.

The soils here are rich in silex (flint), river pebbles, quartz and granite, all laid over a bedrock of orthogneiss—a geologically complex site. While Muscadet is generally flat, Jo notes that this vineyard is on “a hill by local standards”. The vines are also open directly to the south, an ideal exposure to produce one of the region's benchmarks. The vines here are 45 years old; Landron prunes very short, and also shoot-thins to restrict yields. 

Hand-harvested, the juice was slowly and naturally fermented before being raised in Landron's large, subterranean cement tanks. This bottling has spent a full 30 months on its lees.

Biodynamic. Les Houx, in La Haye-Fouassière, is one of Landron’s oldest vineyards. The mature, low-yielding vines are rooted in shallow sandy/clay soils, rich in quartz and shot through with iron (which gives the wine a flinty nature), over a bedrock of gneiss and clay. It's brilliant terroir that gives a denser, fleshier, more complex style of Muscadet. Harvested by hand and fermented with wild yeasts, the wine aged on its lees for 12-14 months before bottling.