Although it’s deep in Muscadet country, Domaine de l’Ecu offers so much more than your grandparents’ or parents’ Muscadet.
French Vacation
Like our recent trip to Spain, our trip to France was about seeing friends and family while enjoying wine like average French people.* Although the French in general do have more wine knowledge about their wines than other citizens from other countries about their wines, our time was more about enjoying company, relaxation and all sorts of food and beverages. As a culture, they do talk a lot about food, wine and other beverages more than most other cultures but it’s more about appreciation and anticipation rather than wine geek analysis or critique. For example, we spent much of our vacation shopping for meals, talking about what we’re planning to serve, and then talking about how delicious whatever we’re consuming is during the meal. Each meal starts with aperitif, a main dish, sometimes cheese and salad, and then dessert along with different possible alcoholic beverages with each. This can easily take 3-4+ hours. Each meal is an experience in the culture and terroir of France that I didn’t want to ruin with too much wine geek trivia or assessment. However, I did have one opportunity to fully geek out on wine with my visit to Domaine de l’Ecu.
*As a side note, there was an extremely accurate article in the Washington Post on what it’s like to be on vacation with a French family in Brittany, where I was for the majority of my 3 weeks in France. It’s not at all about seeing as much as you can like it would be for me and many fellow Americans, who are fascinated by any building over 100 years old.
Domaine de l’Ecu
The Domaine is located about 30 minutes east of Nantes in Le Landreau within the Muscadet Sevre et Maine appellation. There are at least 3-4 other wineries in the same area and dozens more east and southeast of Nantes. The area south of Nantes are wineries within the more general Muscadet appellation. Overall, the Muscadet region is quite flat but obviously cooler and more influenced by the Atlantic than other Loire Valley sub-regions.
Domaine de l’Ecu is one of the pioneers of the region in biodynamic and organic winemaking: Certified Biologique in 1975 and Biodynamic in 1998. They use native yeasts and don’t add any sulfites or only use a tiny bit before bottling.
What’s also cool about Domaine de l’Ecu is their huge selection. They charge 10 euros for a tasting of 6 wines, and since their portfolio is so large, they always ask if you’ve tasted their wines before so they can cater the tasting to include wines you haven’t tried. By the way, that’s one reason why it’s best to contact them for a reservation before you go. 
They make over 18 cuvees from their own region and also have a series called Le Temps des Copains, which are projects with other winemakers from other regions. Their partners produce the grapes and start the vinification process in their wineries and Fred Niger, the current head of Domaine de l’Ecu, takes the juice to finish them in his clay amphorae at his domaine. They work with wineries like Domaine Josmeyer in Alsace, Les Croisille in Cahors, and many winemakers from the Rhone Valley. They even have one partnership in Tuscany. They make over 13 wines in this series. They also make gin and beer. They’re still coming up with new cuvees too–some of the wines we tasted were not even listed on their website yet. All their labels are distinct and inspired by stained glass windows found in European cathedrals.
Of course, I wanted to try one of their Muscadets since we were in the region. However, just recently the appellation tightened their rules on what can be called Muscadet. In the past, Domaine de l’Ecu was able to age their Muscadet in wooden barrels or amphorae, but now the new rules only allow cuv beton, or concrete vats. The appellation also has different Cru, which are allowed to age 24-48 months sur lie (contact with lees or dead yeast) as opposed to the regular requirement of 3 months to a year. Although Domaine de l’Ecu doesn’t have any Cru Muscadet, it makes 3 official “Muscadet,” which are aged in underground concrete vats. The Classic is their most standard Muscadet, but they also make two others according to their different soil types: Granite and Orthogneiss. They also make other wines made from the same grape as Muscadet, but with different types of aging such as oak and amphorae. If you didn’t know, Muscadet is not a variety. The grape used to make it is actually called Melon (de Bourgogne).
Real Muscadet
Overall, I like the new appellation rules because it’s true that if I’m in a supermarket in France and want a wine for oysters, I’m going to buy a Muscadet and would be disappointed if the Muscadet was aged in oak rather than being a light, crisp white. For the French, grandparents and parents pass on wine pairing knowledge to their kids, so everyone knows Muscadet goes well with raw oysters. It’s even mentioned in the Aznavour song “Trousse Chemise,” where he talks about picnicking on a beach not too far from Nantes “avec deux bouteilles de vrai muscadet” (with 2 bottles of real Muscadet). However, the French know their wines by region, so they may not know Melon is the name of the grape. Therefore, Domaine de l’Ecu has their work cut out for them to convince people to buy Melon in a different style from classic, official Muscadet.
Tasting Notes
We were able to compare the 2019 Orthogneiss and 2013 Taurus to show what the grape is capable of doing with different types of aging. The Taurus was aged in used 400L oak barrels and was allowed to be labeled Muscadet before the rule changes, but now would not be able to be called Muscadet under current rules. On the other hand, the Orthogneiss is still a Muscadet officially according to the new rules since it’s aged in cuv beton.
It was also a comparison of young vs. old Melon to show how Melon can age. Our host said they age their wines up to 10 years, and after 5-7 years, Melon can gain a buttery, marzipan flavor while the fruit and acidity mellow down. 
The young Orthogneiss has lots of acidity, minerality and salinity, but there’s also some floral notes. It’s rounder and creamier than an average Muscadet (probably due to almost a year on lees) which expands what it can be paired with, but it can also do the job with all types of seafood too. The Taurus on the other hand almost reminds me of a red wine on the nose. There are some savory pastry notes. It’s super silky on the palate with some floral notes. There’s still good acidity but less than the Orthogneiss.
We also got to taste a completely unknown variety to me called Folle Blanche (also called Gros Plant). Their 2020 Marguerite is 100% Folle Blanche. It’s really light in color. There’s some white peach, white flowers and earthy notes. It’s not as acidic as the Melon based wines. It reminds me of Chilean Moscatel Alejandria based wines. We also had a blend of whites in their 2020 Presto, which is 60% Melon, 30% Folle Blanche and 10% Chardonnay aged 12 months in concrete vats. It’s sort of fuller, more potent version of the Marguerite. The last white we tasted was the 2020 Sole, which is made up of Chenin Blanc. It’s a lighter version of Loire Valley Chenin Blanc. There’s floral, honey and spicy notes with lots of acidity.
We tasted two reds. Their 2018 Mephisto is made of Cabernet Franc grown on granite soils and aged 2 years in amphorae. Unfined and unfiltered. There’s a touch of bell pepper and herbal notes, but it’s mostly about ripe, tangy red fruit. Like a raspberry sorbet. There’s some spice and mint too. Medium bodied. Some noticeable tannins give it potential to age up to 10 years at least. Lastly, their 2020 Kedron is Grenache with a tiny bit of Syrah from the south of Rhone aged 12 months in amphorae. It’s part of their Le Temps des Copains selections. It has a floral and brushy nose. Berry fruit. Some structure. Different from what you typically get from Grenache from the Rhone.
Conclusion
Around 98% of the grapes grown around Nantes in Muscadet are Melon de Bourgogne. However, after having tasted Domaine de l’Ecu and other producers from the region, it is clear that there is a diversity in styles being made from Melon that go beyond your typical light, crisp Muscadet. Domaine de l’Ecu is one of the producers pushing the envelope with Melon, but it still remains quite affordable.
In addition, Domaine de l’Ecu is a wonderful place to go tasting because you can try other varieties from the region like Cabernet Franc, Chenin Blanc, Folle Blanche, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon in different styles with different types of aging. They also have orange wines and rosés. This is in addition to the wines they make from other regions from even more types of varieties. You can even pick up some beer and gin for non-wine drinkers. Finally, it’s a winery that should impress natural wine lovers since they often don’t add any sulfites and are completely biodynamic.
Do you like Muscadet? Leave your favorites in the comments.
FYI, I’ll have a couple other posts soon about wines I drank in France or brought back with me from France.
