Domaine de l'Écu, 2018 "Mephisto," Pays Nantais, Loire Valley
Cab Franc du Jour #18
The Pays Nantais is of course best known for the white wines of Muscadet, made from Melon de Bourgogne, but today we are looking at Cabernet Franc from the same terroir. The Pays Nantais sits in the westernmost part of the Loire Valley, closest to the Atlantic, and as a result has a stronger maritime influence than the rest of the region. But what truly sets it apart is the soils. Here the soils are influenced by the Massif Armoricain and are of metamorphic origin, in this case granite and gneiss, a distinct contrast to the sedimentary soils of clay and limestone that dominate much of the rest of the Loire Valley.
Domaine de l’Écu was established in the mid-1970s by Guy Bossard, who was a pioneer in the region in terms of terroir-specific bottlings as well as organic and biodynamic viticulture. Today the estate is run by Fred Niger, who makes world-class Muscadet but also produces varietal red wines from Pinot, Gamay, and Cabernet Franc. The Mephisto is one of two Cabernet Franc wines Fred makes, sourced from a 0.8-hectare parcel of Cabernet Franc planted on granite soils. Fred takes a low-interventionist approach in the cellar, working with indigenous yeast and low sulphur at bottling. This wine is vinified in stainless steel and then aged for 15 months in amphora.
On the nose, the wine is quite savoury, with tart red and black fruits that lean more earthy and savoury than fruity. The pyrazines come through as dried herbs and a touch of mint, with some violet and a hint of leather suggesting some tertiary development beginning to emerge. Those savoury fruits carry through on the palate, where the acidity is quite tart and a little bracing, with a very fine tannin structure and a chalky finish. There is a lovely salinity on the palate that was not immediately apparent on the nose.
What this wine is really about is the interplay between acidity and tannin structure. There is a leanness and a taut energy to it, with a wild, sauvage kind of edge that makes it quite different from most of the Loire Valley Cabernet Francs we are used to tasting. This is not a wine about fruitiness or fleshiness: it is about structure and energy, communicating the finesse and delicacy of the variety in a very particular way. It really needs food, and I would lean toward something rich and fatty: duck confit, rabbit confit, or even a slow-roasted wild boar would be magnificent alongside a wine like this.
Wine Details
Producer: Domaine de l'Écu
Appellation: Vin de France
Region: Pays Nantais
Soils: Granite
Alcohol: 12%