For a long time, Muscadet was classified as a wine that was only good with oysters, but in the last few years, it has gone back up the slope thanks to the Winery de l'Ecu.
Disliked on its home ground and shunned by wine lovers in France and abroad, Muscadet is making up for lost time by offering high quality terroir wines. This is an almost hopeless awakening for a vineyard that has been asleep on its hands for a long time and is dominated by a poor and outrageous production. Even if the region's ills are far from being cured, the improvement is real. The Nantes region owes this change of heart to Winery de l'Ecu (certified organic in 1975 and Demeter in 1998) led by Guy Bossard. In the 80s and 90s, Winery did not fit in with the prevailing atmosphere, and Guy Bossard was almost considered an alien in the area. What's the point of continuing to work hard in the vineyards when all you have to do is apply fertilizers and weed killers? Our winemaker, rather than succumbing to the sirens of all chemical, bets on organic and biodynamic viticulture. He bets on sensitivity, feeling, observation, availability and feeling to understand what surrounds him. The originality of the underground rock gives the personality of the wine and biodynamics helps him to exacerbate the minerality of the Melon de Bourgogne, something that Guy understands before others.
One of the only people to follow him in this direction is of course Jo Landron, who in the early 1990s started organic farming in his Winery. These two are certainly the figures of the local revival and have since made small. In the 2000's, many winemakers come to them for advice and independent wine merchants also start to preach the good word. 
The public is also showing a renewed interest in the Melon de Bourgogne. Frédéric Niger, then an IT executive in a data center, is one of them. A lifelong wine enthusiast, he began his reconversion with a BTS in wine-oenology before coming to do his internships at Guy Bossard. Little by little, the owner of Winery de l'Ecu decided to let him take over for a well-deserved retirement. The transition is made smoothly, starting in 2010, for the best of Winery. Fred brings his own personal touch by elaborating more personal vintages and starts the vinification in amphora, as if to complete the process well started by Guy. The length of the maturation period has also been extended (between twelve and seventeen months), and yes, Muscadet is also a great wine for aging! It is obvious that the terroir wines of Winery de l'Ecu and those of Jo Landron are real nuggets. Present today on the finest tables in the world, the influence of Muscadet is no longer debatable, but the vineyard, once on the verge of collapse, can congratulate itself for having had emblematic pioneers in its ranks. For the wines it is here >> https://www.petitescaves.com/vins-naturels-vallee-de-la-loire-Winery-de-l-ecu-14993
