Gula-Ana AOP 2020

This Muscadet from the Melon de Bourgogne variety comes from the La Butte de la Roche vineyard in the village of Le Loroux-Bottereau. The vines were planted in 1974. The soil consists of the coarsely crystalline peridotite as well as serpentinite - a metamorphic rock that developed from peridotite. Both rocks are of magmatic origin. This magma has formed the vineyard La Butte de la Roche. The red-ochre soil is unique and famous in the Pays Nantais in this form. In the past, feudal lords owned a castle on the back of the hill.

The plots belong to the Cru Communal Goulaine. This cru has existed in the Nantais since the end of the 1990s. The Goulaine is the river that flows through the vineyards and flows into the Loire. From the vantage point on La Butte de la Roche, you have a view over the Goulaine marshes. The wine is named after it Gula stands for Maw or Mouth, Ana means in Gallic Swamp.

The grapes, harvested by hand, were pressed in a pneumatic press, the strength and duration of pressing being adapted to the vintage. This was followed by spontaneous fermentation with natural yeasts, then fermentation and ageing on the lees in underground, glass-lined cement cuves and in 600-litre barrels for 20 months.

intense straw yellow

The Muscadet Gula Ana impressively shows how precisely and beautifully Pierre-Marie Luneau can combine the special terroir of La Butte de la Roche with his idea of ageing in cement and wood. The Muscadet is elegant, complex, fresh and juicy at the same time. The bright fruit does not only shine in the colour. It smells bright and inviting of yellow apples, mirabelles and kumquats with hints of lanolin, crushed stone and salt. Gula Ana presents itself precise, clear and fresh with a hint of Atlantic in the juicy fruit.

On the palate, the wine balances between the fruit, which shows itself here quite similarly to the bright, juicy and ripe, but crisp nose. Above all, the juiciness is in the foreground here, especially since the juice combines directly with an elegant acidity, a deep minerality and a striking saltiness to create a wine that one can hardly let go of. With air, traces of ginger, some tobacco and caramel also appear in the fruit, making the Muscadet even more complex and creamy. So complex, so deep and long is Muscadet rarely in their younger years. But the development at Luneau-Papin is impressive!