La Tour Gallus - Muscadet Sèvre-Maine Fleur de Gabbro 2020

Guide Hachette des vins

About the domain :

The Rineau family has been handed down from father to son since 1620 in Gorges, a village that became a Cru Communal in the Muscadet-Sèvre-et-Maine appellation. Heir to this long lineage, Damien Rineau has been running the family estate since 1983: 17 ha on the slopes of the Sèvre-Nantaise river, with soils of weathered gabbro.

RVF - La Revue du Vin de France / Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France

About the domain :

Damien Rineau is so discreet that he's flown under the radar of our tastings for years. He comes from a line of nine generations of winegrowers, as evidenced by his endless vine-covered family tree hanging on the wall of his cellar. Since the 1980s, this child of the Pays nantais region has been chiseling out classic Muscadets. His vineyard is located in Gorges, a specific area where the rare dark-blue compact rock, gabbro, is home to white melon. The wines born here are not the most amiable on opening; you have to let them come, they attack discreetly and profile themselves up to a magnificent bitter carrure. Damien cultivates this style, particularly in his Gorges, with its remarkable ageing potential (over twenty years). In traditional underground vats, his 2016 was aged on lees for... 72 months! The estate has been sold to Thierry Denjean, owner of Domaine de Haute Perche in Anjou and Vin de l'A in the Swiss Valais region, but Damien Rineau will remain in charge for a few more years.