Domaine de l’Ecu Ensemble 2020

“It’s almost mossy in its silkiness”

Jackson’s Note: 

One of the most difficult things to accomplish in viticulture is converting to organics. Particularly in cold climates, where rain, hail, vine diseases and moisture can decimate a vineyard unexpectedly. Organic viticulture has been on the upswing for a few decades in places like France, but that wasn’t always the case. Back in the 1970s and 80s, there was hardly any mainstream participation in organics in the wine industry. The Loire Valley would eventually become a hotbed of organic winegrowing, but it took a while.

That’s why it’s amazing that Domaine de L’Ecu converted to organics more than 40 years ago. In a time where it wasn’t easy, popular, or commercially viable to do the hard work of eliminating pesticides and chemicals, they put the work in. That means this land is extremely healthy and has had many years to clean out and recover.

Ecu’s visionary status isn’t just because of their organic viticulture. They were also early to the game in terms of producing lower-yields in a place not known for it. Usually, wineries in the Muscadet region were known for producing as much wine as possible, over-cropping their vines and letting yields run high. This may be an ok strategy for volume, but it doesn’t help quality. Ecu shoots for balance in the vineyard, and by encouraging their vines to produce less fruit, the final product is more concentrated and vibrant.

This “Ensemble” bottling is a blend of a few different sites on the Ecu estate. They take these grapes from Orthogneiss and Granit, two old-vine sites named for their metamorphic rock, as well as other estate vineyards. Everything has been farmed organically since 1975, and certified biodynamic by Demeter since 1998. They harvest their grapes by hand and make their wine in a gravity-fed cuvée, emphasizing gentle treatment of the fruit.

Muscadet is a region. The wines from Muscadet are made from the Melon de Bourgogne group, yet since the region sounds like “Muscat” or “Muscadelle,” it can be confusing when people have their first taste of the grape and it’s dry and salty. But that’s what happens when you take a neutrally aromatic grape, grow it near the ocean, and age it on the lees for many months.

The 2020 Ecu Ensemble reminds you of the ocean and a river at the same time. It’s salty and briny both on the nose and palate. But it’s not just salt. It’s that texture of river rock and freshwater that seem to dominate the palate more than the sea notes. It’s almost mossy in its silkiness.