The domaine
Grape Varieties & Terroir
The Melon B Revealed...
The Melon B grape variety (or Melon de Bourgogne) is the grape variety of the “Muscadet” appellation, and our main grape variety at the domaine. Muscadet, Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur Lie, Crus Communaux (Gorges, Le Pallet, Monnières-Saint-Fiacre), and parcel cuvées: this unique grape variety thrives wonderfully in our region with an oceanic climate and is eager to reveal the terroir it grows on, with ageing on the lees.
Our Folle Blanche, Chardonnay, and Gamay grapes, and soon Pinot Noir, are also honored at the domaine.
Sublimated Terroirs...
From the vine to the cellar, there is only one step that we take 365 days a year! Understanding our terroirs and their diversity (plutonic magmatic rocks – gabbros and metamorphic rocks – gneiss, orthogneiss, micaschists) and sublimating them in the cuvées is the meticulous work done by the team. We guide the plant, we listen to it, and play with balances of organic matter, magnesium, nitrogen, and potassium… to help it to the maximum. The entire vineyard is cultivated in Organic Agriculture, allowing our terroir to express itself through parcel cuvées.
One Cuvée, One Identity
In continuation of our work in the vineyard, we vinify our parcels separately so that each cuvée reflects it. The majority of our production is vinified in the traditional glass-lined concrete vat, the typical underground vat of the Nantes vineyard.
An original feature of the domaine is that we vinify in the cellar built by our great-grandfather in 1914, and the vats he dug by hands! These vats in the barrel cellar are “bioclimatic” ahead of their time: they are semi-buried, ideal for thermal inertia. Our wine has been in the same containers for 6 generations, and it is a source of pride for the Domaine Ménard-Gaborit.
We also like to offer our juices a more unusual habitat with oak barrels, ceramic or concrete egg-shaped vats! We age our wines on their fermentation lees, a symbol of Muscadet. We are developing the use of native yeasts for our three communal crus, as well as on our parcel cuvées in the Inspirations range. We also consider the addition of sulfur carefully.
Listening, patience, and rigor are our watchwords. We move at the pace of the vine and the wine.
The goal is simple: to feel the diversity of our terroirs in each of our cuvées, over the vintages.
