Domaine Luneau-Papin was founded in the 1990’s, uniting two wine-making families through the marriage of Pierre Luneau and Monique Papin. The Luneau family has been growing melon B (or melon de Bourgogne) in Le Landreau for over two centuries, and Monique’s parents ran their family estate in the town of Chapelle-Heulin. Pierre and Monique shared a passion for the region’s historic grape, melon B, and a commitment to elevating its esteem within the wine world.
They were pioneers in developing site specific Muscadet in the 1970’s - bottling three single-vineyard wines, L d’Or from vines planted on granite, Les Pierres Blanches from vines on gneiss and the Clos des Allées from vines on schist and mica schist, all with the goal of emphasizing that there is not just one style of Muscadet. In 2005, Pierre and Monique’s son, Pierre-Marie began working at the domaine and in 2008, Pierre-Marie’s wife, Marie, joined the team. Pierre and Monique retired in 2018, but the next generation remains dedicated to preserving and perpetuating the centuries-old traditions of these two families of vignerons in Muscadet Sèvre et Maine.
While the domaine has long abstained from using herbicides in the vineyards, a conversion to organics and biodynamics began under Pierre-Marie. Systemic treatments were eliminated in their vines in 2011. The conversion to organic agriculture began in 2013 and biodynamic conversion started in 2014. Luneau-Papin gained organic certification from Ecocert in 2018 and biodynamic certification from Demeter and Biodyvin in 2019. The two generations working together over ten years to make the full conversion to biodynamic agriculture was indispensable to be sure they were making the best decisions for the vines, the cellar, the team and for themselves.