Les Frères Couillaud

Les Frères Couillaud

At the gigantic Vinexpo trade fair in Bordeaux, we asked Clotilde Davenne a few years ago if she had a tip on a really good producer, someone who, like herself, makes clean, disciplined wines. We got two names. One was Françoise Feulliat-Jullot, the other was "the Couillaud brothers." Both turned out to be brilliant producers! Les Frères Couillaud are based at Château de la Ragotière and Château de la Morinière in Muscadet. The brothers purchased the first château in 1979, and from there we get, among other things, the elegant and classic Château de la Ragotière "Sélection Vieilles Vignes," a Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur lie at its finest, equally good every year. At Château la Morinière, Les Frères Couillaud also produce top-quality Muscadet, but here we must especially mention the estate's Chardonnay IGP Val de Loire, and with that we come to the other side of the Couillaud wines, for alongside their near-perfect Muscadet, they make a range of other, less expected wines for the area. Without getting too long-winded, we mention in quick succession "SG," "PG," and "PM" - wines from, respectively, sauvignon gris, pinot gris, and gros manseng. Add to that a wine like "M," a Muscadet Sèvre et Maine aged 30 months on the lees, and you'll understand that this is no run-of-the-mill producer.