Muscadet: Refreshing, Delicious, But A Tad Weird...

I was with a client last week, doing a "shopping 101" session. After we were done, I asked my friend who works at the store if he had any "must-trys" in the world of very refreshing whites, something I sorely needed since it's been a million degrees here with about 100% humidity every day (ok, so it's hyperbole, but go with me...it feels like that).

He brought me over to the French section and told me they had some great Muscadet. I always forget about this wine (since many are forgettable) and I was excited to revisit it.

The Muscadet (moose-kah-DAY) area is in the far Western Loire Valley -- right on the Atlantic coast surrounding the city of Nantes. The wine is made from the white, fairly neutral tasting Melon de Bourgogne grape (meaning "Melon of Burgundy," indicating where the grape is from).

Originally planted here by the Dutch in the 1700s after a hard frost killed off the existing vineyards which had mostly red grapes, Melon de Bourgogne was harvested with the goal of distilling it and selling the booze all over Europe. The enterprising Dutch gave the grape its start and eventually production moved from spirits to wine.

Today Muscadet is the most produced wine of the Loire, and in recent times, it has been pretty awful. Producers have made terrible bulk wine and the reputation of the area has suffered. It's a real shame, given that this region has a moderate maritime climate and is full of rivers, varied terrain, and diverse soils -- all great for grape growing.

The biggest sub-appellation/area (there are four) and the one you'll usually see in the US is Muscadet Sevre et Maine, named for the two Loire tributaries (the Sevre and the Maine) running through it. Most of the appellation lies on the slopes of the river with lots of ideal well-drained, sandy and gravelly soils. With all this geography going for it, often this wine can be great and is the most consistent of the four Muscadet sub-regions.


Before we get to the wine at hand, I do want to prove that every grape/region has a "behind the music" (even one that's been slammed for making plonk) so I'm going to tell you three really weird things about this wine that make it interesting:

Weird thing 1: The name. Muscadet is not a grape (the grape is Melon de Bougogne) and it's not, as most French wines are, named for a place (which is technically the Pays Nantais). Muscadet is actually a description of the wine -- "musky tasting" and now indicates the area where the wine is made. I guess I could accept this, but the wine is so NOT musky tasting. At it's base, it's just lemony, salty, and acidic...and very simple. Strange that it has this name.

Weird thing 2: Alcohol content. Muscadet is the only wine in France that has a maximum alcohol content (12%). This ensures it will always be on the lighter side, regardless of how great the weather was that year and how ripe the grapes got. The French government regulates this, so there's no wiggle room.

Weird thing 3: Winemaking is described on the label. Muscadet is one of the only wines where the winemaking process, sur lie, is part of the name of the wine and winemakers have to meet certain criteria to add it. We've already said that Melon de Bourgogne is a total yawn on its own, so to give it some umph, winemakers' main tool is sur lie aging. This is a process where the wine sits on dead yeast cells after fermentation, which break up and create a nutty, creamy flavor. To be able to put it on a bottle of Muscadet, the wine has to sit on the lees for a winter and the wines can't be filtered, the juice is just taken directly from the barrel/resting on the lees to the bottle. Pretty oddball that you'd call out how a wine is made right on the label, but that's Muscadet.

For a wine that's made from a very low brow grape, it's pretty high maintenance. But that's ok. Especially when you find one that's more than insipid white.

I'm happy to report that the wine I had was one of the most impressive Muscadets I've had to date. It's from 8th generation winemakers Pierre and Monique Luneau-Papin, who hand harvest the grapes to ensure flavor is preserved. They use traditional techniques, and age the wine sur lie for 6 months to give it rich flavor. Luneau-Papin is considered one of the best producers of this wine and I agree with that assessment ...here goes:

The Wine: Domaine Pierre de la Grange, Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie
The Grape: 100% Melon de Bourgogne
Where it's from: The Pays Nantais/Muscadet area in the Western Loire Valley of France
Alcohol: 12%
Vintage: 2009
Price: $12.99

Color: A light straw color with just a little yellow tinge, it was pretty non-descript in color. Typical of Muscadet.

Smell: Wow, this thing smelled like sea water (not fishy, just like being on a boat). It was salty but also had a fresh basil smell. Apples, a little bit of honeysuckle and a TON of that mineral/water running over rocks/waterfall smell made my mouth water. The wine also smelled like laundry hanging out to dry. It was super-fresh. Couldn't wait to try it.

Taste: It totally lived up to the smell. It tasted like all the things it smelled like -- laundry, basil, minerals, and sea air. It also tasted like a buttered croissant (from the sur lie aging) but was a little acidic and lemony, which added a great balance to the creaminess. Delicious and refreshing!

Pairing: Seafood: nothing else to say. I don't eat oysters, but if I did this would be the wine for those. Amazing seafood wine. Bet it would be great with pesto because of the basil note -- a great complementary pairing. It's great alone too -- I did that and it was pretty damn good too.

Drink or down the sink?: Drink. If you like a refreshing, light, minerally wine, this is just perfect for you. A simple, but simply delicious wine!