If one were to follow the Loire west to Nantes, just before it reaches the Atlantic, and turn left, one would find themselves, likely wet and shivering from a cold rain, amongst two very important (at least in our case) tributaries in Muscadet: the Sèvre and the Maine. The region doesn’t fit our ideal of a dry, temperate vineyard site. Atlantic rain can be severe and the cold rarely settles. And to theoretically exacerbate the issue of climate, the white grape synonymous with Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine, Melon de Bourgogne, was designated too lean and neutral (this is to say, too mediocre) to make wine for any use other than distillation for brandy by 17th
Century Dutch Traders. The question then becomes, “How is good wine made here?”
The answer is: extended lees aging. Allowing the wine to rest on its dead yeast cells for a long time (a minimum of 18 months). This process, called autolysis, gives the wine an extra layer of flavor, roundness, and texture that it needs to balance a high acidity. This is what makes wine exciting for me: the addition of human hands and mines to our definition of terroir. It’s miraculous that wines with such brightness and grace can spring from such a serendipitously unfortunate confluence of bad weather and a second-rate grape.
Muscadet is touted as one of the best summer white wines, although this designation implies a unsophisticated, quaffable wine to chill to almost-freezing and use to glug down oysters. While sometimes true, a few magnums we decided to pour this week are made by wonderful winemakers that are meant to improve with time in the cellar. From Louise Chéreau, third-generation winemaker, making a beautiful, single vineyard wine that faces south and sees lots of sunlight to the cult-ish Clos des Briords, we’ll have a fun week discovering all that Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine has to offer.
For the weekend, we’ll open up a super fun, small bottling (only in magnums!) of Pineau D’Aunis from Emmanuel Haget, that we’ll keep chilled for a perfect terrace accompaniment.
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Monday 8.28.23
Chéreau Carré « Château l’Oiselinière de la Ramée » Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine 2015
poured out of 1.5-L Magnum
$14/glass
Tuesday 8.29.23 – Wednesday 8.20.23
Domaine de la Pépière, Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine Sur Lie « Clos des Briords » 2018
poured out of 1.5-L Magnum
$14/glass
Thursday 8.31.23
Jo Landron, Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine « Le Fief du Breil » 2017
poured out of 1.5-L Magnum
$16/glass
Friday 9.1.23 – Saturday 9.2.23
Emmanuel Haget, Pineau d’Aunis, Vin de France (Saumur) 2022
poured out of 1.5-L Magnum
$15/glass