Winemaker Notes
La Moussière is the estate's flagship cuvee, its richness, energy and precision defining the Alphonse Mellot style. This 100% Sauvignon white wine has a floral and fruity nose combining white flowers with citrus fruits, a resplendent golden robe with glints of green, and a lively, refreshing palate.
Fish tartare, smoked salmon or girolle mushroom omelette will go perfectly with La Moussière's freshness and purity. Although it is certainly a highly seductive wine in its present state of maturity, its full breadth will only reveal itself after a few years' cellaring.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
La Moussière is the cornerstone of Alphonse Mellot and in its energy and precision it is not only an unmistakable Mellot but also a quality and stylistic level most producers don’t reach rudimentarily. The 2013 Sancerre La Moussière offers very pure, mineral and fresh fruit and floral aromas on the nose, which are neither green nor tropical, but so invitingly subtle, elegant and proofund that you don’t want to name the scents, just enjoy them. (I got fresh and minerally accentuated Riesling-like flavors of white peaches/nectarines and orange peels the second day…) On the palate, too, this is a pure, complex and powerful Sancerre of great personality, finesse and expression. Tightly woven and animating in its vibrant, citric limestone-minerality, this is a serious, fresh and persistent wine and surely one of the finest 2013 Sancerres I tasted for this report. You may enjoy it now and surely the next five or more years. It comes from 55-year-old vines rooted in calcareous marl soils (like the top wines Edmond and Géneration XIX) and was aged for 8-10 months in new demi-muids (one-third) and in vats (two-thirds). And yes, it’s a 2013, which is an excellent vintage for those who love purity and tension in wine.
Capable of a vast array of styles, Sauvignon Blanc is a crisp, refreshing variety that equally reflects both terroir and varietal character. Though it can vary depending on where it is grown, a couple of commonalities always exist—namely, zesty acidity and intense aromatics. This variety is of French provenance. Somm Secret—Along with Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc is a proud parent of Cabernet Sauvignon. That green bell pepper aroma that all three varieties share is no coincidence—it comes from a high concentration of pyrazines (herbaceous aromatic compounds) inherent to each member of the family.
Marked by its charming hilltop village in the easternmost territory of the Loire, Sancerre is famous for its racy, vivacious, citrus-dominant Sauvignon blanc. Its enormous popularity in 1970s French bistros led to its success as the go-to restaurant white around the globe in the 1980s.
While the region claims a continental climate, noted for short, hot summers and long, cold winters, variations in topography—rolling hills and steep slopes from about 600 to 1,300 feet in elevation—with great soil variations, contribute the variations in character in Sancerre Sauvignon blancs.
In the western part of the appellation, clay and limestone soils with Kimmeridgean marne, especially in Chavignol, produce powerful wines. Moving closer to the actual town of Sancerre, soils are gravel and limestone, producing especially delicate wines. Flint (silex) soils close to the village produce particularly perfumed and age-worthy wines.
About ten percent of the wines claiming the Sancerre appellation name are fresh and light red wines made from Pinot noir and to a lesser extent, rosés. While not typically exported in large amounts, they are well-made and attract a loyal French following.