Domaine Du Grand Mouten Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie 2013
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Louis Métaireau — along with his band of vignerons d’art, as his like-minded group of producers was known — was instrumental in restoring the reputation of the Muscadet appellation in the middle of the 20th century. It was he who first began leaving his wines sur lie (on their fine lees) through the winter, which gave rise to the IOP Muscadet Sèvre Et Maine Sur Lie. Louis’ daughter Marie-Luce Métaireau and her husband, Jean-François Guilbaud, followed by their successor, Julien Rossignol, have illustrated their deep love of the land by reclaiming the vineyards of the vignerons d’art and piecing them back together as one of the most prized sites in all of Muscadet: the Grand Mouton vineyard. The nine-hectare vineyard in the heart of Muscadet Sèvre et Maine enjoys perfect exposure between the two famed rivers that lend their names to the AOC and ranges in vine age from 30 years old to a parcel planted in 1937.
The vines are tended organically, and everything is harvested by hand — a rarity in this region, where 98% of all grapes are machine-harvested and conventional farming with chemicals is the norm. Petit Mouton, from the younger vines, is very mineral and precise. Black Label, from slightly older vines, is the most classic example of the terroir in the lineup, with more depth. Grand Mouton is harvested later than the Black Label and has richness to pair with the minerality. Cuvée One, from the parcel planted in 1937, shows impressive depth and complexity and is capable of long aging. All the wines from this property honor the legacy of Louis Métaireau, showing the heights Muscadet can reach with unique, place-driven, covetable bottlings.
Made famous in Muscadet, a gently rolling, Atlantic-dominated countryside on the eastern edge of the Loire, Melon de Bourgogne is actually the most planted grape variety in the Loire Valley. But the best comes from Muscadet Sèvre et Maine, a subzone of Pays Nantais. Somm Secret—The wine called Muscadet may sound suggestive of “muscat,” but Melon de Bourgogne is not related. Its name also suggests origins in Burgundy, which it has, but was continuously outlawed there, like Gamay, during the 16th and 17th centuries.
The Pays Nantais, Loire’s only region abutting the Atlantic coast, is solely focused on the Melon de Bourgogne grape in its handful of subzones: Muscadet-Sèvre et Maine, Muscadet-Coteaux de la Loire and Muscadet-Côtes de Grandlieu. Muscadet wines are dry, crisp, seaside whites made from Melon de Bourgogne and are ideal for the local seafood-focused cuisine. (They are not related to Muscat.) There is a new shift in the region to make these wines with extended lees contact, creating fleshy and more aromatic versions.