Winemaker Notes
In the past few years, lovers of Muscadet have been learning that this wonderful wine, which for so many people is synonymous with “early drinking,” is in fact a wine well worthy of aging. In fine vintages, Nicholas & Hervé Choblet hold back a small lot of wine produced from their prized Pavillon vineyard for this purpose. Packed with the citrus and minerals that we expect from great Muscadet, the additional aging time on the lees brings forth another dimension. More like fine white Burgundy, we see notes of pears, butter and baked bread in the nose which leads into a gorgeous wine showing an unctuous, creamy texture wrapped around an intriguing saline backbone. Still extremely youthful, this wine was aged on its lees in vat and only recently bottled for release.
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.