Winemaker Notes
A richly mineral-driven wine, grown on a single parcel of serpentine rich soil, with an opulence on the mid-palate due to 17 months on the lees. Vibrant notes of citrus, stone fruit and Muscadet's infamous salinity coupled with a lush and rounded texture.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
The 2020 Terre de Pierre was crafted from vines planted in magmatic clay soils. Revealing aromas of acacia, honey, smoke, pear and white fruits, it’s moderately weighted with a tense and fleshy texture and a saline, mineral finish despite chalky grip and an austere palate.
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.