It’s hard to name a more place-specific white wine than Muscadet. It’s grown where the lazy Loire River meets the chilly Atlantic Ocean, and it sure tastes like it—as salty and invigorating as jumping into the surf. Some Muscadets can be quite complex and age-worthy, while others light, citrusy and innocuous.
This offering is a more serious expression of Muscadet than is typically encountered at this price and is exactly what I hope for when I open a bottle: It’s got texture, great depth of both fruit and mineral savor, and enlivening freshness. This is a wine that should go straight into your fridge when it arrives at your home and be pulled two hours later to enjoy on any occasion, ideally with fresh seafood outdoors. Aging on the lees (yeast cells) is what makes this wine stand above others as an ideal pairing for summer seafood. When the wine interacts with the lees, coupled with bâtonnage (a stirring regimen for better immersion), the wine itself becomes rounder and richer—all while retaining brilliant acidity and a briny minerality that few other wines can imitate. If you’re a lover of racy whites like Sancerre, or Chablis, you need to add Muscadet to your rotation: It’s great with food, sneakily ageable, and priced for consumption in quantity. There’s still lots of summer left, so I advise stocking up!
In the glass, the core shows a bright straw yellow with green reflections as you make your way to a silver-crested rim. The nose starts out in a hurry, offering a salty lemon accent with tangy citrus notes like grapefruit rind and nectarine with secondary notes of nori and salted lemon. On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied with green peach skin, classic oyster shell, salt-preserved lemon, yellow apple core, fine lees, and a refreshing hint of cucumber peel. This is a first course wine pairing, but you may accidentally down a bottle while prepping the seafood—that’s okay in my book. Muscadet, especially this bottling, begs for simple shellfish or shucked oysters with a nice lemon squeeze on top, or go for it all and whip up this interesting take on ceviche. Buy a case for immediate drinking and then buy another for a couple years down the road, as Muscadet ages incredibly well. You’ll be impressed with how it holds onto its vivacity while developing more creamy complexity on the nose. To serve, simply pull the the refrigerator and decant for 20-30 minutes before serving in all-purpose white wine stems. Happy summer drinking!