In both our daily offers and at assorted events, we’ve been talking a lot lately about what it means to “drink like a sommelier”—because, to us, it doesn’t mean what you might think it means. Today’s wine is one of the best examples of what I’d consider drinking like a sommelier to mean: namely, maximizing your wine dollar. Measured on a quality-to-price basis, today’s 2018 from Domaine de la Bretonnière—and Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine in general—rates as a genuinely great white wine.
It’s loaded with mineral depth, it is the authentic expression of a place and a family, and it is objectively delicious, with a touch of creaminess imparted from time spent aging sur lie (on the lees, or spent yeast cells, left over from fermentation). If you entertain regularly, or just enjoy a bit of wine on a daily basis, having a case of a wine like this on hand at all times is the best insurance policy you could ask for—a versatile, substantial white that actually has a lot to say for less than $20. I’d be hard-pressed to think of another wine, white or red, that so dramatically over-delivers.
From vines averaging 35 years of age, Pierre-Yves and Patrice vinify and age 100% Melon de Bourgogne in concrete vats which are buried in the ground. The wine spends about six months aging on its lees before bottling, lending the wine an appealing rising-bread-dough note layered over the classic “sea-spray” salinity Muscadet is famous for. In the glass, it’s a pale straw-gold with flecks of green and silver at the rim, with bright and expressive aromas of tart green apple, citrus pith, Anjou pear, fresh cream, wet stones, and a scent the legendary Kramer from “Seinfeld” tried to bottle as a cologne: “The Beach.” And while this brisk, high-tension white will age for a surprisingly long time given its price, it is ready to be enjoyed immediately with fresh oyster on the half shell or any fresh seafood you’d like to throw at it. Serve it at 45 degrees in all-purpose white wine stems with just about anything, really: it’s got the acid and the mineral savor to complement a huge array of foods. Attached is a classically briny, buttery preparation tailor-made for Muscadet. This is “fine dining” at a “fast food” price, thanks to La Bretonnière. Enjoy!