From: Loire Valley, France
Blend: 70 % Melon de Bourgogne, 30 % Folle blanche
Taste: Deliciously pure, refreshing, and mineral-driven Méthode champenoise bubbles from 50-year-old vines (70% Melon de Bourgogne and 30% Folle blanche) planted on coveted gabbro soils. Aromas and flavors of citrus, creamy lemon confit, white flowers, white peach, Asian pear, just-ripe yellow apple and a hint of toast come together in a seamless, elegant sip of bubbly that’ll have you wanting another glass before you know it!
Pairing: This gorgeously fresh sparkling wine from Loire Valley’s Muscadet region pairs effortlessly with so many cuisines (and occasions- we love to enjoy this sparkling wine in the early evening as an aperitif). Some pairing ideas include serving this wine alongside dishes like fried goat cheese balls with honey, seared/baked/grilled white fish with lemon, pilaf with fresh herbs, scallops cooked in white wine and garlic, finished with Armagnac (Saint-Jacques à la Bretonne), mussels served broiled or as Moules à la Marinière, or as an accompanying broth, as shown in the recipe below. Most seafood or light poultry dishes will be fantastic next to this wine, as will any dish that incorporates fresh produce, citrus, and/or fresh cheeses.
Sautéed Cod With Potatoes in Chorizo-Mussel Broth
Recipe from Eric Ripert
Adapted by Florence Fabricant
About. Many thanks to importer Savio Soares Selections for the following information. Jeremie and Claire Batard-Langelier are third generation winemakers working with Jeremie's parents with the desire to elevate their appellation. Located just southeast of Nantes, in the commune of Maisdon sur Sevre, in Muscadet Sevre et Maine between Vertou and Clisson, the vineyards cover approximately 24 hectares are planted upon various soils: sandy loam, gabbros, gneiss and biotite granite. About 95% of their vines (averaging 40 years) are Melon de Bourgogne with the rest made up of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, all trained in "guyot Nantais", a local style of vine training. The estate was created in 1910 by Denis Batard and then in 1982 his son Pascal took over seeking to express the essence of Muscadet.
Pascal continued the Nantaise tradition he learned from his father Denis and aware of the growing fragility of the biodiversity turned to lutte raisonee and abandoned chemical fertilizers in 1995. In 2009 Jeremie, after traveling the world, returned to the vineyards with a newfound source of passion. Along with this wife Claire Langelier, who is not from the region, they work the entire estate from vineyard to trade. Claire contributes a unique outsiders perspective, helping to pull Muscadet out of it's box and to express it's unique terroir. In 2014 the estate was in their first year of conversion to organic farming.
The wine making is traditional: light pressing, debourbages and fermentations in underground cement vats typical of the region. The wines are aged on the lees over long periods of time, adapted to each parcel in order to obtain an optimal expression of the different parcels.
This wine. From 50 year old vines planted to 1ha in predominately Gabbro rich soil, the grapes are hand harvested in September, de-stemmed, and direct pressed and cold soaked for 12 hours before heading into an underground concrete tank covered with glass tiles. The fermentation is started with ambient yeast and lasts 15 days. Afterwards, the wine spends 4 months on it’s lees aging in concrete tank before disgorgement and bottling where it is aged at minimum another 14 months. No dosage. Brut Nature.
The varietals, first Folle Blanche (since it’s probably the varietal most unfamiliar), then Melon de Bourgogne.