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2014 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Clisson “La Molette”
Domaine Michel BrégeonThis is off-the-charts Muscadet.
Evocative: a rarely used tasting note, maybe, but a fitting one for this wine. Shared with colleagues a few days ago, the Clisson’s expressive wet-stone and saline qualities summoned memories of the seaside and lavish oyster-accompanied aperitifs, while its long palate conjured a comparison to never-ending meals (“because it evolves like a good feast”). For my part, I was brought back to a particularly refreshing moment on vacation in Yosemite last month, when I plunged my feet into the icy-cold waters of the Merced River. A subtly floral nose and textured mouthfeel seal the deal. This is off-the-charts Muscadet.
—Emily Spillmann
Wine Type: | white |
Vintage: | 2014 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Melon de Bourgogne |
Appellation: | Muscadet Sèvre et Maine |
Country: | France |
Region: | Loire |
Producer: | André-Michel Brégeon |
Winemaker: | Fred Lailler |
Vineyard: | 50 years average, 7.8 ha total |
Soil: | Granite |
Farming: | Organic (certified) |
Alcohol: | 13% |
More from this Producer or Region
2020 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Clisson “La Molette”
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A subtly floral nose and textured mouthfeel seal the deal. This is off-the-charts Muscadet.
2022 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie
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It fills the mouth with suspicions of honeysuckle and pulpy stone fruits, all while maintaining classic notes of iodine and sea breeze that make this the vinous equivalent of tidepooling.
2022 Sancerre HALF BOTTLE
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2021 Vin de France Blanche
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This skin-contact wine is redolent of blood orange and hyssop—a perfect apéritif for olives and anchovies.
2018 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine “Gorges”
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Gorges boasts an incredible texture and tension imparted by decomposed, blue-green igneous rock, seventy-year-old vines, and years-long aging on the lees.
2019 Sancerre Rouge “Champs d’Alligny”
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Previously blended into the domaine’s Sancerre rouge, the Champs d’Alligny is now its own bottling, a successful experiment if there ever was one.
2020 Vin de France Rosé Grolleau/Cabernet Franc “Les Arceaux”
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Intensely dry and mineral, the structured Les Arceaux is a bottle to pair with a meal rather than to drink as an apéritif.
2021 Vin de France Blanc “Centenaire”
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Fermented and aged in barrel and bottled unfiltered, it features a delightful kiss of oak on the long, bracing, mouth-watering finish.
2020 Vin de France Blanche
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This lithe and expressive “orange” wine is an ideal palate-opener with a dry, cleansing finish and a fresh, cooling effect like coastal sage and seaspray.
2020 Saumur-Champigny “Les Mémoires”
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Sourced from 110+ year-old vines, this is hands-down one of the best Cab Francs being made in the Loire Valley today.
About The Producer
André-Michel Brégeon
Michel Brégeon is part renegade, part crusader, and full-blown terroirist, ardently defending the Muscadet-Sèvre-et-Maine terroir. Thanks to his deep understanding of the land, he plays the game much differently than the region’s caves cooperatives and negociants, who produce en masse and lose the subtlety of the appellation. He worked for his family’s domaine before setting out on his own in 1975. When his father retired in 1989, he gave his remaining vineyard land to Michel. Today, Michel farms seven hectares of vineyards in clay, silica, and gabbro soils. Gabbro is old, blue-green, volcanic rock, rarely found in vineyard land. Formed by magma eruptions under the ocean floor, it imparts intense complexity to Michel’s wines.
About The Region
Loire
The defining feature of the Loire Valley, not surprisingly, is the Loire River. As the longest river in France, spanning more than 600 miles, this river connects seemingly disparate wine regions. Why else would Sancerre, with its Kimmeridgian limestone terroir be connected to Muscadet, an appellation that is 250 miles away?
Secondary in relevance to the historical, climatic, environmental, and cultural importance of the river are the wines and châteaux of the Jardin de la France. The kings and nobility of France built many hundreds of châteaux in the Loire but wine preceded the arrival of the noblesse and has since out-lived them as well.
Diversity abounds in the Loire. The aforementioned Kimmderidgian limestone of Sancerre is also found in Chablis. Chinon, Bourgueil, and Saumur boast the presence of tuffeau, a type of limestone unique to the Loire that has a yellowish tinge and a chalky texture. Savennières has schist, while Muscadet has volcanic, granite, and serpentinite based soils. In addition to geologic diversity, many, grape varieties are grown there too: Cabernet Franc, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, and Melon de Bourgogne are most prevalent, but (to name a few) Pinot Gris, Grolleau, Pinot Noir, Pineau d’Aunis, and Folle Blanche are also planted. These myriad of viticultural influences leads to the high quality production of every type of wine: red, white, rosé, sparkling, and dessert.
Like the Rhône and Provence, some of Kermit’s first imports came from the Loire, most notably the wines of Charles Joguet and Château d’Epiré—two producers who are featured in Kermit’s book Adventures on the Wine Route and with whom we still work today.
More from Loire or France
2022 Savennières
Château d'Epiré France | Loire
2019 Bourgueil “Clos Sénéchal”
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2018 Vouvray “La Moelleuse”
Champalou France | Loire
2021 Sancerre Rouge
Daniel Chotard France | Loire
2022 Chardonnay
Eric Chevalier France | Loire
2020 Chinon “Le Clos Guillot”
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2021 Vin de France Blanche
Domaine Michel Brégeon France | Loire
2022 Coteaux du Loir Rouge “Cuvée du Rosier”
Pascal Janvier France | Loire
2023 Cheverny
Domaine du Salvard France | Loire
2019 Vin de France Rouge Grolleau/Cabernet Franc “Clandestine”
Grange Saint-Sauveur France | Loire
2021 Saint Nicolas de Bourgueil “Irène”
Domaine de la Chanteleuserie France | Loire
2018 Chinon Blanc “Clos de la Plante Martin”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2022 Savennières
Château d'Epiré France | Loire
2019 Bourgueil “Clos Sénéchal”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2018 Vouvray “La Moelleuse”
Champalou France | Loire
2021 Sancerre Rouge
Daniel Chotard France | Loire
2022 Chardonnay
Eric Chevalier France | Loire
2020 Chinon “Le Clos Guillot”
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2021 Vin de France Blanche
Domaine Michel Brégeon France | Loire
2022 Coteaux du Loir Rouge “Cuvée du Rosier”
Pascal Janvier France | Loire
2023 Cheverny
Domaine du Salvard France | Loire
2019 Vin de France Rouge Grolleau/Cabernet Franc “Clandestine”
Grange Saint-Sauveur France | Loire
2021 Saint Nicolas de Bourgueil “Irène”
Domaine de la Chanteleuserie France | Loire
2018 Chinon Blanc “Clos de la Plante Martin”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
Where the newsletter started
Where the newsletter started
Every three or four months I would send my clients a cheaply made list of my inventory, but it began to dawn on me that business did not pick up afterwards. It occurred to me that my clientele might not know what Château Grillet is, either. One month in 1974 I had an especially esoteric collection of wines arriving, so I decided to put a short explanation about each wine into my price list, to try and let my clients know what to expect when they uncorked a bottle. The day after I mailed that brochure, people showed up at the shop, and that is how these little propaganda pieces for fine wine were born.—Kermit Lynch