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2019 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: | 2019 |
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: | 12% |
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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2022 Reuilly Pinot Gris Rosé
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2020 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Clisson “La Molette”
France | Loire
A subtly floral nose and textured mouthfeel seal the deal. This is off-the-charts Muscadet.
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.
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2022 Grolleau “Franc de Pied”
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2020 Saumur-Champigny “Les Mémoires”
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2021 Bourgueil “Franc de Pied”
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2020 Sancerre Champs d’Alligny
Daniel Chotard France | Loire
2020 Chinon “Cuvée Terroir”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2019 Bourgueil “Clos Sénéchal”
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2022 Quincy “Vieilles Vignes”
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2021 Sancerre “Les Cris”
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Vouvray Brut “La Dilettante”
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2021 Chinon “Les Grézeaux”
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2022 Sancerre Rosé “Le Colombier”
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2022 Vouvray “Les Fondraux”
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Kermit once said...
Kermit once said...
Living wines have ups and downs just as people do, periods of glory and dog days, too. If wine did not remind me of real life, I would not care about it so much.