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2023 Gros-Plant du Pays Nantais
Domaine Michel BrégeonThere are few wines as rare as Brégeon’s Gros Plant–this is one of only two wines we import made from the grape known as Folle Blanche. Though more commonly found in the southwest of France, Folle Blanche has also found a home in the western Loire Valley. Like its regional compatriot, Muscadet, this racy wine is a perfect match for all types of crustaceans as well all by itself on a sunny afternoon.
—Clark Z. Terry
Wine Type: | white |
Vintage: | 2023 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Folle Blanche |
Country: | France |
Region: | Loire |
Producer: | André-Michel Brégeon |
Winemaker: | Fred Lailler |
Vineyard: | 40 years average, 10 ha total |
Soil: | Gabbro |
Farming: | Organic (certified) |
Alcohol: | 10.5% |
More from this Producer or Region
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 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.
2023 Sancerre HALF BOTTLE
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At first, it is streamlined, saline, and full of lemon. Then the granite terroir kicks in...
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.
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.
2023 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.
2020 Saumur Blanc “Terres”
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Redolent of almonds, honey, and a wide range of citrus, this kaleidoscopic Chenin finishes with a faint tannin, making it ideal alongside sushi, roast chicken, or a hard and flavorful cheese like Comté.
2018 Sancerre “Cuvée Ortus”
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The rarest of the Reverdy cuvées, Ortus was really an invention at the urging of Kermit, who has a fondness for Sauvignon with full malolactic fermentation, aged in wood, bottled unfiltered, generally treated like a white Burgundy.
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.
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
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2022 Bourgueil “Franc de Pied”
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2020 Saumur Blanc “Clos Romans”
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2022 Chinon Rosé
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2021 Sancerre “Les Coutones”
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2020 Saumur Champigny “Outre Terre”
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2019 Vouvray “Le Portail”
Champalou France | Loire
2022 Vin de France Brut Nature “Elle est pas bulle, la vie?”
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2016 Chinon “Les Petites Roches” MAGNUM
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2023 Val de Loire Sauvignon Blanc “Unique”
Domaine du Salvard France | Loire
2020 Chinon “Les Varennes du Grand Clos”
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2023 Muscadet Côtes de Grand Lieu sur lie “La Nöe”
Eric Chevalier France | Loire
2018 Chinon Blanc “Clos de la Plante Martin”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2022 Bourgueil “Franc de Pied”
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2020 Saumur Blanc “Clos Romans”
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Kermit once said...
Kermit once said...
For the wines that I buy I insist that the winemaker leave them whole, intact. I go into the cellars now and select specific barrels or cuvées, and I request that they be bottled without stripping them with filters or other devices. This means that many of our wines will arrive with a smudge of sediment and will throw a more important deposit as time goes by, It also means the wine will taste better.