Why it’s high time to revisit the maligned Muscadet
I was lucky enough to spend a few hours of the bank holiday enjoying a stellar meal at Rick Stein’s Seafood restaurant in Padstow, Cornwall – that place has really moved up a gear or two since I was there last. After the pleasantries came the rather pressured task of examining the wine list; all my friends now expect me to perform on these occasions. My choice surprised them and even me a little – I plumped for a Muscadet. It was a Muscadet La Grande Reserve 2013 from Gadais Pere & Fils and I chose it because we all ordered bold seafood dishes and I fancied something different than another bottle of predictable Sauvignon Blanc. The Muscadet didn’t disappoint. It had a lovely balance of fruit and minerality, and a trademark, almost imperceptible sparkle on the tongue that you find almost nowhere else. It was lovely – and one of the cheapest wines on the list to boot.
It was the first Muscadet I had drunk in four years. I’m sadly typical of many wine drinkers in this respect, since this once great region has suffered an undeserved decline. It wasn’t so long ago that Muscadet was a mainstay of every off-licence and restaurant wine list in the land. Older readers will remember it well; younger ones may need an introduction to the region.
Muscadet sits near the mouth of the river Loire, near the city of Nantes. Unlike many other white wine producers in the west of France, it doesn’t grow Sauvignon Blanc grapes but the Melon de Bourgogne, which is hardly found anywhere else. It is this grape, combined with the mineral, alluvial deposits of the river that give the wine its unique character. In its heyday Muscadet had 13,000 hectares of vineyards under production. Today, almost half of that has been ploughed under and many wine producers in the region are struggling to make ends meet. Like many other wine areas that find themselves caught up in the height of fashion, there were some shocking cases of over-production in the 70s and 80s that created nasty, astringent wines that succeeded in alienating a generation of drinkers.
Muscadet’s responsible producers hit back in the 90s with tougher production rules, but by then the rot had set in. The phrase “Sur Lie” (“On its lees”) appears on many bottles and is, for me, what makes an essential Muscadet. This is the practice of allowing the wine to mature in barrels that still contain the lees – the used-up yeast – as a sediment to give the wine body and flavour. It has to spend a whole winter on its lees before being bottled the following spring. The best producers also insist the wine should be matured in oak, not stainless steel.
This drive for quality makes Muscadet a region well worth revisiting. Quality is variable so you still need to take care. But where else in France are you able to buy fine white wine for a tenner or even less?
Three of the best
• Muscadet 2013, Gadais Pere & Fils, £8.95, thevintner.com
• Muscadet Excellence 2013, La Haut Fevrie, £10.95, bbr.com
• Muscadet 2013, Domaine de la Tourmaline, £8.49, majestic.co.uk