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Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine is the best known of the Muscadet appellations of the Loire Valley's Pays Nantais district, on the central western coast of France. The title covers exclusively white wines from vineyards southeast and east of the city of Nantes, around the Sèvre Nantaise river and its tributary, La Maine, at the western end of the Loire region.
Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine is made solely from Melon de Bourgogne, a grape variety brought to the western Loire from Burgundy, as the name suggests. The similarity between the name Muscadet and that of the Muscat variety is sometimes the cause of confusion. But a single taste of a crisp, dry Muscadet wine will confirm that it is definitely not made from Muscat, a notoriously aromatic (and often sweet) variety.
A vineyard in Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine, in the Loire Valley wine region of France
A vineyard in Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine (the Sèvre Nantaise river is at the bottom of the slope)
© Google Street View
The Sèvre-et-Maine area of which the appellation is named after lies just southeast of Nantes. It is a heavily planted zone, with around 8,000 hectares (19,000 acres) of vineyards supplying around 600 producers.
About 80 percent of all Muscadet wine is made within the appellation as the topography here is ideally suited to the viticulture of Melon de Bourgogne. Alluvial soil types have led to an abundance of potassium, magnesium and calcium deposits, providing the vines with the minerals they require for optimal growth.
In the wet, maritime climate of the western Loire Valley, soil drainage is crucial. This is provided by the chalky limestone soils and gravels of the area. Clay deposits are also found alongside the river banks, creating variability in drainage speed, so site selection is important.
The best Sèvre-et-Maine has a underlying minerality, often thought to be a reflection of the chalky limestone soils found within the area.
Melon de Bourgogne is not a particularly flavorful grape variety, so without caution in the vineyard and attentive winemaking, Muscadet wines can risk being rather bland and featureless. This is particularly true in hotter vintages, when the intense heat robs the grapes of potential complexity and their characteristic acidity.
On the flipside of that coin, the Loire has one of the wettest, coldest growing seasons in France, so the growers' goal is more often full ripeness than acid retention.
To glean as much flavor and character from the grape must as possible, many Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine wines are left sur lie ("on the lees") for a period of several weeks or even months following fermentation. This extended contact with the lees imparts a richer, creamier mouthfeel to the wines and contributes to the general flavor profile.
Each of the four Muscadet appellations is made in both standard and sur lie variants. The latter mention is found on roughly half of all wines in the region.
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