92 Insider Points
The 2017 Muscadet Sevre Et Maine from Claude Branger shows the classic style of coastal Loire, with bright lemon/lime acidity, a chalky minerality and crunchy tree fruit blending on the crisp and clean palate. A perfect pairing for seafood, this tasty white is your new go to glass. Enjoy now through 2020. -Premier Sommelier Team
Seriously super whites are coming out of Loire Valley’s 2017 vintage and this Muscadet ("muss-kuh-day) sits among the exceptional of the exceptionals. It’s dry, it’s fresh, it’s delicious, and for many it’s quite a surprise.
Even as the label’s entry-level Muscadet, it bursts with incredible value and shows its superior quality at the hand of detailed, sustainable and hand-harvested vineyards. The New York Times showed its approval for Muscadet proclaiming, “Great Muscadet can be a complex treat...can age exceptionally well over decades, evolving in complex and distinctive ways. It’s a rare wine that is beautiful at each stage.”
Reasons why we love it:
Beautiful, crisp, mouthwatering acidity and great value. Tart citrus, orange blossom floral notes, Granny Smith apple. Pair with light seafood dishes, summer salads, lightly seasoned poultry dishes. Medium-bodied, no perceptible oak. Summer sipper, dry, patio wine. Crowd pleasing guaranteed.
Claude Branger of Domaine la Haute Févrie certainly fits into the 'famous and long-associated' category. A quietly-spoken vigneron, his domaine is not huge and his profile much lower than some of the names closer to the top of this page, but his wines are of no lesser interest to me. He has 10.2 hectares of vines centred around Maisdon-sur-Sèvre, right at the heart of the Muscadet Sèvre et Maine appellation, and a stone's throw from Clisson, Gorges, Saint-Fiacre and La Haye-Fouassière. With his son Sébastien the domaine is run along the lines of sustainable viticulture, following the guiding words of Terra Vitis. This might be a less rigorous approach than some others in the region, but it does not to my mind invalidate the wines. Harvest is by hand, and the portfolio manageable (certainly more so than some others, such as that of Marc Ollivier, who seems to be adding several new cuvées every year at the moment).
We suggest pairing this lovely wine with fresh oysters or Thai Chicken in mild peanut sauce, basmati rice and peas.This wine also pairs well with steamed mussels and frites, oysters pot pie, seafood medley on creamy, spinach fettuccini noodles.
