From Saumur, we headed east towards Nantes and the historic Muscadet region. This would be our longest day but in many ways the most educational.
Muscadet is well known but has fallen out of favour in recent decades in favour of more opulent and bolder wine styles.
Our first stop was the historic Château du Coing et St Fiacre. This family owned estate is an important part of Muscadet history as it is located on a junction of the Sèvre and Maine rivers so provided a refuelling point for passing boats.
Aurore, the winemaker – and daughter of the owner Véronique Günther-Chéreau, hosted our visit. She was extremely animated and showed great passion for the vineyards, the relatively new Cru Communaux system that is recognising the high quality terroirs and yet it was clear that managing 70 hectares of vineyards is quite a challenge. Add in climate change and the intrinsic difficulties of marketing Muscadet, it all made for quite a story.
We tasted a wonderful selection of wines ranging from entry level through to a number of aged Cru wines. It was fascinating to see the ever increasing quality and the effect of ‘Sur Lie’ ageing.
A marvellous visit and one that opened our eyes to so much.
It was just a short drive to lunch and the delightful Auberge de la Gaillotière. A family run restaurant, we were welcomed by Estelle and they delivered a delicious three course lunch in quick time. Crab salad, pork, cream cake dessert and coffee – all beautifully presented.
It was then just five minutes to Domaine Jérémie Huchet. A more modern estate but no less passionate. Jérémie has innovated with Pinot Noir as well as the traditional Muscadets as well as operating a pop up restaurant at weekends.
Marie showed us round, it was a bit wet to go outside so we didn’t enjoy the lovely view of the nearest vineyards which are in the Cru Château Thébaud, but we did see the underground tanks, hewn out of granite bedrock, where the ‘sur lie’ wines rest.
We we tasted through another great selection of wines, learning more about the differences between different Crus.
Our Muscadet day was a revelation – wines of great quality, really gastronomic, and ageworthy!
