Description
Château Guipière, Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine “La Tour Vieilles Vignes”
Students of classic French wine, gather ’round for an invite-only master class on Muscadet, a magical white that exists, possibly all alone, as France’s greatest pound-for-pound bargain. Where else but here can you experience a $22 white wine with tremendous levels of jolting minerality, ample texture, and sweeping refreshment? Sancerre? Not anymore. Bordeaux or Rhône? Nope. Burgundy? Surely you jest. Honorable mentions should certainly go to Jura and Savoie, but aside from that, it’s Muscadet by a mile, and it’s been Muscadet for years.
With this exclusive direct import, I aim to simultaneously please devoted Loire drinkers and indoctrinate those who wish to expand their thirst-quenching spectrum. The grape is Melon de Bourgogne, and although it reigned supreme in Burgundy centuries ago, today, it holds hands with the Atlantic Ocean in the westernmost region of the Loire Valley. Here, it absorbs the salty tang and mica-schist soils to create a wine of absurd singularity, and with the enhancement of Guipère’s old vines, today’s 2018 “La Tour” becomes the quintessential, indomitable oyster wine. It’s only available here. Free shipping on six bottles but grab 12 nevertheless.
The mouth of France’s Loire River is a broad, windswept place where land meets the Atlantic horizon. Just a few miles inland, away from the rise and fall of the salty tide, the landscape undergoes a drastic change into a secret country of trees, rivers, villages, and lots of vineyards. Here, just southeast of the city of Nantes, straddling the Sèvre and Maine (two tributaries of the Loire), growers are reinventing the Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine appellation and proving the region’s wines are not all bland, forgettable warm-weather quaffers. Sure, there’s an ocean of big-brand Muscadet out there, often made by behemoth producers, intended for early consumption. This segment does not represent Muscadet’s destiny. In the last 10-15 years, dedicated producers have demonstrated, through conscientious farming and meticulous production, a new narrative for Muscadet and the Melon grape. The key to these reinventors’ success was linking the multifaceted terroir of the Sèvre-et-Maine through the transparency of the Melon variety. Like no other period, the wines are now more complex, fully nuanced with an expansive mineral core. These ambitious, loyal growers have taken back Muscadet, writing a new chapter for their old region.
With almost 15,000 acres of vines, it’s one of the most densely planted appellations in France. Gneiss. Mica schist. Gabbro. Granite. Amphibolite. These are the names of the appellation’s base rocks—what the French call roche mère (mother rock)—as they roll off the tongues of the growers. Melon de Bourgogne is neutral in character, which makes it a true grape of terroir. It’s reflective of the soil’s character and is heavily influenced by the surrounding climatic conditions. With the diverse mosaic of soils and base rocks, the grape yields an impressive variety of styles from light and fruity to rich and mineral-laden. This special bottling is a perfect blend of both.
Château Guipière has been in the hands of its talented new proprietors, Philippe Nevoux, and Stéphane Gouraud since 2015. Born in the 18th century, the domain is planted to 28 hectares, mostly of Melon de Bourgogne with a smattering of Folle Blanche and Gamay. The magnificent terroir is heavily composed of mica schist and amphibolite. In addition to renovating the many ancient buildings strewn across the property, Philippe and Stéphane immediately poured considerable energy into the revitalization of the vineyards, protecting their biodiversity with a strict organic- and sustainable-viticultural regime. The results are on full display in today’s Guipière 2018 “La Tour.” This is a single-site Muscadet from 50-year-old vines planted in deeply layered mica-schist soils. The grapes are entirely hand-harvested and fermented naturally in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. The wine remains on its fine lees for six months prior to bottling.
This sur-lie treatment gives an extra intensity and richness, as well as a light pepper and slightly creamy character. In this high-quality Muscadet, texture and stony flavors resound, echoing back and forth. Aromas and flavors are clearly pronounced: lemon, yellow pear, yellow apple, and herbs, occasionally a chamomile or saline sensation. An added bonus: The soundbites from reputable growers regarding the 2018 vintage in Muscadet range from “exceptional” to “legendary,” claiming the wines display “both tension and breadth” with comparisons made to 1947 and 1990!
