Early december, we presented a Masterclass on Muscadet Crus, during the Grand Tasting Bettane+Desseauve in the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris. It was a unique opportunity for our assembly of sommeliers, wine merchants, and wine lovers to dive into the diversity of our Muscadet terroirs, through our three Crus Château-Thébaud, Clisson and Goulaine. These great terroirs are revealed by top winegrowing expertise : old vines, organic farming, horse ploughing and a long ageing of two or three years on lees. The ageing potential of these Muscadet was also highlighted with the tasting of old vintages from 2015 to 2002. A wonderful moment, brilliantly carried out by Louis-Victor Charvet. Many thanks to Michel Bettane, Thierry Desseauve, Denis Hervier and the whole team B+D for the support in our work !
Bourdinière
Le Lys et l’Hermine Placelière
Clos de la Placelière
AOP Muscadet Sèvre et Maine
Bel Abord
Bel Abord
AOP Muscadet Sèvre et Maine
Aulnaye
Goulaine
La Butte de la Roche towers over the Goulaine marshes like the bow of a ship and its slopes are the first harvested of the region
Serpentinite is a rare rock which originates from the earth’s mantle. It owes its name to its green shimmer and scaly appearance.
Le terroir de Goulaine
This terroir’s very light sandy soils gives wines with a lovely round texture, and notes of citrus and very ripe fruits. The mild microclimate created by the surrounding marshes and the south-easterly facing direction of the slope make this the terroir with the earliest grapes in the whole appellation.
Clisson
Clisson is Muscadet’s prettiest town with its Breton influences and romantic Italian feel. Its rock festival has also brought it fame.
The vines grow on granite, the rock of Brittany, which was used to build our houses in the past.
Le terroir de Clisson
In the ground, decomposed granite bedrock, weathered into a mixture of sand and clay, can be found alongside granite blocks. This results in vines with deep roots, a constant supply of water and minerals and early ripening grapes. The vineyard’s southerly location gives us sunny wines with a creamy texture and notes of smokiness, candied citrus and sweet spices.
Château Thébaud
Château-Thébaud is our village, perched above the river Maine and its sheer cliffs.
The vines grow on bedrock of gneiss from L’Aulnaye, a vineyard slope overlooking the confluence of the rivers Sèvre and Maine.
Le terroir de Château-Thébaud
The weathering of bedrock has resulted in shallow soil that gives moderately early grapes and is naturally draining. The ripening conditions are perfect and this presence of clay in the soil ensures good balance and freshness in the wines. Château-Thébaud wines are distinctive for their fresh aromas (citrus, fennel, anise, menthol), and their mineral and saline notes.
Our “Crus Communaux”, the new wave of Muscadet
Our Cru Clisson, Château-Thébaud and Goulaine are finely crafted dry white wines produced from exceptional plots and organically farmed old vines which we harvest by hand. They are made using natural yeasts and aged for several years on lees, in underground vats which are unique to our area. These wines are ideal for cellaring and gastronomic cuisine.
The Crus Communaux are the finest expression of Muscadet’s unique qualities and the diverse nature of our terroirs. Each bearing the name of a village and characterised, in particular, by the bedrock on which they grow, these wines are the result of a collective effort initiated in the 1990s by our father Pierre along with other winegrower friends. As the heirs to this heritage, we are today highly committed producers and front-line ambassadors of these wines.
Grape varieties
Fruitière
Our grape varieties
The Melon de Bourgogne variety gives Muscadet its identity. It is unique to our area, with the exception of a few hectares planted in its region of origin and in Oregon. Developed by Burgundian monks of the Abbey of Cîteaux in the middle ages, Melon belongs to the Noirien family of grapes along with the Pinot varieties, Chardonnay, Chenin, Gamay, Auxerrois and Romorantin. Muscadet is a dry white wine and the Melon variety is recognisable for its round leaf, hence the name.
Other grapes varieties also grow in our vineyards. Folle Blanche is a native grape which has historically always been grown in Nantes’ vineyards. Its wines are lemony, saline and mineral, and an ideal match for oysters. To illustrate the beautiful diversity of the Loire Valley, we also produce our own range of fresh, fruity and elegant varietal wines, from Chardonnay, Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir.
Winegrowers in Muscadet
We are winegrowers in the Muscadet wine region, at the mouth of the Loire close to the Atlantic, just south of Nantes and Brittany. Nantes, Muscadet’s capital, is distinctive for this mix of influences from the Loire Valley, Brittany and the Atlantic. We are a land of water. Rivers and lakes irrigate our vines naturally and keep the climate temperate and our wines fresh, while the sea gives us fantastic food pairings and carries our bottles to the isles and other far-away places. For producing serious white wines, the region is ideal.
Nantes
Our roots are in Nantes, Muscadet’s capital, which is where every member of our family was born. It is a youthful, vibrant and attractive place – a people’s city with real convictions, and a fantastic fusion of nature and culture. With local industries like market gardening, farming, fishing, salt production, and biscuit making, the city and the surrounding region are bursting with great local produce, which the vibrant gastronomic scene employs with great talent. It was the birthplace of Jules Verne, but it is the Great Elephant of the Machines de l’Ile which is Nantes’ icon today.
Loire
The Loire is our river and its tributaries shape our landscapes. With our winegrower friends of the Loire Valley, we share a respect for the environment and a beautifully diverse range of grape varieties, subsoils and colours of wine. In this region, we strive for freshness, fruit and elegance.
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic nurtures our wine region. It tempers the climate of our terroir and the winds from offshore dry and cool our vines. The sea brings a saline character to them and is an endless source of stunning gastronomic associations. It inspires us to adventure and travel and transports our bottles to the isles and other far-away lands.
Brittany
Brittany is a pillar and bastion for us. The vines of the Nantais vineyards are rooted in the rocks of its ancient mountain range, the Armorican Massif. These volcanic and metamorphic rocks formed millions of years ago and have many different forms, like granite, gneiss, schist, gabbro, serpentinite and amphibolite.
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