Comte Leloup du Château de Chasseloir Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie ‘Cuvée de Ceps Centenaires’ 2007

12% abv, Bernard Chéreau, Saint Fiacre, sourced from domaine. Cork closure: natural. Biodynamic calendar: leaf day.

Winemaking notes: 100% Melon de Bourgogne from 100+ year-old vines, aged on the lees for two years. The vines are grown on schist soils. “in the heart of the Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine appellation, right between Saint-Fiacre-sur-Maine and Château-Thébaud, on the hillsides above the river Maine. The Chasseloir farm was purchased in 1953 by Bernard Chéreau Senior. Cuvée Comte Leloup comes from a 5ha site at the entrance to their home, called Château de Chasseloir, with a vine age of over 100 years. These vines are the oldest in the Muscadet region. Hand-harvested grapes are brought to the Chasseloir vinification cellar, which is built on a hillside. The work here is done exclusively by gravity, without the use of pumps, which can cause oxidation and decrease the aromatic potential of the wines, an attribute Bernard feels is important for the wines of Muscadet. For the same reason, only indigenous yeasts from the vineyard are used in fermentation.”

Tasting note: this wine is pale gold with a clean nose of medium intensity with aroma of acacia, hawthorn, pear, cider and lemon grass. On the palate this wine is dry with high acid, medium alcohol, medium body, medium+ flavor intensity and a medium+ finish with flavors of lilac, gardenia, lemon, grapefruit, lime zest, candied tangerine, raw almond, cheese, and a touch of lemongrass and amber oil. Drink now, this lees-aged Muscadet Sevre-et-Maine from the Nantais region of the Loire Valley is very good: 9.2/10.