The Cellar: Loire & More Day 2

Monday, October 06, 2014

Steffen Rasch, GoLocalProv Wine Writer

Day #2 – Muscadet: Even though I drove more than 250 miles through the French countryside yesterday, I managed not to lay my eyes on a single vine. That changed dramatically today as I made my way to this trips first official visit - Château du Cléray.

Château du Cléray is located southeast of Nantes, just outside of the town of Vallet in Muscadet’s most noteworthy sub-region of Sevre-et Maine.

There I met with Brigitte Brunetiere who has been with Château for more than 30 years. The original 75 acre Château du Cléray was built in the 15th century but was destroyed during the French Revolution. The current Château was built in 1843 and sits on top of the Estates original cellars.

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The Muscadet region specializes in making dry and crisp white wines from the Melon de Bourgogne grape. The way they make wines in Sevre-et-Maine however is slightly different  as they age their wines ‘sur lie’, which means that the wine ages on the lees (dead yeast) for an extended period of time after fermentation is over but before bottling. According to the rules of the Appellation the wine can’t be bottled until the following March 1st.

Brigitte explained how the 2014 vintage is particularly good. A warm spring resulted in plenty of buds and a good start to the growing season. While rest of France had a mediocre summer, the weather in Muscadet was great with plenty of sunshine. They were originally planning of harvesting on September 1st however a rainy August pushed everything back. September was gorgeous and as a result the 2014 vintage was harvested between the 17th and 30th of September.

On their Estate vineyards Château du Cléray grows its Melon de Bourgogne grapes from its 40-50 year old vines as well as its Folle Blanche; a grape variety which makes a light, delicious but extremely high acid white wine called Gros Plant. They recently acquired additional acreage a couples of miles away. These vineyards supplies Château du Cléray with Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc grapes.

On top of their own Melon de Bourgogne grapes Château du Cléray also purchases Melon grapes from outside growers. Every year a panel of Château du Cléray wine experts selects the best lot and vinifies that grower’s grapes separately. This wine is called ‘Cardinal Richard’, named after the Château’s most famous historical resident.

In the afternoon I drove south to the town of Clisson where I visited the ruins of the historic castle – absolutely gorgeous with a history worth gooling. The real reason I went to Clisson, however, was to sample two of the ‘Crus’ of Muscadet Sevre-et-Maine.; the ‘Sur Lie’ wines from the towns of Gorges and Clisson. These wines must age on the lees for 2 years. This makes for a bigger and more complex wine – reminding me of a white burgundy. It does, however, take away many the light, bright and refreshing aspects of Muscadet that I really adore.

Stay tuned for more from Muscadet tomorrow.

Steffen Rasch is a Certified Sommelier and Specialist of Wine. Feel free to email him at [email protected] with any wine-related question or learn about wine in person by signing up for one of his tastings through the Providence Wine Academy.

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