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Muscadet: Terroir & Crus

Having looked in part one of this guide to Muscadet at how winemaking here has evolved over the years, including a brief history of viticulture in the region and some details on the individual appellations, it is important to also look more closely at where Muscadet is today. I have already indicated that the region has gone through the most recent of a number of crises, but thankfully a number of independent vignerons - who only account for about 20% of the appellation, as the vast majority of wines are sold through négociants - are working to try and pull the quality of the wines, and consequently the reputation of their region, out of the mire. An appreciation of their work requires an examination of the terroirs of Muscadet, and of extended lees aging, and how these and other facets of winemaking are being combined to produced an array of exciting new wines, all under the umbrella of the Muscadet appellations.

The Terroirs of Muscadet

As with any region terroir can be approached in a very broad manner, using giant brushstrokes to paint an image of the region, or it can be turned over with a fine-toothed comb, down at the level of individual communes or even vineyards. Starting with the broadest view possible, we are in the Massif Armoricain here, a geological zone which extends eastward into Anjou where it gives us the schistous 'black Anjou' (as opposed to the 'white Anjou' of the Bassin Parisien, which is dominated by limestone tuffeau). The origin of the Massif Armoricain is volcanic, and both granite and gabbro - present in abundance in the Muscadet region - are classic examples of igneous rock. Under situations of extreme temperature and pressure granite undergoes metamorphosis, turning into schist. Under continued stress foliation occurs as the minerals form bands running within the rock, giving us feldspar, quartz and mica. With time we obtain gneiss and eventually orthogneiss. The same process of metamorphosis starting with gabbro gives us amphibolite and serpentine. Mix together all these possible permutations, all of which can be found in abundance around Nantes, and we can perhaps begin to understand the grand diversity of the Muscadet terroirs.

Continuing with a very broad approach, these terroirs - many of which make it through onto the label, as shown above - may be divided into three principle groups. First up are the sandy soils which are unsurprisingly especially predominant around the lac de Grand Lieu, together with spotted areas of gravel. These soils tend to give simple, fruit-dominated, early-drinking wines which have charm but not complexity. Then in second place come the acidic soils, including all the many kinds of schist and micaschist, gneiss and granite; these soils tend to yield richer and more textured wines which are suitable for cellaring, including the Expression cuvées of Guy Bossard (above left), and the Granite cuvées from the likes of Marc Ollivier and Bruno Cormerais. Lastly there are the more alkaline soils which are more variable in their effect on the wine, from the easy-early drinking wines given by vines grown on the metamorphic green-hued amphibolite, such as Jo Landron's Amphibolite Nature (above right), to the more structured wines sourced from the dark and coarse-grained gabbro, like those from André-Michel Brégeon.

Vignerons keen to reinvent Muscadet, or at least to freshen it up a little, have not, however, taken such a soft-focus view of terroir. Beginning in the 1990s, several groups have been working to define local terroirs of specific interest. As it currently stands, these groups have proposed four principle terroirs or crus communaux.

The Crus Communaux

The crus communaux of Muscadet are a work in progress, a project that began in the late 1990s and which continues to this day. The proposed crus were originally to be named for their terroirs, as in Granite de Clisson, Les Schistes de Goulaine and the like. For some obscure reason the mention of terroir was forbidden, and I learnt from Pierre-Marie Luneau in early 2011 that the new names would be based on commune only, i.e. Gorges, Clisson, and so on. This is despite the underlying raison d'être for the crus communaux being none other than their distinctive terroirs. Happily, individual vignerons may continue to use terroir-related terms for individual cuvées, though, so this doesn't spell the end for the appearance of gneiss, granite and similar on Muscadet labels.

In July 2011 the existence of three of the proposed crus communaux, Gorges, Clisson and Le Pallet, was ratified by the INAO, while the others still wait for their final assessments and sign-off. The wines of these three crus all originate from specified regions of the Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine appellation, and they must all meet certain criteria (see box, above right). As always there is something of a compromise between the most fastidious proponents of the new crus, their peers and the INAO, and as such some stipulated elements are not what was originally proposed. The most notable discrepancy is in the age of the vines permitted; the man who embodies the cru communal Gorges, André-Michel Brégeon, would have liked to see a minimum age of 17 years for vines to be eligible for the cru. As it is, the final stipulated limit falls somewhat short of this, at just six years; this is a major reduction, although it does still distinguish these crus from many appellations where the fruit of even the very youngest vines, which typically appears after three years of growth, is eligible. The yields are close to that originally proposed, at 45 hl/ha, a significant contrast against 55 hl/ha for subregional appellations and 65 hl/ha for generic Muscadet. As with the troisième niveau cuvées, a long élevage is stipulated, with 24 months the minimum for Gorges and Clisson, 17 months for Le Pallet; despite this now being embodied in legislature, the anomaly that these bottles are not eligible for the sur lie designation - for more detail on this see Le Troisième Niveau below - persists.

Below is a map showing very approximate boundaries for the ratified and proposed crus communaux. So far the three ratified crus account for about 100 hectares of vineyard, contrasted against 10,000 hectares eligible for the Muscadet appellation.

Further details on the three ratified crus are as follows:

No doubt now these three crus have been approved the other proposed communal zones will take shape and ultimately be ratified. A number of these are also indicated on the map above; the granite around Château Thébaud is a sure candidate, as is the gneiss and orthogneiss terroirs around Monnières St Fiacre, the schist of Goulaine and rubis (a local name for gabbro) around Sanguèze.

Le Troisième Niveau: Extended Lees Aging

As I hinted in the first section of my guide to Muscadet, many vignerons have come to favour leaving the wines to rest on the fine lees (the solids that remain in the wine after fermentation, largely comprised of dead yeast cells), as this prolonged lees-contact can impart more flavour and a richer depth to the wine. The sur lie designation, as defined by law in 1977, may be applied to wines which have remained on their lees after fermentation until eventually going into bottle the following year or, as it is stated in the appellation regulations, the wines "doivent n'avoir passé qu'un hiver en cuve ou en fût" - the wines can spend only one winter in vat or barrel before bottling. The fine-print is a little more detailed though, stating that bottling must take place at some point between March 1st and November 30th during the year after the harvest. So assuming the fruit was picked and fermented during October, this gives a period of lees-contact somewhere between 4 and 10 months, or thereabouts.

And yet, as I have explained above, one of several facets of the terroir-based revitalisation of Muscadet is extended lees-aging; all the cru communaux cuvées require at least 17 months sur lie, with the Gorgeois and Clisson crus stipulating 24 and 20 months respectively. And this creates a curious problem; wines aged for this long on the lees have been kept "en cuve" or "en fût" well past November 30th during the year following harvest and have therefore spent too long on the lees to be called sur lie!

And we don't need to wait for the ratification of the crus communaux to see these curious non-sur-lie lees-aged wines, as they already exist; for example, Marc Ollivier keeps his Granite de Clisson cuvée (above left) on the lees too long for the designation to apply, the same with André-Michel Brégeon's Gorges cuvée (above right) which, in the 2004 vintage was aged sur lie for more than five years. Because this lengthy time sur lie - which as the examples above indicate may extend far beyond the stipulated cru communaux limits - is so fundamental to this movement, it has been termed by some the Troisième Niveau, meaning "third level". The non sur-lie Muscadet wines and then the standard sur lie wines are the first and second levels respectively.

Although there is no uniformity in terms of labelling or naming these terroir-based troisième niveau cuvées (which I think of as the vanguards of the crus communaux), there is curiously a uniformity in the bottle; they are often heavy-weight affairs moulded with the fleur de lys. And they are here to stay, regardless of what happens with the crus communaux; when we look at them I suspect we are viewing the future of this appellation. I look forward to seeing the outcome of the creation of these special zones, and to tasting plenty more of the wines!

Gros Plant du Pays Nantais, and Friends

Before finishing up, a few words on the other Nantais wine regions. First up, Gros Plant du Pays Nantais, commonly abbreviated to the simple Gros Plant. This isn't a wine you are likely to spot on the list of many wine merchants, and in fact I don't think I have ever encountered a bottle outside the Nantais. Some might consider this a good thing. Gros Plant is a vine looking for a reason to be. It has found such a reason, as an excellent source of neutral base wine, rich in rasping acidity, just perfect for distillation, and so the fruit is welcome in Cognac and Armagnac, just to the south. But here in the Nantais, it is cultivated and vinified to make wine; there are a few growers turning out decent examples, largely those turning out good Muscadet as well.

So why bother? That is the opinion of some local vignerons, who have replaced their Gros Plant with Chardonnay and other more saleable international varieties, which could once be sold as Vin de Pays de Jardin de la France or, more recently, Vin de Pays du Val de Loire or in this region even Vin de Pays de Loire-Atlantique. But Gros Plant has been of great economic importance to the Nantais over the years, and a local saying "Gros Plant is my bread, Muscadet my wine" reflects this. So some will remain loyal to Gros Plant, although I think it will in most cases only be appreciated outside the region as something of a cultish oddity.

The two other VDQS regions, although not as expansive as the massive Gros Plant, deserve a mention. The Coteaux d'Ancenis runs along the right bank of the Loire, facing the vineyards of Muscadet des Coteaux de la Loire. Like Gros Plant this region was delimited in 1954, but unlike Gros Plant there are any number of different varieties grown here, from Chenin Blanc and Pinot Gris through to Gamay and both Cabernets. Meanwhile the vineyards of the Fiefs Vendéens, the backdrop to my first encounter with the bikers of the Vendée, play host to Sauvignon, Chenin, the Cabernets, Gamay and Pinot Noir, among others. The regional VDQS was laid down in law in 1984. The wines of both regions tend to be, with a kind heart, light, crisp and refreshing. They are about as likely to venture out of the region as the previously mentioned Gros Plant.

From the Nantais, it is a short journey east to reach the vineyards of Anjou and Saumur, and that is the next stop in this expanded guide to the wines of the Loire. If travelling by the N160, there is an excellent delicatessen on the right-hand side as you travel through Cholet. They sell the richest pain au raisin I have experienced anywhere in the Loire; I strongly recommend you try it.

• Next Instalment: Anjou & Saumur Part 1