Chereau Carre Muscadet Comte Leloup de Chasseloir Centenaires 2013
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The color is very pale. Aromas in the nose are citrus with white flowers. The wine is ample in mouth with concentrated tones that confer more exotic fruit and a bit of creaminess in mouth.
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Bernard Chéreau’s family estate dates to the 15th century, so the 100-year-old vines growing in front of the winery are relative newcomers. He presents their fruit in Comte Leloup de Chasseloir, from a 7.4-acre parcel on a schist plateau overlooking the Maine River. He has the benefit of an underground cellar, an unusual asset in the region, where he ferments this rich Muscadet, sustaining the kind of mineral drive that makes great white wines compelling. Here, that’s in the scent of schist (yes, it’s there in my blind tasting notes), a spark of soil propelling a massive Muscadet forward toward bright, salty refreshment. It’s as saturated and satisfying as a young premier cru Chablis, and, with its more direct connection with the sea, would be an excellent match for oysters.
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Cherreau-Carre is one of the leading Muscadet producers with substantial family owned vineyards in some of the best locations in the region. Their vineyard area totals 267 acres of the highest quality soil, making them one of the largest producers of Muscadet. The wide variety of terroirs available within the estate enables Bernard Cheareau to offer a comprehensive selection of styles including those bottled sur lie where the wine is drawn straight off the lees prior to bottling, resulting in a wine with more weight and complexity. Bernard is constantly innovating and seeking to show off the incredible sites of his domain. These sites are part of a new system used to identify vineyards (called Cru Communaux). The first is Comte Leloup de Chasseloir. This site at the front of his estate is composed of over 100-year-old vines growing in slate soils. The site is three hectares of vines on a plateau that overlooks the river. The wines are then aged in the only underground cellar within the region.
Made famous in Muscadet, a gently rolling, Atlantic-dominated countryside on the eastern edge of the Loire, Melon de Bourgogne is actually the most planted grape variety in the Loire Valley. But the best comes from Muscadet Sèvre et Maine, a subzone of Pays Nantais. Somm Secret—The wine called Muscadet may sound suggestive of “muscat,” but Melon de Bourgogne is not related. Its name also suggests origins in Burgundy, which it has, but was continuously outlawed there, like Gamay, during the 16th and 17th centuries.
The Pays Nantais, Loire’s only region abutting the Atlantic coast, is solely focused on the Melon de Bourgogne grape in its handful of subzones: Muscadet-Sèvre et Maine, Muscadet-Coteaux de la Loire and Muscadet-Côtes de Grandlieu. Muscadet wines are dry, crisp, seaside whites made from Melon de Bourgogne and are ideal for the local seafood-focused cuisine. (They are not related to Muscat.) There is a new shift in the region to make these wines with extended lees contact, creating fleshy and more aromatic versions.