Muscadet From France's Loire Valley

The Jardin d'Edouard winery is located in Château-Thébaud, France, a short drive south of Nantes. Their website explains that vines have been cultivated on the property for well over a century. They produce a full range of wines, but are known for their three styles of Muscadet, which are aged in glass-lined tanks for anywhere from seven to 72 months. 

The Melon de Bourgogne grapes for the 2017 La Roche Aux Loups were grown in the Muscadet Sèvre et Maine area, which lies in the Loire Valley between the Sèvre Nantaise and Maine rivers. The grape is sometimes known simply as Melon. My bottle shows 12% abv and cost $22 at the French market near my home.

This white wine is five years old now and is showing some wonderful signs of its age. The fruitiness of its youth is becoming more complex and savory. Aromas of wet sidewalk, citrus and salinity come forward on the nose, while the palate is driven by minerals and earth. Muscadet wines are universally thought to be good pairings with oysters, shellfish or any sort of seafood, and this is certainly no exception. 

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Licensed To Put Wine In Cans

Licence IV is the permit in France given to cafes, restaurants, hotels, and nightclubs which allows them to serve alcohol.  There is no wonder that the sign is a welcome sight - it means refreshment, relaxation, fun and friends are inside.

This wine takes its name - and logo - from those signs.  It is a Muscadet wine, made entirely of Melon de Bourgogne grapes from the Loire Valley, fermented in stainless steel and aged on its lees in concrete tanks.  It is available in 1-liter bottles or the four-pack of lightweight cans, 250ml each.

This canned wine pours up with a nice straw-yellow appearance in the glass.  The nose is mineral-driven, with traces of peach and apricot in the whiff.  The palate also brings the minerality, with great citrus notes and an acidity that is really fresh.  It is an easy-to-sip wine, but it will pair nicely with any kind of salad or seafood dish.

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Wine With Crabcakes

Jean-Pascal Aubron makes delicious white wines in France's Loire Valley.  His family has been doing that since the 19th century.  The winery is located outside of Nantes, near the Atlantic coast in the Muscadet-Sevre et Maine appellation.  In that region, up to five grams of residual sugar is allowed in the wines, but Aubron produces a bone-dry wine with none at all.

The grapes used for the Domaine Jean Aubron Cuvee Elegance Muscadet are the Melon de Bourgogne variety, fermented in glass-lined concrete and steel tanks and aged there for eight months on the lees.  Alcohol is restrained at 12% abv.

I had this amazing white wine at a seafood place in Baltimore's Fells Point area, the Thames Street Oyster House.  The bartender gave it high marks, and he was right.  It's loaded with minerals and a briny salinity, and was an excellent pair with a  tuna salad, lobster claws and a crab cake.

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