Finds from the vine

Jarrett Osborn
July 16, 2008

The muscadet grape begins the varied climb up the Loire Valley, a winding region in France that encompasses many grapes and many styles of wine. Just outside of Nantes, near the mouth of the Loire River, muscadet makes crisp white wines, with little if any oak barrel ageing and clean, light flavors. The 2006 Domaine de l’Ecu “Expression de Gneiss” is lovely, from the superior sub-appellation Muscadet Sevre et Maine. A single 10-acre vineyard provides the fruit for this wine, and owner/winemaker Guy Bossard uses no oak at all. The juice is fermented and aged “sur lie,” or on the dead yeast, to impart extra body and a richness that belies the acidity and minerality prevalent in the wine.

Minerality is the word here, with light dry grapefruit and lemon-lime flavors, white pepper, and a faint honey and chalk finish. Perfect with raw oysters, shrimp cocktail, goat cheese, and sushi. Only 555 cases of this wine were made, for under $20 a bottle, it is great in these hot days of summer.

Guy Bossard is part of five generations to make wine in the Sevre et Maine region. The estate has been organic since 1975, and biodynamic since 1986. Talk about before your time, he is the Velvet Underground of the wine world. Mr. Bossard uses a blend of algae, forest brush, and basalt as his compost. I have no idea what this does for the wine, only that it obviously works. he 2006 “Expression de Gneiss” should age well for 5-10 years, when the honey components will make this wine silky and lemony.

“Expression de Gneiss” refers to the soil type in the vineyard, a granite/schist type of rock that allows excellent drainage and imparts the mineral characteristic in the wine. The grape in Sevre et Maine is the muscadet, or Melon de Bourgogne. Some think this is a type of pinot blanc, but the taste is decidedly different from anything from Burgundy or Alsace.