Muscadet Sur Lie Verger Domaine Pierre Luneau-Papin 2017/18

Muscadet Sur Lie Verger Domaine Pierre Luneau-Papin, 100% Melon de Bourgogne, aged on the lees for extra texture, very well balanced, more or less organic wine, great value. Like many Muscadet, this wine is 'sur lie', an expression often mis-understood (we English tend to think 'Lie' is a little river or village somewhere in the Loire!) which means the wines have been kept on the fine lees (the dead yeast cells and sediment left at the bottom of the tank after fermentation) for more than four months and have not been racked or filtered prior to bottling. This process adds texture and flavour to the often neutral tasting Melon grape but also gives the wine its now well established slight whiff of smokiness on the nose. This little sur lie is soft and easy going white, lovely white fruits and subtle yeasty character, a delicious apero or with light fish dishes glass of wine.

Pierre Luneau studied with the renowned Emile Peynaud and has been making excellent Muscadet for years. His Domaine du Verger wine from the schists of Landreau (20km south east of Nantes) smacks of Petit Chablis: white flowers, stones and water. The production is largely (although not completely) organic utilising organic manures and 'lutte raisonnée' on the vines. Muscadet probably gets its name from a medieval variety of Muscat, which has since been replanted with Melon de Bourgogne - a rather neutral grape which benefits from lees ageing (hence the 'sur lie'.)