Taste: Generally quite neutral but very refreshing and the best can display green apple, grassy and nutty flavors, together with pronounced minerality. For higher quality wines look for “Sur Lie” on the label.
Body: Light to medium
Dry / Sweet: Very dry
Acidity: High
Age: Drink while young and fresh.
Description
The Melon de Bourgogne (may-lohn duh BOOR-goyn) grape has adopted the name of the only wine it makes and is therefore generally known as Muscadet (MUSS-ka-day).
Its home is the Loire region of France where the wine it makes is bone dry, light to medium in body with high acidity and very little residual sugar. It is rather neutral in aroma and at its best can be very elegant and refreshing, displaying green apple, grassy and nutty flavors, together with pronounced minerality.
The better quality wines are generally bottled from a vessel containing dead yeast cells (lees) which gives them a crisp lemon and yeasty flavor, as well as more body and a creamy texture – a touch of CO2 may leave some bubbles beading the rim of the glass. So look for “Sur Lie” on the label (lie is the French for lees). Poorly made examples can be thin and extremely sharp.
Muscadet should be drunk young and in the Loire it is considered the perfect accompaniment for seafood, especially shellfish.
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