I don’t know about you, but I love muscadet. I love the price, the minerality, the freshness. I love them young and bracing, but I also really enjoy the good ones with a good ten years of age. Feel free to post notes about any aged muscadets you’re drinking. I’d love to hear about them. I’m by no means an expert, but always looking for new muscadets to try.
This was the one that got me thinking of aged muscadet… just sitting around working on some writing, drinking this:
2001 Domaine du Haut Bourg Muscadet-Côtes de Grandlieu
This wine is soft golden color, looking bright and shiny in the glass. This 11-year-old muscadet shows mature aromas of nougat and honey, but also brisk minerals and fresh lemon-lime. The wines starts off with a dose of rich apple cider, then the acid sweeps in and provides freshness. The lively mineral flavor blends with subtle flavors of bruised apple and apricot. There’s a hint of clover honey and seashell. With time the wine developed a waxy, honeyed mouthfeel that was simply delicious. This wine is still vibrant, but has gained richness with age. I’m always amazed at how aged muscadet gets plump and complex but maintains its zesty acidity. This is a delicious wine that begs for lobster. I’ve got one more of these, and I think I’ll hold onto it for another few years.
Just popped a 2002 Domaine Pierre de la Grange (Luneau-Papin) Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Semper Excelsior Clos des Noelles.
Very light colored and clear as a bell with slate, a bright spring day, oyster shell on nose. As it cooled from cellar to fridge picked up a little apricot/peach on nose as well. Nice acidity and no rough edges. A beaut tonight.
Yes. Had an 89 L d’Or last fall that was eye opening. Decided salinity like an aged white burg or actually a chablis I guess now that i’ve read Salil’s note.
I’ve sourced some 1997, but have not taken delivery yet. Looking forward to it. The price was all of $27, crazy value.
So now i’m holding back a hand full of all the better Pepiere and L-P bottlings i’m buying.
I got some of the 01 Haut Bourg when WL blew it out for $13ish recently. I think it’s not been aged in bottle, it’s a pretty recent release that spent 7 years on the lees. Really zippy acidity and young tasting. I confess I was a little disappointed, because I was hoping for something more along the lines of the 3+ years on lees L-P Excelsior or Pepiere Granite de Clisson. It lacked that richness to me. Pretty unfair expectations.
I remember 8-10 years ago thinking I was really splurging spending something like $16/bottle for 89 L d’Or. I got 3 bottles, now wish I had gotten 3 cases.
I do agree with time the better Muscadets like Pepiere Briords and L-P L d’Or do resemble Chablis or a really minerally Puligny, which is inevitably where the guesses are blind.
Great idea for a thread! I’ve got a bunch of back vintage Pépières that I’m trying to put some age on. Looks like for the regular cuvee I’ve got an '01 and 5 x '05. For Briords I have 2 x '02, 1 x '06 plus a mag, and 3 x '07. I still remember an '88 I had at Chambers St a few years back that converted me to the virtues of letting these sleep. I’m tempted to try an '02 soon and will post here when I do!
Doesn’t qualify for your 10+ requirement, but I had a 2005 Clos de Briords recently that was drinking very well, and tomorrow night I’ll be pulling a cork from a bottle of 2005 Pepiere Trois that I have high hopes for.
Dale, it is a limited release cuvee that is aged on the lees for an extended period - the label has that very large “3” on it. This will be my 2nd bottle, and I thought that it may have been the best Muscadet I’ve ever consumed when I tried it the first time about a year or so ago.
Assuming this is okay, here’s a TN that describes it from Chris Kissack’s “The Wine Doctor” website:
Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Trois 2005: This is a sample of a small volume (unnamed when I tasted it) vieilles vignes cuvée which has spent three years on its lees (so it can’t be labelled sur lie, but this does explain why it has been christened Trois). It is only just about to become commercially available. Residual sugar 2.5 g/l. This has a lovely character; the nose is vibrant and smoky, the palate showing the same style sprinkled with minerality, very much with a quartz-like crystalline backbone. Rich, mouth-filling and fine, this is a very good wine indeed. 17.5+/20 (February 2010)
![[blush.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/6/69fdd33e0271fef98daa1424c2be1bf616ee7243.gif "blush"){kind=small}