Cycling into Muscadet Country

Muscadet is one of my all time favourite wines. This weekend we went on a trip to its heartland in the beautiful Loire Valley, to meet a winemaker whose family have been growing and producing Muscadet since the early 1800s.

A family business. The vineyard at Domaine Poiron.

Muscadet has kind of fallen out of fashion recently, but this is a damn shame. It's fresh and crisp, with lively lemon and green apple flavours perfect for summer, but the best examples, from Sevre-et-Maine, also have lovely spicy complexity and a distinctive creamy, buttery feel. (This comes from maturing the wine with the leftover yeast cells from fermenting stirred through the wine, and it is, to give it its technical term, super delicious). You can get some real bargains here that in my opinion can rival white Burgundies on taste, without breaking the bank.

We cycled to the vineyard from Nantes through the rolling hills (great for wine, less great for cycling..) and arrived sweaty and tired and in need of a drink. Eric Poiron met us and took us straight out to the vines, and when they're this beautiful you can see why. Some are over 60 years old and planted by his father, now he and his brother have taken on the family business.

Tasting wines with Monsieur Poiron

Eric mainly grows Melon de Bourgogne grapes, the primary variety used in Muscadet wines, but we also tried a delicious Chardonnay (if you think you don't like Chardonnay, try one of Eric's and think again). We tried a range of their wines, from the most recent harvest, a light and crisp wine perfect for drinking by itself in the sun, to their 2012 vintage which has developed delicious vanilla spice and richness (this one was our favourite). We cycled away a bit more wobbly, with several bottled balanced on the handlebars.

Domaine Poiron offers tours and tastings all year round, Monday to Saturday. Best to get in touch to book. Say hi to Eric from us! https://www.poironhenri.com/

Our top pick from Domaine Poiron, a delicious 2012 Muscadet