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Online Shop > France - Loire Valley (Atlantique)

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Catch Of The Day - 2006 - Sauvion et Fils
Ref: A056206
Sauvion du Cléray - Façonneur de Plaisir

The classic western Loire seafood wine. Very crisp, clean and 'zingy' with a faint yeast and nut tang, which makes this ideal with seafood. In our opinion a good Muscadet is the only thing to wash down the classic Breton seafood offering of 'Plateau de Fruits de Mer'. 'Sur Lie' indicates that the wine has been aged to mature on its lees (what is left in the barrels after fermentation) and it is this process which adds the best classic yeasty complexity to a good Muscadet. The wine also needs to come from the best vineyards of the appellation and these are in the denomination of the 'Sèvre et Maine'.

The origins of Muscadet are linked with the slave trade as the Dutch needed a light, clean, dry white wine to distill into a spirit and then trade down the west coast of Africa (mainly in the area of what is now Gambia and Senegal) in exchange for slaves. Once the slave trade ended, the French were left with large vineyards for which they did not have a market for the wine. Fortunately, they then discovered that if the wine was left on its lees (or 'sur lie') for an extra 6 months, it gained a whole new depth of flavour and complexity, evolving into a world-class wine. The lees are the yeast deposits, which gradually settle out to the bottom of the barrel during the production of the wine, and they have a delicate creamy butterscotch flavour. This flavour is gradually infused into the wine through the extended contact in the barrel and, coupled in the best instances with the tiniest hint of oak, transforms the wine in the process.

A terrible winter in 1709 brought a frost so severe that it destroyed almost all the vines in the region, reducing many vignerons to penury, and as a result, the Melon de Bourgogne grape was planted on a wide scale because it was believed to be resistant to frost. It did far better in the Pays Nantais than it had ever done in its original domicile (Burgundy) and the local vinicultors rechristened it the Muscadet, by which name it is now more commonly known. The Melon de Bourgogne is now planted almost exclusively around the port of Nantes, near the Atlantic outlet of the mighty Loire river. The name Melon de Bourgogne stems from the shape of the leaves which are similar to melons and the fact that it came to the region from Burgundy.

Ernest Sauvion bought the 18th Century Château du Cleray as a family home in 1935, and his son (also Ernest) started commercial production with his eldest son, Jean Ernest, then 19, in 1965. The property is now run day to day by the big, burly Jean Ernest, assisted by his brothers Yves and Dominique, and their various offspring. In addition to the 30 hectare vineyard site they own, they also act as négociants, and select the very best wines of the region, (for which they have landed themselves in considerable trouble for paying well above the going rate to ensure the very best quality) to carry their labels.

Very highly rated by the worlds wine press (rated as "excellent" by Robert Parker) the Chateau du Cleray label is possibly the best Muscadet on the market today.

Price: £6.44
Including VAT at 17.5%

Qty:

France - Loire Valley (Atlantique)	2006	Light
Melon de Bourgogne	White	Fruits De Mer/Oysters/Shellfish/Fish/Chicken
Sauvion et Fils	Brut	Drink Now

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