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Muscadet: What is Sur Lie?
Muscadet Wine
Not to be confused with Moscato, Muscat or Moscatel, all white Mediterranean grapes used to make sweet wine; Muscadet is not a grape but a place, a type of wine and a lifestyle.
What is Muscadet? When we talk about Muscadet, we discuss an appellation of origin or AOP in the Loire Valley, France. In fact, this is the westernmost appellation in the prestigious region, and it overlooks the Atlantic Ocean.
Here the cold, rainy climate prevents grape growers from cultivating most wine grapes; only a few varietals survive the harsh Atlantic conditions. In Muscadet, that grape is Melon de Bourgogne.
What is Muscadet? & How it can be confused with Muscat
What is Muscadet Sur Lie?
Yeast turns the sugar in grape juice into alcohol, turning it into wine. The yeast eventually dies, and it’s regularly separated from the wine by decanting it into a second vessel or by filtration. Still, the spent yeast can change the wine’s flavour, aromatic profile and mouthfeel.
Allowing fermented wine to rest or age over lees or on its lees is to leave it with the dead yeast cells for weeks, months or years. This is typical for Muscadet wines, but it’s also common in Burgundy for Chardonnay and Champagne for the world’s most exclusive sparkling wines. Not all Muscadet experiences extended lees ageing, but the one that does is one of the most extraordinary wines in France.
What Does Muscadet Taste Like?
Melon de Bourgogne is indeed a Burgundian grape, now almost exclusively found in Muscadet, around the town of Nantes. The grape is prized in the region for its ability to withstand the cold and moist climate prevalent in the coastal area.
Melon de Bourgogne is not particularly flavourful but crisp and lean, and it retains high acidity levels. The wines made with it are light-bodied and tart, citrusy and mineral. This led producers to go the extra mile and use unique techniques to give complexity to Muscadet. In other words, Sur Lie ageing.
What is the difference between Gros Lees and Fine Lees?
What is Muscadet Sevre Et Maine?
The Appellations in Muscadet
Four appellations protect and guarantee the quality of this exciting wine style, Muscadet, the umbrella AOP for the entire region, and three smaller sub-regions, where the wine is consistently higher quality: Cotes de Grandlieu, Coteaux de la Loire, and the famous Muscadet Sevre-et-Maine.
All three appellations champion Melon de Bourgogne, the leading grape in the region since the great winter frost of 1709 that eliminated all competition. And although the noble varietal produces stimulating wines with great versatility on the table, the winemaking methods emblematic in the area are a significant part of Muscadet’s success.
