2019 Domaine de Belle-Vue Muscadet Granite
VARIETAL: Melon de Bourgogne
REGION: Loire Valley, FR
VITICULTURE: Certified Organic/Biodynamic
WINEMAKER: Jérôme Bretaudeau
"Jérôme Bretaudeau continues to refine and redefine what is possible with Muscadet with his mastery of elevage. I have been waiting and wanting to taste this wine for some time and it finally arrived and... it is extra! - beautiful aromas come-hither - very fine and stony/mineral in the mouth; superb tension but with a gossamer texture, very silken and sensual. Kudos Jérôme!" - Andrew Guard
Jérôme Bretaudeau is one of a small handful of serious, young winemakers devoted to the compelling terroir of Muscadet, the most western appellation in the Loire Valley. Situated along the Atlantic Coast where the Loire empties into the ocean, Muscadet enjoys a cold, maritime climate that combines with granitic soils composed of igneous rocks, silica pebbles, white and pink quartz, to create low alcohol, high acid wines with pronounced minerality and complexity.
In stark contrast to most of Muscadet, which is dominated by overcropped, industrial-production cooperatives, Domaine de Belle Vue comprises 12 hectares of organically-certified vineyards in active transition to full biodynamic viticulture. Jérôme is, moreover, innovative and experimental, crafting wines not only from the appellation’s signature Melon de Bourgogne but also from eccentric cuvées of Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Noir, and Cabernet Franc.