Oh no, the Olympics are over on Sunday! Waste no time in reaching for more French wine! How about a crisp, refreshing, and lastingly lovely white wine? It’s a Muscadet de Sevres et Maine sur Lie. That’s a very long name for a wine, and it’s worth getting to know. The Muscadet is not what we associate with a sweet wine like a Moscato or Muscadine. Mais non, pas de tout! It’s actually a wine made from the grape Melon de Bourgogne that’s grown in Sevres et Maine in the Loire Valley, close to the Atlantic Ocean. The wines from this area are kissed by the sea, and have a brilliant salinity and minerality about them, as well as beautiful aromatics. Sur lies refers to the process by which the wine is kept in contact with the dead yeast cells (lies) created during fermentation before being eventually racked off. This is standard in the making of Champagne. The lies provide a beautiful note of baked bread to the wine. It can be challenging to find a Muscadet de Sevres et Maine sur Lies, but it is soooo worth it. A great and very affordable choice is the “La Pepie” from the iconic producer Domaine de la Pepiere. Drinking this wine lightly chilled, paired with oysters or lobster or clams (or all three!) and noticing the different flavors on the nose and the palate, is like watching a brilliant sporting match where different teammates move in and out to play their best game. Merci, Paris, for a very special Olympics. And France, for very special wines.
