France - Loire - Pays Nantais Flashcards
How much of Loire’s vineyard area is in Pays Nantais? (%)
22%
What is the principal and what are the top 5 grape varieties (incl. %)?
- Melon (≈ 60%)
- Chardonnay (≈ 8%)
- Gamay (≈ 5%)
- Folle Blanche (≈ 5%)
- Cabernet Franc (≈ 5%)
What is the climate and the major problems that come with it?
- Cool maritime
- Threat of rain, esp. at flowering and harvest
- Spring frosts is serious problem
Melon
What is the budding/ripening time and what yields does it produce?
- Early budding -> spring frost
- Early ripening -> rain at harvest is no threat
- High yielding
Melon
What is it susceptible to and why?
- Tight bunches
- Botrytis
- Downy mildew
Melon
Where was it the only allowed variety and what has changed in 2018?
- Muscadet appellations
- Since 2018: up to 10% Chardonnay allowed
Melon
What types of wines does it produce? (intensity, aromas, acidity, body, alcohol, quality, price)
- Low intensity
- Green apple
- High acidity
- Light body
- Low to the low end of medium alcohol
- Acceptable to good quality (some very good)
- Inexpensive to mid-priced
What is done to counter the humid and cool climate?
- Monitoring of vineyards and regular spraying
- Improvement of canopy management (e.g., leaf removal) -> max sun exposure, lower disease risk
- !! Sunburn has to be avoided with less leafs
What factors are considered for determining the harvest date? What can be a problem?
- Ripeness of skins and seeds
- In hot years, sugar levels may reach unacceptably high levels before the skins and seeds are fully ripe
Winemaking
Is chaptalization allowed?
Yes, in cooler years up to 12% abv potential alc.
Winemaking
How are the Muscadet wines typically made? (vats, lees, malo)
- Fermented and aged in large, shallow underground concrete vats -> as neutral as possible
- Lees aging
- Malo avoided -> preserve acidity
Winemaking
What are some experiments of winemakers?
- Skin contact
- Fermentation in barrel, amphora or concrete eggs
Why is the wine aged sur lie and how is it conducted and what is the result?
- To fill out the body of the wines
- One racking after alcohol fermentation to remove gross lees
- Then the wine remains in contact with the fine lees through winter
- Retains freshness and may retain a small amount of carbon dioxide
Name the two larger and smaller appellations
- Muscadet Sèvre et Maine (6,400 ha)
- Muscadet
- Smaller:
- Muscadet Coteaux de la Loire
- Muscadet Côtes de Grandlieu
What is the max yield in the Muscadet AOC and in the other three appellations?
- Muscadet: 65 hL/ha
- Other three and Muscadet sur lie: 55 hL/ha
