Let me start with something that might seem like a bit of a diversion. WSET – the industry standard training in wine – teaches you to write tasting notes in a certain style. You rank different elements of the wine, like body, acidity, tannins, alcohol and so on. You note down the smells and tastes you pick up. This has its uses, and you’ll see elements of it in my own reviews.
BUT. Once, while doing the Diploma, we tasting three or four Burgundies from the same producer, but at different levels – a village, a premier cru, a grand cru. That sort of thing. Just tasting the wine, you could tell the difference. But the thing is, the tasting notes were pretty much indistinguishable. They all reflected a similar body, nose, palate, appearance and so forth.
My point is that such reviews don’t really do justice to lots of wines. And I feel like that’s the case with today’s review. I look over my notes and see how short they are, and rather unhelpful. But even on retasting the wine, I don’t have much to add from what you can call the ‘WSET perspective’.
In the glass
Pale yellow, clear. Not a lot to say. It looks like white wine. Doesn’t draw you in, but doesn’t send you away, either.
The nose
At first, no. Nothing. Zip. Later, once the wine has warmed to closer to room temperature, I get some peach. Maybe stone fruits, a hint of melon?
The palate
Crisp, dry, medium body. Refreshing. Nice. Good acidity – it’s evident, but doesn’t impose itself. Call it medium-plus, if you need to rank it. Some minerality.
There’s lemon, lime and perhaps melon on the palate. Perhaps a faint hint of hazelnut. It’s an intriguing wine. Sur lie means the wine sat on its lees (aka – dead yeast) for a while, and it is supposed to give more complexity. The faint hint of hazelnut would be one, but to be honest, I’m not sure if that is there, or if I’m looking for sur lies-like stuff, and so think it is there. But that’s about it.
Rating
Yummy-plus. It’s wine on visuals.
As I noted in my intro, this really seems more than the sum of its parts.
In the past, I haven’t been a big fan of Muscadet sur lie wines. I’m not entirely sure why. I know I had a reason, but I can’t recall it now. I like this one. It is somehow more than the sum of its parts. I went into this tasting a bit apprehensive, since I’m not usually a huge sur lie fan. But it had been recommended to me, and I try to expand my horizons. (Within limits. Pineapple will never belong on pizza.)
This was lovely both on its own, and with seafood (Moules frites, since you ask.)
Sustainability
Unclear.
The technical info
12%, Melon de Bourgogne (aka Muscadet), £11.49 King Street Cellar