In this review we will taste a Muscadet wine from the
westernmost part of central France's Loire Valley. In a
somewhat unusual process Muscadet wines are left in contact
with their sediment to enhance their fruit and yeasty
quality. Muscadet is a classic fish and seafood wine, so we
are going to try some nontraditional pairings. By the way,
Monsieur Sauvion is known as the King of Muscadet. And the
grape variety is known as Melon de Bourgogne.
OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review
are purchased at the full retail price.
Sauvion Carte D'Or Muscadet, 2007 12.% alcohol about $9
Let's start with the marketing materials. Tasting Note:
Light straw color; light gooseberry, apple, lemon and
mineral aromas; dry, with crisp acidity, clean citrusy
fruit and snowpea flavors on palate with yeasty notes in
finish. Serving Suggestion: Serve chilled as an aperitif;
shellfish and seafood; perfect with oysters on the
half-shell. And now for my review.
I started by sipping this wine alone. It was very
refreshing and quite acidic. My first meal was barbecued
chicken wings with rice and homemade roasted eggplant
slices in garlic. When the Muscadet met the chicken wings
it did soften but not enough. I tasted grapefruit. The
wine got rounder with the rice and eggplant but still was
too acidic.
The second meal was an omelet garnished with more of the
homemade oven-roasted eggplant, Greek olives, and an
artichoke and mayonnaise dip. The dominant flavor was
apple; this time the acidity was good. The eggplant
softened the wine's acidity. The wine didn't have much
taste with the olives, nor with the soft-tasting artichoke
dip. I finished the meal with some orange-flavored fruit
juice candy and the wine became lemony.
The final meal was slow-cooked smoked turkey thighs with
chickpeas. The wine was quite present and almost metallic.
It was acidic and certainly cleansed the palate, a good
thing given the meal's heaviness. And it tasted of minerals.
I finished the tasting with two cheeses. The first cheese
was a Ricotta, an Italian-style cottage cheese. The
Muscadet was refreshingly acidic but had little taste. The
next cheese was a Provolone. The wine was somewhat sour and
not flavorful.
Final verdict. I certainly won't bother to buy this
pedestrian wine again. Maybe I missed a fine fish or
seafood pairing but really don't think so. Now a better
Muscadet, one in a different price range might be another
story.
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Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten computer and
Internet books, but frankly prefers drinking fine German or
other wine, accompanied by the right foods and the right
people. He teaches computer classes at an Ontario
French-language community college. Check out his wine
website http://www.theworldwidewine.com with a weekly
column reviewing $10 wines and new sections writing about
(theory) and tasting (practice) organic and kosher wines.
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