Two hot years with some good results, some less good with low acidity and/or high alcohol.
BONNET-HUTEAU
2018 Muscadet La Levraudière
This wine is lemony and salty with a touch of roundness. It’s a bit anonymous, but good for what it is. Certified organic. Lot L0094. 12% stated alcohol. 86/B
Julien BRAUD
This producer is a new discovery for me and looks like he may be a coming star. So far, the wines are at extremely attractive prices. Certified organic.
2018 Muscadet de Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie Les Vignes du Bourg
This wine is light in the mouth with density to its lemony fruit. 12% stated alcohol. Lot L 180302. 89/A
2018 Muscadet de Sèvre et Maine Les Grands Quarterons
Not a sur Lie wine like the Vignes du Bourg, this one is intense, wiry, and nervy with salty austerity. A perfect shellfish wine. 12.5% stated alcohol. Lot 180101. 91/A
Domaine des CHABOISSIÈRES/Christophe HALLEREAU
2018 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie
Medium-light in weight with refreshing acidity, lemony and saline aromas and flavors. Just the slightest touch of residual sugar rounds the wine -- if it were less, I’d mark the wine even higher. Still, a pleasing wine and attractive value. Closure: composition cork. 12% stated alcohol. 87/B
CHERRIER Frères
2019 Sancerre
Cherrier may be surpassed as a name among Sancerre producers only by Reverdy. This white is chalky in nose and mouth, dense and somewhat rich on the palate, and the acidity is adequate to hold the wine together, although no one will call it crisp. 13.5% stated alcohol. Lot L 0009. 87/B
Patrice COLIN
2018 Coteaux du Vendômois Pierre à Feu
This is a lovely wine from Chenin Blanc with lightness, firmness, waxy floral aromas, a bit of pineapple flavor, and just enough tension. Excellent as an aperitif wine now and for the next 4-7 years, and it can also pair well with seafood and white meats. Certified organic. 13.5% stated alcohol. Lot nº 182. 88/A-
2018 Coteaux du Vendômois vieilles vignes
This wine is denser and more concentrated than the Pierre à Feu bottling and has a longer aging potential. The nose has honey and apple elements. The mouth shows richness, depth, and good acidity to go with lemon and honey flavors. This wine should easily last a decade or longer. Certified organic. Lot nº 183. 13.7% stated alcohol. 90/A
Domaine des CÔTES BLANCHES
2019 Sancerre
Curiously, nothing on the label to indicate who is behind the wine or where the producer is located, and the internet doesn’t yield a site. One of the importers indicates that the estate has been in the Millet family since the 1930s, that it now comprises 21 hectares, and that François and Monique Millet currently are in charge, now being joined by son Nicolas following his studies in Beaune. The wine and medium-bodied; it in now way feels alcoholic or blowsy, and it has typical chalk notes in both nose and mouth. Cork closure. 14.1% stated alcohol. 87/B
Eric COTTAT/LA VALLÉE DES VIGNES
2019 Sancerre
This wine is clear, chalky, and lemony with lightness and some crispness -- just what one expects from Sancerre, but for the slightest bit of sweetness on the finish (my palate is extremely sensitive to residual sugar so others may not notice). Composition cork closure. 12.5% stated alcohol. 89/B+
Aurore DEZAT/Domaine des CHASSEIGNES
2019 Sancerre
Not a bad wine, but boring. Clear pear fruit, but no chalkiness. The mouth is smooth and round with no bite, and there is a very slight amount of residual sugar here. Cork closure. 13% stated alcohol. 85/C-
Michel DELHOMMEAU
Certified organic.
2018 Muscadet de Sèvre et Maine sur lie Saint Vincent
Most Muscadet comes from granitic soils, but this is from volcanic gabbro soils. The Saint Vincent cuvée admirably and precisely shows the salty aromas and flavors of the Melon de Bourgogne grape, but with a bit more sllkiness, crystallinity, roundness, and elegance than one ordinarily expects from Muscadet. 12% stated alcohol. 90/A
2018 Muscadet de Sèvre et Maine sur lie Clos Armand
Also from volcanic gabbro soils, the vines here range from 40+ to 70+ years in age. The Clos Armand is a bit broader than the Saint Vincent above, a bit more refined and silky, but not quite as crystalline. Here, too, a very good expression of the salinity of Muscadet. 12% stated alcohol. 90/A