Jean Baptiste Hardy Muscadet Fief de Chaintre 2023

Drink it now or cellar for up to 10 years. No need to decant, but best to open it half an hour before service. Jean-Baptiste Hardy is a young and talented winemaker who, after years of winemaking experience in various corners of the world (including New Zealand and Patagonia), returned to France in 2018 to take over the family business in the Loire Valley. Muscadet Fief de Chaintre is a white wine made with Melon de Bourgogne grapes, from a plot located in the municipality of Mouzillon. Here the vines, planted in 1960, benefit from a northern exposure and sink their roots into a clay soil with a subsoil of gabbro. After manual harvesting and fermentation with indigenous yeasts, the wine rests on the lees in barrels for a year and for a further 6 months in glass-lined, underground vats. The result is a fine and characterful wine, capable of aging well for a few years. On the nose, the wine reveals a powerful and broad aromatic profile with floral and fruity notes (especially apple, pear, and yellow plum), and herbaceous and wet stone hints. On the palate, it is crisp and lean, structured and dense with a lively acidity and a marked mineral vein. The finish is long, persistent, and recalls saline notes. It is the ideal wine to pair with seafood and shellfish but also goes well with vegetable soups and ricotta and spinach ravioli seasoned with butter and sage.

Price: £24.60 from 8wines UK