Jérémie Huchet Château Thébaud Muscadet Sèvre et Maine 2014
Château-Thébaud, a little south of Nantes, is one of the ten newly recognised cru appellations of the Muscadet Sèvre et Maine winemaking area. The Cru approach is based on the limitation of production to only the best identified vineyard plots, rigorous wine growing requirements with limited yields, and lees-ageing of over two years to produce wines with a strong personality. Jérémie Huchet is one of only a few producers entitled to use the appellation. The Cru wines are made from the Melon de Bourgogne variety and are grown from the best plots of old vines overlooking the river Maine, on a unique subsoil of granodiorite and gneiss. The Château-Thébaud Muscadet Sèvre et Maine shows both a creamy character and minerality. On the nose, there is beautiful aromatic complexity dominated by candied citrus fruits, herbs (fennel, anise) and slightly smoky notes (gunflint, liquorice). The palate is full yet balanced by a clearly perceptible tension and a nice touch of bitterness alongside the terroir’s hallmark saline and extremely long finish. This is a wine beautiful after a few years but is made to age and will handsomely cellar for up to 20 years.
