Muscadet should be drunk quite young with seafood, but the 2009 Domaine Le Fay D’Homme Muscadet Serve et Maine scored 15+ Dionysian points, has 12% alcohol, and cost under $15. At ten years old, it held together, still had minerality notes with sharp acids, and helped clear the mouth for the next forkful. The Serve et Maine region of the Muscadet area at the mouth of the Loire River, is the best spot.
Served with shellfish, and basically a seafood pasta, the wine was special. Yes, it lost a bit of it fruit, but added an aged complexity hard to describe.
The “sur lie” noted on the label means it rested longer on the dead yeast to add a creamy, rounder flavor. I always look for that. Vincent Caille’ is a great producer. I scored the same wine at 16 points just three years ago. Once you learn to appreciate the older flavors and added complexities that cellared wines offer, it’s hard to drink young fruit bombs with dinner. In Vino Veritas.
Robert Frank
I like to age my Muscadets, though I’d say only rare examples will improve over 20 years. Still, as you know, many wine “experts” encourage drinking Muscadet young.