Muscadet from the Loire

Does your taste in desserts tend more toward the subtle and complex (panna cotta, say, or creme brulee, bread pudding or maybe shortbread) or towards the decadent and over-the-top (death-by-chocolate challenges or a banana split)?

If subtlety’s your game, then your preferences in wine may similarly veer away from warm-climate blockbusters in favor of crisp, minerally wines like those from Europe’s cooler river valleys including the Mosel, the Danube and the Loire.

The loire region of france has a wild variety of wines, White or red, dry, molleux or sweet, from Sancerre all the way downstream to Muscadet.

Muscadet is particuraly made from the Melon grape (“Meh-lawN” with a nasal French “n” at the end, not “melon” as in cantaloupe) grown in the granite soils of Muscadet, where the Loire runs into the North Atlantic in Brittany below the city of Nantes.

Made “sur lie,” kept on the “lees” or sedimented yeast left over after fermentation until bottling, good Muscadet gains earthy, yeasty and stony flavors from this process and from the soil, mingled with tart lemon-zest and green-apple flavors from the cool-weather grape. It’s a natural with the region’s fresh oysters, and a good pick with all manner of seafood and fish.