Notify me
2018 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine “Gorges”
Domaine Michel Brégeon
Muscadet is also generally considered an oyster wine, but this cuvée is Fred Lailler’s masterpiece that transcends any pigeonholing that sometimes happens with these whites from the western Loire. Named for one of the region’s most prized crus that sits atop a very special soil called gabbro, Gorges boasts an incredible texture and tension imparted by this decomposed, blue-green igneous rock, seventy-year-old vines, and years-long aging on the lees. Moules marinières or any kind of seafood pasta are matches made in heaven.
—Tom Wolf
Wine Type: | white |
Vintage: | 2018 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Melon de Bourgogne |
Appellation: | Muscadet |
Country: | France |
Region: | Loire |
Producer: | André-Michel Brégeon |
Winemaker: | Fred Lailler |
Vineyard: | 50 years average, 7.8 ha total |
Soil: | Gabbro |
Farming: | Organic (certified) |
Alcohol: | 12% |
More from this Producer or Region

2023 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie
France | Loire
It fills the mouth with suspicions of honeysuckle and pulpy stone fruits, all while maintaining classic notes of iodine and sea breeze that make this the vinous equivalent of tidepooling.

2020 Chinon “Clos du Chêne Vert”
France | Loire
Chinons from Joguet are known for their firm minerality, but this one is quite charming as well, with plummy black fruit, myrtle, and notes of warm licorice.

2022 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine “Réserve”
France | Loire
When you smell it, keep in mind that no other wine, besides a Melon de Bourgogne grown in the gabbro soil of Gorges, could possibly smell like this one does.

2022 Gros-Plant du Pays Nantais
France | Loire
This racy wine is a perfect match for all types of crustaceans as well all by itself on a sunny afternoon.

2023 Chinon “Beaux Monts”
France | Loire
Sourced from the village of Beaumont, it is utterly delicious, with a perfect balance of fruit and earth.

2021 Vin de France Blanche
France | Loire
This skin-contact wine is redolent of blood orange and hyssop—a perfect apéritif for olives and anchovies.

2020 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Clisson “La Molette”
France | Loire
A subtly floral nose and textured mouthfeel seal the deal. This is off-the-charts Muscadet.

2024 Menetou-Salon Blanc “Le Prieuré”
France | Loire
From a small but mighty appellation boasting an impressive soil loaded with fossilized oyster shells. Peachy, finely textured, and pleasantly verdant.

2022 Jasnières “Dyane”
France | Loire
Juicy and open-knit, it mirrors the sensation of biting into fleshy slices of white peach, nectarine, and guava.

2024 Chardonnay
France | Loire
Some wines deliver well beyond expectations—this is one of them.
About The Producer
André-Michel Brégeon
Michel Brégeon is part renegade, part crusader, and full-blown terroirist, ardently defending the Muscadet-Sèvre-et-Maine terroir. Thanks to his deep understanding of the land, he plays the game much differently than the region’s caves cooperatives and negociants, who produce en masse and lose the subtlety of the appellation. He worked for his family’s domaine before setting out on his own in 1975. When his father retired in 1989, he gave his remaining vineyard land to Michel. Today, Michel farms seven hectares of vineyards in clay, silica, and gabbro soils. Gabbro is old, blue-green, volcanic rock, rarely found in vineyard land. Formed by magma eruptions under the ocean floor, it imparts intense complexity to Michel’s wines.
About The Region
Loire
The defining feature of the Loire Valley, not surprisingly, is the Loire River. As the longest river in France, spanning more than 600 miles, this river connects seemingly disparate wine regions. Why else would Sancerre, with its Kimmeridgian limestone terroir be connected to Muscadet, an appellation that is 250 miles away?
Secondary in relevance to the historical, climatic, environmental, and cultural importance of the river are the wines and châteaux of the Jardin de la France. The kings and nobility of France built many hundreds of châteaux in the Loire but wine preceded the arrival of the noblesse and has since out-lived them as well.
Diversity abounds in the Loire. The aforementioned Kimmeridgian limestone of Sancerre is also found in Chablis. Chinon, Bourgueil, and Saumur boast the presence of tuffeau, a type of limestone unique to the Loire that has a yellowish tinge and a chalky texture. Savennières has schist, while Muscadet has volcanic, granite, and serpentinite based soils. In addition to geologic diversity, many, grape varieties are grown there too: Cabernet Franc, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, and Melon de Bourgogne are most prevalent, but (to name a few) Pinot Gris, Grolleau, Pinot Noir, Pineau d’Aunis, and Folle Blanche are also planted. These myriad of viticultural influences leads to the high quality production of every type of wine: red, white, rosé, sparkling, and dessert.
Like the Rhône and Provence, some of Kermit’s first imports came from the Loire, most notably the wines of Charles Joguet and Château d’Epiré—two producers who are featured in Kermit’s book Adventures on the Wine Route and with whom we still work today.
More from Loire or France
2022 Bourgueil Clairet “Avis de Vin Fort”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2015 Chinon “Les Petites Roches” MAGNUM
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2023 Val de Loire Rouge Grolleau
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2024 Sancerre Rosé
Hippolyte Reverdy France | Loire
2020 Saumur Champigny “Outre Terre”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2020 Saumur-Champigny “Franc de Pied”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2022 Chinon Blanc
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2018 Saumur Blanc “L’Échelier”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2022 Jasnières “Dyane”
Christine de Mianville France | Loire
2019 Bourgueil “Les Perrières”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2021 Vin de France Blanche
Domaine Michel Brégeon France | Loire
2022 Quincy “Château de Quincy”
Domaine Trotereau France | Loire
2022 Bourgueil Clairet “Avis de Vin Fort”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2015 Chinon “Les Petites Roches” MAGNUM
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2023 Val de Loire Rouge Grolleau
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2024 Sancerre Rosé
Hippolyte Reverdy France | Loire
2020 Saumur Champigny “Outre Terre”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2020 Saumur-Champigny “Franc de Pied”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2022 Chinon Blanc
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2018 Saumur Blanc “L’Échelier”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2022 Jasnières “Dyane”
Christine de Mianville France | Loire
2019 Bourgueil “Les Perrières”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2021 Vin de France Blanche
Domaine Michel Brégeon France | Loire
2022 Quincy “Château de Quincy”
Domaine Trotereau France | Loire
Kermit once said...

Kermit once said...
I want you to realize once and for all: Even the winemaker does not know what aging is going to do to a new vintage; Robert Parker does not know; I do not know. We all make educated (hopefully) guesses about what the future will bring, but guesses they are. And one of the pleasures of a wine cellar is the opportunity it provides for you to witness the evolution of your various selections. Living wines have ups and downs just as people do, periods of glory and dog days, too. If wine did not remind me of real life, I would not care about it so much.
Inspiring Thirst, page 171