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2020 Gros-Plant du Pays Nantais
Domaine Michel BrégeonThere are few wines as rare as Brégeon’s Gros Plant–this is the only wine we import made from the grape known as Folle Blanche. Though more commonly found in the southwest of France, Folle Blanche has also found a home in the western Loire Valley. Like its regional compatriot, Muscadet, this racy wine is a perfect match for all types of crustaceans as well all by itself on a sunny afternoon.
—Clark Z. Terry
Wine Type: | white |
Vintage: | 2020 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Folle Blanche |
Country: | France |
Region: | Loire |
Producer: | André-Michel Brégeon |
Winemaker: | Fred Lailler |
Vineyard: | 40 years average, 10 ha total |
Soil: | Gabbro |
Farming: | Organic (certified) |
Alcohol: | 11% |
More from this Producer or Region
2022 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie
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2021 Bourgueil “La Dilettante”
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2020 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Clisson “La Molette”
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A subtly floral nose and textured mouthfeel seal the deal. This is off-the-charts Muscadet.
2018 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine “Gorges”
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Gorges boasts an incredible texture and tension imparted by decomposed, blue-green igneous rock, seventy-year-old vines, and years-long aging on the lees.
2020 Chinon “Cuvée Terroir”
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2021 Saumur Champigny “Terres Chaudes”
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2020 Vin de France Blanche
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This lithe and expressive “orange” wine is an ideal palate-opener with a dry, cleansing finish and a fresh, cooling effect like coastal sage and seaspray.
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2022 Quincy “Château de Quincy”
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February Club Gourmand ~ This is Sauvignon Blanc unlike any others in the world: textured, lush, full of aromatic gooseberry and passionfruit—all supported by spiny minerality.
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 Kimmderidgian 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
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2021 Val de Loire Blanc “Cirrus”
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2020 Sancerre Rouge “Le Chant de l’Archet”
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2022 Savennières “Cuvée Spéciale”
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2022 Sancerre Rosé “Le Colombier”
Domaine Roger Neveu France | Loire
2022 Reuilly Pinot Gris Rosé
Domaine de Reuilly France | Loire
2019 Vouvray “Bois Guyon”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2020 Bourgueil “Nuits d’Ivresse”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2022 Quincy “Vieilles Vignes”
Domaine Trotereau France | Loire
2021 Saint Nicolas de Bourgueil “Irène”
Domaine de la Chanteleuserie France | Loire
2019 Chinon “Clos du Chêne Vert”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2020 Chinon “La Croix Boissée”
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2021 Val de Loire Blanc “Cirrus”
Eric Chevalier France | Loire
2022 Vouvray “Les Fondraux”
Champalou France | Loire
2020 Sancerre Rouge “Le Chant de l’Archet”
Daniel Chotard France | Loire
2022 Savennières “Cuvée Spéciale”
Château d'Epiré France | Loire
2022 Sancerre Rosé “Le Colombier”
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Kermit once said...
Kermit once said...
Great winemakers, great terroirs, there is never any hurry. And I no longer buy into this idea of “peak” maturity. Great winemakers, great terroirs, their wines offer different pleasures at different ages.
Inspiring Thirst, page 312